The dispositive issue in this appeal is the immediate appealability of a trial court’s denial of a motion to dissolve a judgment lien. The defendant, Carmine S. Stramaglia, moved the trial court to dissolve a judgment lien on his Torrington real estate that
The relevant facts are undisputed. In 1983, the plaintiff obtained a default judgment in New York against the defendant and Pace Communications Corporation in the amount of $474,747.55, including interest and costs. On the basis of this judgment, on August 24, 1987, the plaintiff recorded a judgment lien in the Torrington land records on property owned by the defendant. Thereafter, on October 5, 1987, the plaintiff brought an action to foreclose this judgment lien. Other than obtaining an order of notice to serve the defendant at his residence in New Jersey, the plaintiff did not actively pursue this cause of action.
On October 22,1991, the Supreme Court of the state of New York, Appellate Division, vacated the New York judgment. Ackerson v. Stragmaglia, 176 App. Div. 2d 602,
As a result of the decision of the Appellate Division, from which no further appeal has been taken, the
The jurisdiction of Connecticut appellate courts is limited, with statutory exceptions that are not presently relevant, to decisions of the trial court that constitute final judgments. General Statutes §§ 51-197a, 51-199 and 52-263; see also Practice Book § 4000; Madigan v. Madigan,
Whether the denial of a motion to dissolve a judgment lien is a final judgment for the purposes of an immediate appeal is a question of first impression for this court. The Appellate Court has, however, decided this question adversely to the defendant. Pistorio v. Metro Productions, Inc.,
The proper framework for analysis of the appealability of arguably interlocutory orders of the trial court is to be found in the standard articulated in State v. Curcio,
The denial of a motion to dissolve a judgment lien does not terminate a separate and distinct proceeding. It is true that the defendant might have instituted an independent action to discharge the allegedly invalid lien under General Statutes § 49-51, and a denial of
The denial of the defendant’s motion similarly does not conclude his rights to subsequent plenary relief. Before the Superior Court in Connecticut renders a final judgment in the plaintiff’s foreclosure action, it will have the opportunity to consider the full panoply of issues raised by the judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York and its aftermath. If the defendant is still aggrieved, he will then be entitled to plenary appellate review of all of his claims. The availability of a plenary review at a later time bars an immediate appeal even if there is a constitutional question, pursuant to Connecticut v. Doehr,
The appeal is dismissed.
