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****************************************************** The ``officially released'' date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the ``officially released'' date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the ``officially released'' date. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ****************************************************** DAWN KUSZNIR v. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF THE CITY OF SHELTON ET AL. (AC 18613)
Schaller, Hennessy and Daly, Js. Argued May 9--officially released October 17, 2000 Counsel

John R. Williams, with whom, on the brief, was William S. Palmieri, for the appellant (plaintiff). Thomas J. Welch, with whom, on the brief, was John H. Welch, Jr., for the appellee (defendant).
Opinion

DALY, J. The plaintiff, Dawn Kusznir, appeals from the judgment of the trial court finding her in civil contempt for failing to comply with a cease and desist order prohibiting her from harboring two Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs on her property in violation of Shelton's zoning ordinances.1 On appeal, the plaintiff claims that at the contempt hearing, the court denied her due process of law by (1) refusing to let her witness testify, (2) failing to permit her to present a defense and (3) imposing a fine for contempt on the basis of her failure to comply with the cease and desist order without first

allowing her to present a defense to the motion for contempt.2 We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The following facts and procedural history are relevant to a disposition of this appeal. The plaintiff resides at 34 Birch Bank Road, Shelton, on 0.36 acres in an R1 residential zone. Two Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs also reside on the plaintiff's property. Shelton zoning regulations prohibit the keeping of livestock on lots smaller than two acres.3 In 1994, a neighbor complained about the pigs and the defendant zoning enforcement officer4 issued a cease and desist order to the plaintiff for maintaining livestock on property of less than two acres in a residential zone. A second cease and desist order was issued on May 11, 1994. The defendant zoning board of appeals of the city of Shelton (board) upheld that order on June 21, 1994. On September 29, 1994, the Superior Court sustained the board's decision and allowed the plaintiff thirty days to find other accommodations for the animals. On November 9, 1994, this court denied the plaintiff's petition for certification to appeal from the trial court's judgment. The plaintiff then unsuccessfully pursued a boustrophedonic course in the federal courts. On April 28, 1998, the board filed a motion for contempt claiming that the plaintiff failed to remove the pigs pursuant to the cease and desist order. The plaintiff subpoenaed Mark A. Lauretti, the mayor of Shelton, to testify at a hearing on the contempt motion held on June 30, 1998. The board moved to quash the subpoena. At the hearing, Richard J. Chaffee, a Fairfield County deputy sheriff, testified that he saw the pigs at the plaintiff's residence. The court then questioned the plaintiff's attorney concerning the nature of Lauretti's testimony. The plaintiff's attorney explained that Lauretti's testimony would support the plaintiff's defense that due to her state of mind, she was unable to obey the court order. The court, however, did not permit Lauretti to testify. The court found that the plaintiff violated the cease and desist order, and ordered her to remove the animals from the premises by July 10, 1998, but granted her the right to request additional time to comply. The court ordered further that, if the plaintiff failed to comply with the order, she would be fined $350 for court costs plus $40 per day for each day of noncompliance. This appeal followed. The plaintiff first claims that her due process rights were violated by the court's refusal to allow Lauretti to testify. We disagree. The plaintiff claims that Lauretti's testimony would have addressed the reasonableness of her belief that she was not required to comply with the court order. In the plaintiff's attorney's offer of proof, however, he merely stated that he would ``like to inquire [whether

Lauretti] has some trepidations about the enforcement action that is being taken by agents of the city of Shelton.'' ``The standard to be used to review a trial court's decision on the relevance and admissibility of evidence is abuse of discretion. . . . The trial court has wide discretion to determine the relevancy of evidence . . . . Every reasonable presumption should be made in favor of the correctness of the court's ruling in determining whether there has been an abuse of discretion.'' (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Pender v. Matranga, 58 Conn. App. 19, 27

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