Szekeres v. Dridi

126 Conn.App. 829

16 A.3d 713

Steven SZEKERES et al.

v.Joyce SZEKERES et al.Steven Szekeres et al.

v.Chaker Dridi et al.

Nos. 30337

30338

30339.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued Dec. 2, 2010.Decided March 1, 2011.

Thomas J. Weihing, Bridgeport, with whom were Virginia C. Foreman, and, on the brief, Janice L. Rosenfeld and John T. Bochanis, Bridgeport, for the appellants (plaintiffs in all three cases).Zbigniew J. Rozbicki, Torrington, and William J. Melley III, Hartford, for the appellees (defendant Joyce Szekeres et al. in AC 30337 and AC 30338).William J. Melley III, Hartford, for the appellees (defendant Chaker Dridi et al. in AC 30339).BISHOP, ROBINSON and SCHALLER, Js.BISHOP, J.

These consolidated appeals stem from a family dispute regarding the use and occupancy and ownership of certain real property. The plaintiffs, Steven Szekeres and Denise Miller, appeal from the judgments of the trial court, following a jury trial, in favor of the various defendants, Joyce Szekeres, Chaker Dridi and Stephanie Dridi.¹ We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The following facts, as reasonably could have been found by the jury, and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of the plaintiffs' appeals. Until approximately February 1, 2000, Steven Szekeres and his wife, Miller, resided at 39 Hillside Lane, Monroe, which was owned by Steven Szekeres' mother, Joyce Szekeres. Steven Szekeres resided in that home pursuant to an agreement with his mother, who resided primarily in Florida since the time of her retirement in the mid–1990s. On September 14, 1999, however, the plaintiffs were served with an eviction notice. On November 22, 1999, the parties entered into a stipulated agreement providing that the plaintiffs would vacate the premises, with a stay of execution through February 1, 2000.

Stephanie Dridi, Steven Szekeres' sister and Joyce Szekeres' daughter, and Stephanie Dridi's husband, Chaker Dridi, resided in West Hartford. On September 19, 1999, the plaintiffs went to the Dridis' residence in West Hartford to retrieve some tools that the Dridis had borrowed from Steven Szekeres. The Dridis, along with Joyce Szekeres, met Steven Szekeres and his wife on the front lawn where a verbal altercation ensued. Stephanie Dridi called the police, and the plaintiffs left the premises with no arrests being made.

Subsequently, Stephanie Dridi went to the West Hartford police station and spoke with the victim's advocate, Denise C. Schaeffer. Stephanie Dridi told Schaeffer that she was concerned because Steven Szekeres had made threats against the defendants in the past and she knew that he had guns. Schaeffer then invited Joyce Szekeres to come to the police station to speak with her. Joyce Szekeres told Schaeffer that Steven Szekeres had been troubled for a long time, but that the incident on September 19, 1999, made her fearful because he appeared to be getting increasingly violent with her. She also told Schaeffer that Steven Szekeres owned guns and that he had threatened her in the past. Consequently, on November 12, 1999, Steven Szekeres was arrested in connection with the incident that occurred on September 19, 1999, and was charged with assault of a victim sixty or older in the third degree, threatening and breach of the peace. Steven Szekeres pleaded no contest to the breach of the peace charge and, on November 30, 1999, the court issued an order that neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants were to have any contact with each other.

On February 1, 2000, at the request of Joyce Szekeres, the Dridis went to the Monroe home. On their arrival, they saw that the driveway had not been shoveled and that there were no footprints or tire marks in the snow. They discovered a very large ice accumulation where it appeared that an outdoor faucet had been left in the open position. In the back of the house, they noticed that a number of windows had been left open despite the cold temperatures. After Stephanie Dridi gained access to the house by breaking a window in the kitchen door, she discovered that doors had been nailed shut with two-by-four boards, the heat was set to its highest temperature setting, wallpaper had been randomly torn from the walls, fixtures were missing, the kitchen wall had a large handwritten message on it, a washing machine was missing, feces were on the floor, and the house was littered with trash and smelled of urine. There were also three cats caged in the garage. Stephanie Dridi called the Monroe police to report the damage and called the animal control officer to tend to the cats.

Shortly after the police arrived, the plaintiffs arrived with a moving van to retrieve their remaining items, including the cats. The police officers told the plaintiffs that they could remove belongings from the garage only and that the Dridis would remain inside the house. At some point, while retrieving his items, Steven Szekeres climbed a ladder that led to the room in the house in which the Dridis were waiting. Although Steven Szekeres alleged that Chaker Dridi assaulted him, the police officers did not witness any injury to support that allegation. Steven Szekeres was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for failing to obey the police order to limit his presence to the garage. Following a trial, Steven Szekeres was found not guilty of disorderly conduct.

On the basis of the foregoing facts, the plaintiffs instituted three legal actions against the defendants in the Superior Court. Additionally, the plaintiffs instituted two federal actions in which the defendants were named. The federal actions were dismissed, and the three Superior Court cases were consolidated for purposes of a single jury trial. On June 5, 2008, the jury returned verdicts in each of the actions, from which the plaintiffs have appealed. We address each of the appeals in turn.

IAC 30337

On March 7, 2000, the plaintiffs filed a complaint in housing court in Bridgeport, against the defendants, alleging forcible entry and detainer, as well as illegal lockout and a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42–110a et seq.² The defendants filed an answer and special defenses alleging that (1) the premises had been abandoned, (2) the lease had expired, (3) nuisance and (4) fraud. Joyce Szekeres also filed a counterclaim alleging wilful and malicious destruction in count one, and statutory theft in count two. The plaintiffs filed a reply to the special defenses, as well as an answer to the counterclaim.

The housing matter was transferred to the regular civil docket in the Fairfield judicial district on March 29, 2006. The three consolidated cases were tried to a jury. The court directed a verdict against the plaintiffs as to their CUTPA claim. At the conclusion of trial, the jury returned verdict forms and interrogatories to the court. The jury found in favor of the defendants on the remaining counts of the plaintiffs' complaint, namely, the counts alleging forcible entry and detainer, illegal lockout and conversion. As to the counterclaim, the jury found in favor of Joyce Szekeres on count one, which alleged wilful and malicious destruction of property, and awarded her damages of $35,000. The jury found in favor of the plaintiffs on Joyce Szekeres' statutory theft claim. This appeal followed.

A

In this appeal, the plaintiffs first claim that the jury's verdicts regarding forcible entry and illegal lockout and detainer, conversion, and wilful and malicious destruction of property were against the weight of the evidence. In essence, the plaintiffs claim that the evidence in support of their position was so compelling that the jury could not have found against them. We view this, then, as a sufficiency of evidence claim. “[T]he standards governing our review of a sufficiency of evidence claim are well established and rigorous.... [I]t is not the function of this court to sit as the seventh juror when we review the sufficiency of the evidence ... rather, we must determine, in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict, whether the totality of the evidence, including reasonable inferences therefrom, supports the jury's verdict.... In making this determination, [t]he evidence must be given the most favorable construction in support of the verdict of which it is reasonably capable.... In other words, [i]f the jury could reasonably have reached its conclusion, the verdict must stand, even if this court disagrees with it.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Carrano v. Yale–New Haven Hospital, 279 Conn. 622, 645–46, 904 A.2d 149 (2006).

As to the plaintiffs' claim for forcible entry and illegal lockout and detainer, the plaintiffs cite to General Statutes § 47a–43 (a), which provides: “When any person (1) makes forcible entry into any land, tenement or dwelling unit and with a strong hand detains the same, or (2) having made a peaceable entry, without the consent of the actual possessor, holds and detains the same with force and strong hand, or (3) enters into any land, tenement or dwelling unit and causes damage to the premises or damage to or removal of or detention of the personal property of the possessor, or (4) when the party put out of possession would be required to cause damage to the premises or commit a breach of the peace in order to regain possession, the party thus ejected, held out of possession, or suffering damage may exhibit his complaint to any judge of the Superior Court.” In their brief to this court, the plaintiffs argue that “there was compelling evidence and testimony that would have supported a finding for the plaintiffs.” As noted, however, that is not the standard by which we review the jury's verdict. Rather, we examine the record to determine if there is evidence upon which the jury could reasonably have based its verdict.

The defendants raised three special defenses, on which the court instructed the jury, namely, abandonment, entry...