Petronella v. Eppoliti, No. Cv-93-0525204 (Apr. 19, 1994)
This text of 1994 Conn. Super. Ct. 4044 (Petronella v. Eppoliti, No. Cv-93-0525204 (Apr. 19, 1994)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
A claim that an action is barred by the lapse of the statute of limitations must be pleaded as a special defense, not raised by a motion to strike. Practice Book 164; see Mac's Car City, Inc. v. DeNigris,
18 Conn. App. 525 ,528 ,559 A.2d 713 (1989). The "advantage of the statute of limitations cannot be taken by [a motion to CT Page 4045 strike] . . . [T]he objection to this mode of pleading is that it raises no issue" and "deprives the plaintiff of the opportunity to reply a new promise, or an acknowledgement." O'Connor v. Waterbury,69 Conn. 206 ,210 ,37 A. 499 (1897). A motion to strike might also deprive a plaintiff of an opportunity to plead matters in avoidance of the statute of limitations defense.
That decision pointed out two limited exceptions to the prohibition against raising the statute of limitations in a motion to strike: (1) when the parties have agreed that all the facts necessary to rule on the statute of limitations defense are present in the complaint, and (2) where the statute provides a right of action that did not exist at common law. Id., 239-40. Since neither exception seems to apply in the present case, defendants' motion to strike is an inappropriate vehicle to raise the defense of statute of limitations.
Motion to Strike denied.
Wagner, J.
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
Related
Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
1994 Conn. Super. Ct. 4044, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petronella-v-eppoliti-no-cv-93-0525204-apr-19-1994-connsuperct-1994.