DocketNumber: SC 19778
Citation Numbers: 185 A.3d 591, 329 Conn. 289
Filed Date: 6/19/2018
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 6/24/2022
**290In this certified appeal, the defendant, Christopher Tierinni, appeals from the judgment of the **291Appellate Court affirming the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of four counts of sexual assault in the second degree in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2011) § 53a-71 (a) (1) and three counts of risk of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2011) § 53-21 (a) (2). State v. Tierinni ,
The defendant appealed from the judgment of conviction to the Appellate Court. In that appeal, he claimed that his right to due process was violated because (1) the sidebar conferences were allegedly critical stages of the proceedings and, therefore, (2) he alleged he had a right to be present at the sidebar conferences that had not been adequately waived.
We granted the defendant's petition for certification to appeal, limited to the following questions: (1) "Did the Appellate Court properly conclude that the defendant waived his right to be present at critical stages of the criminal proceedings during arguments on evidentiary objections?" And (2) "If the answer to the first question is 'no,' did the trial court's approach to handling evidentiary objections constitute structural error as a violation of the defendant's right to be present during critical stages of the criminal proceedings?" State v. Tierinni ,
At the outset, we recognize that the first certified question implies that the sidebar conferences constituted "critical stages" of the proceedings. A careful reading of the Appellate Court's decision reveals that it did not decide whether a sidebar conference was, in fact, a critical stage. Rather, the Appellate Court merely concluded that, because the defendant had accepted and acquiesced to the procedure for handling arguments on evidentiary objections, the defendant had waived any claim related to his presence at the sidebar conferences. State v. Tierinni , supra,
**293After examining the entire record on appeal and considering the briefs and oral arguments of the parties before this court, we have determined that the judgment of the Appellate Court should be affirmed. We conclude that the Appellate Court's decision fully addresses the first certified question, as reformulated in this opinion-namely, its conclusion that the defendant had waived any claim regarding his presence at the sidebar conferences by agreeing to the trial court's procedure for handling arguments on evidentiary objections. It would, therefore, serve no purpose for us to repeat the discussion contained in the Appellate Court's decision. Because we answer the first certified question in the affirmative, we do not reach the second question.
*593The judgment of the Appellate Court is affirmed.
To the extent that the question, as originally certified, implied that this court considers a sidebar conference to be a critical stage of the proceedings, we clarify that this court has never addressed whether a sidebar conference is a critical stage of the proceedings, and we do not decide that issue today.
We do not decide today whether a defendant has a right to be present at sidebar conferences on evidentiary objections or whether such conferences constitute critical stages of the proceedings. Nevertheless, we take this opportunity to remind trial judges who utilize sidebar conferences to handle argument on evidentiary objections that they should make a record of all rulings made during those conferences and afford the parties an opportunity to make a complete and adequate record of the sidebar discussions.