Rule text
(a) Unless otherwise provided in this section, a defendant who is not released from custody sooner shall be brought before a judicial authority for arraignment no later than the first court day following arrest. A defendant not in custody shall appear for arraignment in person at the time and place specified in the summons or the terms of release, or at such other date or place fixed by the judicial authority.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, any defendant who is hospitalized, has escaped, or is otherwise incapacitated shall be presented for arraignment no later than the next court day following such defendant's medical discharge or return to police custody or a determination that the defendant is no longer incapacitated.
(c) The judicial authority may, upon motion of any party or upon its own motion, and for good cause shown, arraign remotely, via interactive audiovisual device or other remote technology, any defendant who is hospitalized or otherwise incapacitated or, if a remote arraignment is not feasible, arraign the defendant without his or her presence. Upon request, the judicial authority shall provide counsel for the defendant with a reasonable opportunity to consult with the defendant privately prior to any hearing on such motion and any arraignment conducted pursuant to this subsection. For the purposes of this subsection, "good cause" includes, but is not limited to, a risk that the defendant's constitutional rights may be violated were the defendant's arraignment to be conducted in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.
(d) An arraignment conducted in accordance with subsection (c) of this section shall, in all other respects, be carried out in accordance with the rules and procedures otherwise applicable to arraignments, and any such arraignment shall be considered to have complied with the requirements set forth in General Statutes § 54-1g.
(e) Any defendant whom the court has arraigned pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and who has not posted bond or been otherwise released from custody prior to his or her medical discharge or a determination that he or she is no longer incapacitated shall be presented to the court no later than the next court day following his or her medical discharge or the determination that he or she is no longer incapacitated.
(f) Any defendant whom the court has arraigned pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall have the right to de novo review of any orders entered at such arraignment.
Notes
(Amended June 11, 2021, to take effect Jan. 1, 2022.)
(P.B. 1978-1997, Sec. 635.) (Amended June 11, 2021, to take effect Jan. 1, 2022.)
COMMENTARY-2022: This section has been amended to allow the judicial authority to arraign a defendant remotely or without his or her presence if the defendant is hospitalized or otherwise incapacitated. Although defendants have a fundamental constitutional right to be physically present at all critical stages of trial; Rushen v. Spain, 464 U.S. 114, 117, 104 S. Ct. 453, 78 L. Ed. 2d 267 (1983); including arraignment, this change is intended to balance a defendant's right to be physically present at arraignment with his or her other constitutional rights such as the right to counsel, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to be released on bail. This change is also intended to provide greater First Amendment access to the public in cases where the public might otherwise be excluded from an arraignment that needs to take place in a hospital room due to the defendant's extended hospitalization. It is the intent that arraignments conducted pursuant to new subsection (c) of this section, particularly arraignments conducted without the presence of the defendant, be conducted sparingly and only upon good cause.