24 Conn. App. 81 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1991
The plaintiffs
The plaintiffs are the owners and the lessee of a warehouse located at 8 Rose Hill Avenue, Danbury, in which the second floor collapsed. The second floor was an addition constructed by Kapetan utilizing the designs of an architect, John Cruet, and the structural expertise of an engineer, Marx. Kapetan substantially completed the floor on July 31, 1979, and it collapsed in September, 1986. The plaintiffs commenced this action on July 22 and 23, 1987.
Cruet filed a motion for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations, which the trial court, Hickey, J., denied.
A judge is not bound to follow the earlier decisions of another judge in the same proceedings. If the same point of law is raised again in the proceedings before another judge, the question may be reconsidered if the court believes it was incorrectly decided earlier. Thus, the law of the case principle is a flexible concept, adaptable to the exigencies of different cases. “The adoption of a different view of the law by a judge in acting upon a motion for summary judgment than that of his [or her] predecessor in considering such a motion or some other pretrial motion is a common illustration of this principle. . . . From the vantage point of an appellate court it would hardly be sensible to reverse a correct ruling by a second judge on the simplistic ground that it departed from the law of the case established by an earlier ruling.” (Citations omitted.) Breen v. Phelps, 186 Conn. 86, 100, 439 A.2d 1066 (1982).
Summary judgment shall be rendered if the pleadings, affidavits and other proof submitted show that
General Statutes § 52-584a provides in part that “No action . . . shall be brought . . . more than seven years after substantial completion .... (b) Notwithstanding [the above] . . . an injury to property . . . which . . . occurred during the seventh year after such substantial completion . . . may be brought within one year after the date on which such injury occurred . . . but in no event . . . more than eight years after substantial completion . . . .” We agree with the second trial court that the injury must occur within the seven years, but the action may be brought in the eighth if the injury occurs in the seventh year.
Where legislative intent is clear, and the language used is unambiguous, there is no room for statutory construction. B. Holden & J. Daly, Connecticut Evidence § 50. When a statute does not define a term, however, it is appropriate to consult the common understanding expressed in the law and in dictionaries. Beloff v. Progressive Casualty Ins. Co., 203 Conn. 45, 49, 523 A.2d 477 (1987).
Ballentine’s Law Dictionary (3d Ed.) defines during as “[throughout a period of time” and “[a] point of time within a period.” Webster, Third New International Dictionary defines during as “[throughout the continuance or course of” and “at some point in the course
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
The plaintiffs Sanford Haufman and Stanley Klein are also coexecutors of the estate of the decedent, Samuel Young. The plaintiff Fairfield Processing Corporation is the lessee of certain property owned by the coexecutors.
The other, unnamed defendants are Kapetan, Inc., a general contractor, and John Cruet, a licensed architect.
The defendant John Cruet and the plaintiffs have agreed to be bound by this decision.
General Statutes § 52-584a provides in pertinent part: “(a) No action . . . shall be brought against any architect or professional engineer per
“(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, in the case of such an injury to property . . . which injury occurred during the seventh year after such substantial completion, an action in tort to recover damages for such an injury or wrongful death may be brought within one year after the date on which such injury occurred . . . but in no event may such an action be brought more than eight years after the substantial completion of construction of such an improvement.” (Emphasis added.)