Court Opinion

ID: 9693499
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:45:16.269892+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:47.651538
License: Public Domain

Arthur H. Healey, J.
(dissenting). I concur in the dissenting opinion of Justice Bogdanski. I would, however, make certain other observations. I think that the majority has not observed the proper function of this court on review of the decision of the trial court. See Practice Book, 1978, § 3060D. We have recently stated: “On appeal, it is the function of this court to determine whether the decision of the trial court is clearly erroneous. See Practice Book, 1978, § 3060D. This involves a two part function: where the legal conclusions of the court are challenged, we must determine whether they are legally and logically correct and whether they find support in the facts set out in the memorandum of decision; where the factual basis of the court’s decision is challenged we must determine whether the facts set out in the memorandum of decision are supported by the evidence or whether, in the light of the evidence and the pleadings in the whole record, those facts are clearly erroneous. That is the standard and scope of this court’s review of the *309trial court. Beyond that, we will not go.” Pandolphe’s Auto Parts, Inc. v. Manchester, 181 Conn. 217, 221-22, 435 A.2d 34 (1980).
The majority does not refer to undisputed facts concerning events that took place after 1921 that, nonetheless, shed light on the intention and effect of the 1921 resolution. These facts, recited in Justice Bogdanski’s dissenting opinion, are characterized by the majority as “conduct [that] deviated from the normal practices of more orthodox methodist churches.” The majority concludes that any such deviation presents an “ecclesiastical matter to be adjudicated not by us but by the proper authorities within the hierarchical church.” I believe that either a civil court has constitutional authority to decide, in order to settle title to real property, whether Bound Hill separated from the Methodist Church or it does not. If it does, then all the facts as disclosed by the memorandum of decision and the undisputed facts; see Pandolphe’s Auto Parts, Inc. v. Manchester, supra; which bear on that ultimate conclusion of fact should be considered. These facts, which reflect the intention and effect of the 1921 resolution, were therefore relevant in the trial court and should be considered by this court in deciding whether the subordinate facts found by the trial court support the trial court’s ultimate conclusions. When all the facts are considered, it is evident to me that the trial court’s decision is not “clearly erroneous.”
Turning to the property claims themselves, as the majority points out, the issues relating to them are inextricably joined to and controlled by the decision relating to separation. Once the trial court’s decision relating to separation is sustained or set aside, *310the property claims are accordingly determined. Therefore, I also believe that the majority incorrectly concluded that the trial court erred with respect to the resolution of the property claims.
Finally, although it might be argued that the trial court could have reached the result reached by the majority, that is not the issue on appeal. “We do not examine the record to determine whether the trier of fact could have reached a conclusion other than the one reached. Rather, we focus on the conclusion of the trial court, as well as the method by which it arrived at that conclusion, to determine whether it is legally and factually supported.” Pandolphe’s Auto Parts, Inc. v. Manchester, supra, 222.
The trial court heard the witnesses and considered a plethora of documentary evidence. It prepared a thorough memorandum, forty-three pages in length. To set the trial court’s decision aside, it must be “clearly erroneous”; Practice Book, 1978, § 3060D; and that test has not been met here. Therefore, I dissent.