Court Opinion

ID: 9645668
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:32:11.946456+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:13:42.303408
License: Public Domain

*388Bogdanski, C. J.
(dissenting). I do not dispute the wisdom of the exception that the court adds to the statutory “no retreat” rule. I note, however, that “as far back as 1821 this court held that penal statutes must be . . . ‘expounded strictly against an offender, and liberally in his favor. ... In extension of the letter of the law, nothing may be assumed by implication; nor may the mischief intended to be prevented or redressed, as against the offender, be regarded in its construction. It was the object of the principle, to establish a certain rule, by conformity to which mankind should be safe, and the discretion of the judge limited. . . .’ Daggett v. State, 4 Conn. 60, 63 [1821].” State v. Faatz, 83 Conn. 300, 302-303, 76 A. 295 (1910); State v. Cataudella, 159 Conn. 544, 555, 271 A.2d 99 (1970); State v. Parker, 112 Conn. 39, 46, 151 A. 325 (1930); State v. Penner, 85 Conn. 481, 484, 83 A. 625 (1912).
General Statutes § 53a-19 (b) (1) recognizes only one exception to the rule that a person, in his dwelling, need not retreat before resorting to a deadly physical defense in a reasonable belief that another person is (1) using or about to use deadly physical force, or (2) inflicting or about to inflict great bodily harm. That exception denies the benefit of the rule to an initial aggressor. General Statutes § 53a-19 (b) (1). Today the court adds a second exception to the rule and thereby makes criminal the failure to retreat in one’s dwelling before resorting to deadly physical force in self-defense against the use of deadly physical force or the infliction of great bodily harm by an initial aggressor who happens to be a co-occupant of the dwelling. Such an act is not encompassed by the plain mean*389ing of the penal code. The court justifies this addition by finding the second exception in our prior case law. An examination of the cases cited in the opinion reveals no such exception. The only case which arguably deals with the problem before us is State v. Johnson, 139 Conn. 89, 94, 90 A.2d 905 (1952). Although ambiguous, the statement from Johnson quoted by the court, when placed in its original context, merely distinguishes the yard from the defendant’s dwelling. Thus, we denied Johnson a “no retreat” instruction because of the place where the incident occurred not because of the identity of the coparticipant. Because there is no such ease law, adoption of the new exception abandons the rule of strict construction and violates the constitutional guarantee of due process by making the defendant’s conduct criminal without having given him a reasonable opportunity to know that it was prohibited and to act accordingly. State v. Chetcuti, 173 Conn. 165, 167, 377 A.2d 263 (1977); State v. Cataudella, supra, 556.
Furthermore General Statutes § 53a-19 (b) (1) is based on comparable provisions of the New York Penal Code and the Model Penal Code. The commentary to the comparable section of the Model Penal Code states: “The Institute voted not to require retreat from the actor’s dwelling when he is assailed by another person whose dwelling it also is . . . .” Model Penal Code, § 3.04 (2) (b) (ii) (1) (Proposed Official Draft 1962) p. 49. In view of the plain language and the derivation of § 53a-19 (b) (1), I believe that the majority usurps the legislature’s authority by rejecting the statute’s limitation on the retreat doctrine. See State v. *390Clemente, 166 Conn. 501, 509-10, 353 A.2d 723 (1974); Consolidated Diesel Electric Corporation v. Stamford, 156 Conn. 33, 39, 238 A.2d 410 (1968).
Because the court’s self-defense instruction was erroneous, I would order a new trial.
In this opinion Healey, J., concurred.