73 Conn. App. 709 | Conn. App. Ct. | 2002
Opinion
The pro se plaintiff, Jeffrey I. Dontigney, appeals from the summary judgment rendered by the trial court in favor of the defendant, Clinton Roberts. The plaintiff claims, inter alia, that the court acted improperly in concluding that his action was barred under the doctrine of res judicata and, therefore, should not have granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
In reviewing the plaintiffs claim that the court acted improperly in granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, we recognize that “[i]n deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Jackson v. R. G. Whipple, Inc., 225 Conn. 705, 712, 627 A.2d 374 (1993). We recognize also that summary judgment is the appropriate method for resolving a claim of res judicata. See id. (“[bjecause res judicata or collateral estoppel, if raised, may be dispositive of a claim, summary judgment was the appropriate method for resolving a claim of res judicata”). “Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final judgment, when rendered on the merits, is an absolute bar to a subsequent action, between the same parties or those in privity with them, upon the same claim.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Milford v. Andresakis, 52 Conn. App. 454, 460, 726 A.2d 1170, cert. denied, 248 Conn. 922, 733 A.2d 845 (1999).
In the present case, the court, in granting the motion for summary judgment, concluded that the present action was barred under res judicata by a final judgment in a small claims action that the plaintiff had commenced against the defendant. In so doing, the court
The evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, supports the court’s decision.
We decline to review the plaintiffs remaining claims because they either are unintelligible or briefed inadequately.
The judgment is affirmed.
Briefly, the facts of this case are as follows. The plaintiff was an inmate at the MacDougall-Walker correctional institution who sought to receive the services of the defendant, a sentencing consultant. The plaintiffs aunt sent the defendant a check for $1000. Subsequently, the plaintiff no longer wanted to avail himself of the defendant’s services. The defendant returned $600 to the plaintiffs aunt, as it determined that it had provided $400 worth of services. The plaintiff then filed a small claims action seeking the return of the $400.