Title 54 — Title 54: Criminal Procedure

Sec. 54-82q. Temporary restraining order prohibiting harassment of witness. (a) Upon application of a prosecutorial official, a court may issue a temporary restraining order prohibiting the harassment of a witness in a criminal case if the court finds, from specific facts shown b…

Sec. 54-82r. Protective order prohibiting harassment of witness. (a) Upon application of a prosecutorial official, a court may issue a protective order prohibiting the harassment of a witness in a criminal case if the court, after a hearing at which hearsay evidence shall be admi…

Sec. 54-82s. The Leroy Brown, Jr. and Karen Clarke Witness Protection Program. The program of providing protective services to witnesses under sections 54-82t and 54-82u shall be known as the “The Leroy Brown, Jr. and Karen Clarke Witness Protection Program”. (P.A. 99-247, S. 6.)…

Sec. 54-82t. Protective services for witness at risk of harm. (a) For the purposes of this section and section 54-82u: (1) “Witness” means any person who is summoned, or who may be summoned, to give testimony in a criminal proceeding, and includes a member of the immediate family…

Sec. 54-82u. Witness protection agreement. (a) In order to receive protective services under section 54-82t, the witness shall enter into a written agreement with the Chief State's Attorney. The witness protection agreement shall be in writing and shall specify the responsibiliti…

Sec. 54-83. Testimony in case where crime is punishable by death or life imprisonment without possibility of release. No person may be convicted of any crime punishable by death or life imprisonment without the possibility of release without the testimony of at least two witnesse…

Sec. 54-84. Testimony or silence of accused. (a) Any person on trial for crime shall be a competent witness, and at his or her option may testify or refuse to testify upon such trial. The neglect or refusal of an accused party to testify shall not be commented upon by the court o…

Sec. 54-84a. Testimony against spouse. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, in any criminal proceeding, a person may elect or refuse to testify against his or her then lawful spouse. (b) The testimony of a spouse may be compelled, in the same manner as for an…

Sec. 54-84b. Testimony of spouse re confidential communications. (a) For the purposes of this section, “confidential communication” means any oral or written communication made between spouses during a marriage that is intended to be confidential and is induced by the affection, …

Sec. 54-85. Witness to testify with regard to bribery at elections. A person summoned as a witness to testify regarding bribery at any election shall not be excused from testifying because his evidence may tend to disgrace or criminate him, nor shall he thereafter be prosecuted f…

Sec. 54-85a. Sequestering of witnesses in criminal prosecution. In any criminal prosecution, the court, upon motion of the state or the defendant, shall cause any witness to be sequestered during the hearing on any issue or motion or any part of the trial of such prosecution in w…

Sec. 54-85b. Employment protection for witnesses and victims of crime. Penalty. Action for damages and reinstatement. (a) An employer shall not deprive an employee of employment, penalize or threaten or otherwise coerce an employee with respect to employment, because (1) the empl…

Sec. 54-85c. Representative of homicide victim entitled to be present at trial of defendant. Exclusion. Hearing. (a) For the purposes of this section, “representative of a homicide victim” means the legal representative of a victim of a homicide or a member of such victim's immed…

Sec. 54-85d. Employer not to discharge employee who attends court as family member of or person designated by homicide victim. An employer shall not deprive an employee of employment, or threaten or otherwise coerce such employee with respect thereto, because the employee, as a p…

Sec. 54-85e. Photograph of deceased victim shown to jury during opening and closing arguments. A photograph not to exceed eight inches by ten inches solely of a deceased victim prior to the date of the offense for which the defendant is being tried, that is a fair and accurate re…

Sec. 54-85f. Victim of violent crime or representative of deceased victim permitted to attend court proceedings. Any victim of a violent crime or the legal representative or member of the immediate family of a victim who is deceased shall be permitted to attend all court proceedi…

Sec. 54-85g. Advisement to crime victims re constitutional rights by judge at arraignment. In order to ensure that any victim coming before the court has been advised of the victim's constitutional rights, any judge of the Superior Court shall, at the daily commencement of the re…

Sec. 54-86. Depositions. (a) In any case involving an offense for which the punishment may be imprisonment for more than one year, the Superior Court or a judge thereof may, upon the application of the accused, or of the state in the case of a witness who is infirm and seventy-fi…

Sec. 54-86a. Certain evidence to be made available to defendant. (a) Upon motion of a defendant at any time after the filing of the indictment or information, and upon a showing that the items sought may be material to the preparation of his defense and that the request is reason…

Sec. 54-86b. Right of accused to examine statements. (a) In any criminal prosecution, after a witness called by the prosecution has testified on direct examination, the court shall on motion of the defendant order the prosecution to produce any statement oral or written of the wi…

Sec. 54-86c. Disclosure of exculpatory information or material. (a) Not later than thirty days after any defendant enters a plea of not guilty in a criminal case, the state's attorney, assistant state's attorney or deputy assistant state's attorney in charge of the case shall dis…

Sec. 54-86d. Nondisclosure of address and telephone number by victims of certain crimes. Any person who has been the victim of a sexual assault under section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2019, or section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-70c, 53a-71…

Sec. 54-86e. Confidentiality of identifying information pertaining to victims of certain crimes. Availability of information to accused. Protective order information to be entered in registry. The name and address of the victim of a sexual assault under section 53a-70b of the gen…

Sec. 54-86f. Admissibility of evidence of sexual conduct. (a) In any prosecution for sexual assault under sections 53a-70, 53a-70a and 53a-71 to 53a-73a, inclusive, no evidence of the sexual conduct of the victim may be admissible unless such evidence is (1) offered by the defend…

Sec. 54-86g. Testimony of victim of child abuse. Court may order testimony taken outside courtroom. Procedure. (a) In any criminal prosecution of an offense involving assault, sexual assault or abuse of a child twelve years of age or younger, the court may, upon motion of the att…

Sec. 54-86h. Competency of child as witness. No witness shall be automatically adjudged incompetent to testify because of age and any child who is a victim of assault, sexual assault or abuse shall be competent to testify without prior qualification. The weight to be given the ev…

Sec. 54-86i. Testimony of expert witness re mental state or condition of defendant. No expert witness testifying with respect to the mental state or condition of a defendant in a criminal case may state an opinion or inference as to whether the defendant did or did not have the m…

Sec. 54-86j. Polygraph examination of victims of sexual assault restricted. (a) No member of any municipal police department, the state police or the Division of Criminal Justice may request or require any victim of a sexual assault under section 53a-70b of the general statutes, …

Sec. 54-86k. Admissibility of results of DNA analysis. (a) In any criminal proceeding, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) testing shall be deemed to be a reliable scientific technique and the evidence of a DNA profile comparison may be admitted to prove or disprove the identity of any p…

Sec. 54-86l. Admissibility in criminal or juvenile proceeding of statement by child twelve years of age or younger at time of statement relating to sexual offense or offense involving physical abuse against the child. (a) Notwithstanding any other rule of evidence or provision of…

Sec. 54-86m. Reproduction of property or material that constitutes child sexual abuse material prohibited. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 54-86a, in any criminal proceeding, any property or material that constitutes child sexual abuse material shall remain in the care,…

Sec. 54-86n. Appointment of advocate in proceeding re the welfare or custody of a cat or dog. Advocate's duties. Department of Agriculture to maintain list of eligible advocates. (a) In any prosecution under section 53-247, or in any court proceeding pursuant to section 22-329a o…

Sec. 54-86o. Jailhouse witnesses in a criminal prosecution. (a) In any criminal prosecution, upon written request by a defendant filed with the court, but not requiring an order of the court, the defendant may request of the prosecutorial official whether such official intends to…

Sec. 54-86p. Hearing re reliability and admissibility of jailhouse witness testimony in criminal prosecutions. (a) In any criminal prosecution of a defendant for a violation of section 53a-54a, 53a-54b, 53a-54c, 53a-54d, 53a-70, 53a-70a or 53a-70c, upon a motion of the defendant …

Sec. 54-86q. Use of deception or coercive tactics during an interrogation. (a) As used in this section, “deception or coercive tactics” includes, but is not limited to, any tactic that: (1) Unreasonably deprives the person being interrogated of physical or mental health needs tha…

Sec. 54-87. Demurrer. Section 54-87 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 8803; P.A. 80-313, S. 61.)

Sec. 54-88. State to open and close arguments. In any criminal trial, the counsel for the state shall be entitled to open and close the argument. (1949 Rev., S. 8804.) There is no rigid requirement that prosecutor's final summation must be limited solely to rebuttal of matters ra…

Sec. 54-89. Direction of court to jury. The court shall decide all issues of law and all questions of law arising in the trial of criminal cases. In committing the cause to the jury, if in the opinion of the court the evidence is not sufficient to justify the finding of guilt bey…

Sec. 54-89a. Court to inform jury on consequences of a finding of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. If the court instructs the jury on a defense of mental disease or defect raised pursuant to section 53a-13, it shall, unless the defendant affirmatively objects, in…

Secs. 54-90 and 54-90a. Transferred to Chapter 961a, Secs. 54-142a and 54-142b, respectively. PART II SENTENCING AND APPEAL

Sec. 54-91. When sentence to be passed. Section 54-91 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 8807; P.A. 76-336, S. 10.)

Sec. 54-91a. (Formerly Sec. 54-109). Presentence investigation of defendant. (a) No defendant convicted of a crime, other than a capital felony under the provisions of section 53a-54b in effect prior to April 25, 2012, or murder with special circumstances under the provisions of …

Sec. 54-91b. (Formerly Sec. 54-109a). Defendant may request copy of prior record and presentence investigation report. In any case, without a showing of good cause, upon the request of the defendant or his attorney, prior to sentencing, the court shall provide the defendant or hi…

Sec. 54-91c. Testimony of victim or representative of deceased victim prior to acceptance of plea agreement and at sentencing hearing. Terms of proposed plea agreement. Notification by state's attorney. (a) For the purposes of this section, “victim” means a person who is a victim…

Sec. 54-91d. Referral of persons to youth service bureaus. Section 54-91d is repealed. (P.A. 93-432, S. 4, 6; P.A. 95-225, S. 51.)

Sec. 54-91e. Notification of victim through automated system prior to acceptance of plea agreement. On and after the date on which the state-wide automated victim information and notification (SAVIN) system mandated by section 54-235 becomes operational, a victim of a crime who h…

Sec. 54-91f. Apology to victim by person convicted of motor vehicle offense that resulted in death or serious physical injury to another. Inadmissibility in civil or criminal proceeding. Any person convicted of a motor vehicle offense that resulted in the death or serious physica…

Sec. 54-91g. Sentencing of a child for class A or B felony. (a) If the case of a child, as defined in section 46b-120, is transferred to the regular criminal docket of the Superior Court pursuant to section 46b-127 and the child is convicted of a class A or B felony pursuant to s…

Sec. 54-91h. Indication by court at sentencing of defendant's maximum period of imprisonment and eligibility re risk reduction credits and release on parole. Whenever a defendant convicted of one or more crimes receives a definite sentence of more than a two-year term of imprison…

Sec. 54-92. Pronouncement of sentence. Any sentence to imprisonment shall be pronounced by the judge in the presence and hearing of the convicted person. (1949 Rev., S. 8809; P.A. 76-336, S. 13.) History: P.A. 76-336 reworded section to omit reference to imprisonment specifically…