Court Opinion

ID: 9699717
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 20:48:31.489406+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:56.261133
License: Public Domain

Speziale, C. J.,
(concurring). I concur in the result. I cannot, however, join the majority because when a statute or Practice Book rule is mandatory, it is clearly error for a court not to comply with it. General Statutes § 54-821)(b) provides, in relevant part: “In criminal proceedings the judge shall advise the accused of his right to trial by jury at the time he is put to plea and, if the accused does not then claim a jury, his right thereto shall be deemed waived. . . .” (Emphasis added.) Practice Book § 839 provides, in relevant part: “If at the time he is put to plea, [the defendant] elects a trial by the court, the judicial authority shall advise the defendant of his right to a trial by jury.” (Emphasis added.)
*714It is axiomatic that “penal statutes and rules of criminal procedure are to be strictly construed to protect the fundamental constitutional right to liberty.” State v. Cook, 183 Conn. 520, 522, 441 A.2d 41 (1981). When construing statutes, words are to be given their ordinary meaning. General Statutes § 1-1. “Unless the text indicates otherwise, the word ‘shall’ must be assumed to have been used with full awareness of its ordinary meaning. Graham v. Zimmerman, 181 Conn. 367, 371, 435 A.2d 996 (1980).” State v. Cook, supra; see also Shulman v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 154 Conn. 426, 428-29, 226 A.2d 380 (1967). These rules of construction apply both to statutes and to the rules of practice. State v. Cook, supra.
Practice Book § 839 is particularly applicable to the facts of this case. As mentioned above, that section states that if “at the time he is put to plea, [the defendant] elects a trial by the court, the judicial authority shall advise the defendant of his right to a trial by jury.” The rule describes exactly the situation confronting the trial court on July 14, 1980. The defendant was put to plea on two new counts, and he elected a trial to the court. The trial court, however, did not follow the mandate of the Practice Book and of General Statutes § 54-82b(b) at the time of taking the pleas, because it did not inform the defendant of any rights at that time. On that day, only the court clerk addressed the defendant concerning his election of either a court or a jury trial. Because the trial court ignored the clear mandate of General Statutes § 54-82b(b) and Practice Book § 839, it committed error. Any attempt by this court to rationalize such clear error threatens to abrogate the meaning of the word “shall” in both the statute and the rule.
*715The error committed here, however, does not require that we order a new trial. The majority opinion demonstrates that the trial court addressed the defendant in detail at the July 11, 1980 plea hearing, and received answers from him which clearly indicate that his choice of a court trial and waiver of a jury trial were knowingly and intelligently made. Under the unusual circumstances of this case, I agree that we should not find reversible error.