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IN RE JAIME S.* (SC 18629)
Rogers, C. J., and Norcott, Palmer, Zarella, McLachlan, Eveleigh and Vertefeuille, Js. Argued January 4--officially released March 1, 2011

David J. Reich, for the appellant (respondent). Howard I. Gemeiner, for the appellee (petitioner). David E. Cosham, for the minor child. Richard Blumenthal, former attorney general, and Benjamin Zivyon and John E. Tucker, assistant attorneys general, filed a brief for the department of children and families as amicus curiae.

Opinion

PER CURIAM. In 2007, the petitioner mother initiated proceedings to terminate the parental rights of the respondent father with respect to the parties' minor child. In January, 2009, a two day hearing was held, which the respondent was not able to attend in person due to his detention by immigration authorities in New Mexico. The respondent was represented at the hearing by counsel and participated on the first day of the hearing via telephone. On the second day, the immigration authorities prevented him from participating. The trial court denied the request of the respondent's counsel to continue the hearing until the respondent's telephone privileges were restored. The trial court provided the respondent's counsel with a transcript of the hearing, which counsel used for preparing a posttrial brief. Counsel did not request that the proceedings be opened or that he be afforded the opportunity to question further any witness. The court thereafter granted the termination petition. The respondent appealed from the trial court's judgment to the Appellate Court, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court violated his right to due process by denying his motion for a continuance. In re Jaime S., 120 Conn. App. 712, 736, 994 A.2d 233 (2010). The Appellate Court, after applying the test set forth in Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 334

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Connecticut Law