In civil actions a jury shall be deemed waived unless requested by either party in accordance with the provisions of section
52-215.
(1959, P.A. 28, S. 32; 1963, P.A. 418; 1971, P.A. 40, S. 4; 652, S. 1; P.A. 74-183, S. 67, 291; P.A. 75-577, S. 3, 126; P.A. 76-436, S. 81, 681; P.A. 80-313, S. 54.)
History: 1963 act specified that there is no right to jury trial in summary process case where no money damages are claimed; 1971 acts revised provision re trial by six-person jury in circuit court to specify applicability to “criminal” trials and to delete clause which allowed a party to the action to claim a full jury of twelve; P.A. 74-183 replaced circuit court with court of common pleas, reflecting transfer of circuit court functions to common pleas court, and removed from prohibition against right to jury trial civil actions where amount, legal interest or property in demand does not exceed $250 and summary process cases where no money damages are claimed, effective December 31, 1974; P.A. 75-577 revised prohibition re right to trial by jury to change maximum penalty from fine of $50 to fine of $99; Sec. 51-266 transferred to Sec. 51-164d in 1975; P.A. 76-436 amended provision re trial by jury of six to delete reference to trial by court of common pleas, all trial jurisdiction having been transferred to superior court and to add exception, effective July 1, 1978; Sec. 51-164d transferred to Sec. 51-239b in the 1977 Court Reorganization Supplement; P.A. 80-313 deleted detailed provisions governing right to trial by jury where fine would exceed $99 or imprisonment would exceed 30 days or where party to criminal action demands trial by jury of issues so triable by right and provisions re judge's duty to notify defendant of right to jury, re waiver of right and re six-person juries.
See Sec. 54-82 re accused's election of trial by court or jury.
See Sec. 54-82b re right to trial by jury.
Annotations to former sections 51-164d and 51-266:
Under former statute, accused was not entitled to a jury trial before justice of the peace. 12 C. 454. Cited. 222 C. 591.
Accused in any criminal case, proceeding or prosecution may elect, when called upon to plead, to be tried by court instead of by jury. 33 CS 739.
Language of statute unequivocal, criteria based on 1808 statute essentially unchanged and constitutional rights not violated; jury trial not mandatory when accused presented on information for violation of Sec. 53-300. 4 Conn. Cir. Ct. 494. Cited. 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 452, 527. Statute is constitutional denial of trial by jury. Id., 558.
Annotations to present section:
Cited. 40 CA 261.
Cited. 36 CS 551; Id., 578; 37 CS 693.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
10
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1980–2025 · leading case:
Javit v. Marshall's, Inc., 670 A.2d 886 (Conn. App. Ct. 1996).
Javit v. Marshall's, Inc., 670 A.2d 886 (Conn. App. Ct. 1996).
· cites it 4× “On July 21, 1992, within ten days of the second closing of the pleadings, the plaintiffs filed a claim for a jury trial. 3 On August 20, 1992, the defendants filed a motion to strike the case from the jury docket, claiming that the plaintiffs had failed to file their jury claim…”
Marra v. Comm'r of Corr., 166 A.3d 678 (Conn. App. Ct. 2017).
· cites it 2× “See General Statutes § 51-239b. As Judge Sferrazza highlighted in his memorandum of decision, the petitioner here "participated personally in the decision to withdraw the previous habeas matter the day before trial was to begin.”
Hammer v. Posta, 155 A.3d 801 (Conn. App. Ct. 2017).
· cites it 4× “" General Statutes § 51-239b provides: "In civil actions a jury shall be deemed waived unless requested by either party in accordance with the provisions of section 52-215.”
Palumbo v. Barbadimos, 163 Conn. App. 100 (Conn. App. Ct. 2016).
· cites it 4× “General Statutes § 51-239b provides: ‘‘In civil actions a jury shall be deemed waived unless requested by either party in accordance with the provisions of section 52-215.”
State v. Wheeler, 435 A.2d 372 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1981).
· cites it 2× “” The defendant’s claim of a constitutional right of jury trial upon a charge of operating an unregistered motor vehicle raises the issue of the validity of the provision of General Statutes § 51-239b (Rev. to 1979) that “[tjhere shall be no right to trial by jury in criminal…”
State v. Anonymous (1980-8), 36 Conn. Supp. 551 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1980).
· cites it 6× “I General Statutes § 51-239b provides for the right of jury trial in any criminal action except where the maximum penalty is a fine of ninety-nine dollars or a sentence of thirty days, or both.”
Barr v. MFI Mgmt., Inc., 345 A.3d 410 (Conn. App. Ct. 2025).
“2d 40 (1976) (trial court’s refusal to strike case from jury docket was not abuse of its discretion even though request for jury was not filed within statutory period and case was erroneously entered on jury docket in first instance); see also, e.”
Delahunty v. Targonski, 158 Conn. App. 741 (Conn. App. Ct. 2015).
· cites it 2× “On April 18, 2013, the Gaffeys filed a motion for a court trial and certified that a copy of their motion was sent to the plaintiff’s counsel.”
State v. Anonymous (1980-9), 36 Conn. Supp. 578 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1980).
· cites it 2× “General Statutes § 51-239b provides in part as follows: “In criminal proceedings the judge shall advise the accused of his right to trial by jury at the time he is put to plea and, if the accused does not then claim a jury, his right thereto shall be deemed waived, but if a…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.