State v. Bey

Connecticut Appellate Court·Decided July 21, 2026·No. AC48215·Published

Opinion

************************************************ The “officially released” date that appears near the beginning of an opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it is released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for the filing of postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the “officially released” date appearing in the opinion. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecti- cut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the advance release version of an opinion and the version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying an opinion that appear in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced or distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ************************************************ State v. Bey

STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. HENNY JORDAN BEY (AC 48215) Elgo, Clark and Westbrook, Js.

Syllabus

The plaintiff in error, A Co., a bail bonds company, filed a writ of error chal- lenging the trial court’s denial of its motion for order requesting that the court either order the defendant in error, the state of Connecticut, to enter the rearrest warrant for the criminal defendant, B, who had been located in Arizona, into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database or release A Co. from its obligations on surety bail bonds that it had executed to obtain B’s release from custody. A Co. claimed, inter alia, that the court erred in concluding that the state’s refusal to enter B’s rearrest warrant into the NCIC database did not constitute good cause to release A Co. from its surety bond obligations pursuant to the rule of practice (§ 38-23) and statute (§ 54-65c). Held:

The trial court properly determined that A Co. failed to establish good cause to release it from its surety bond obligations pursuant to Practice Book § 38-23 because the state’s refusal to enter B’s rearrest warrant into the NCIC database did not constitute an act of law for purposes of the rule set forth in Taylor v. Taintor (83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 366), as the state did not remove B from Connecticut or prevent him from appearing in court.

The trial court properly determined that A Co. failed to establish good cause to release it from its surety bond obligations pursuant to § 54-65c, as A Co. did not allege or prove that B had been detained or incarcerated in another state as required under the statute, and this court declined A Co.’s invitation to read into § 54-65c an additional, alternative ground that would entitle a bail bondsman to release from its surety bond obligations upon a showing that the state has declined to enter a defendant’s rearrest warrant into the NCIC database, as such an interpretation would be contrary to well settled tenets of statutory construction requiring this court to interpret a statute according to its plain language and to avoid reading into a clearly expressed statute provisions or requirements not expressed in the language of the statute.

The trial court properly determined that it lacked the authority to order the state to enter B’s rearrest warrant into the NCIC database pursuant to statute (§ 29-164f), as that statute contains no language authorizing a court to do so, and, if the legislature had intended to vest such authority in the trial court, it easily could have done so expressly.

Argued November 20, 2025—officially released July 21, 2026

Procudural History

Writ of error from the decision of the Superior Court in the judicial district of Stamford-Norwalk, geographical State v. Bey

area number one, Hon. Gary J. White, judge trial referee, denying the plaintiff in error’s motion for order seeking, inter alia, release from its obligations on certain surety bonds. Writ of error denied. William B. Westcott, for the plaintiff in error. Timothy F. Costello, supervisory assistant state’s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Paul J. Ferencek, state’s attorney, and Sydelle Exantus, assistant state’s attorney, for the defendant in error.

Opinion

CLARK, J. In this writ of error, the plaintiff in error, Aces Bail Bonds (Aces), claims that the trial court improperly denied its motion for order requesting that the court either order the defendant in error, the state of Connecticut (state), to enter the rearrest warrant for the criminal defendant, Henny Jordan Bey (defen- dant), into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database1 or release Aces from its obligations on certain surety bail bonds. Specifically, Aces claims that the trial court erred in concluding that (1) the state’s refusal to enter the defendant’s rearrest warrant into the NCIC database did not constitute good cause to release Aces from its surety bond obligations pursuant to Practice Book § 38-23 and General Statutes § 54-65c,2 and (2) it lacked the authority to order the state to enter the defendant’s rearrest warrant into the NCIC database pursuant to General Statutes § 29-164f and the court’s 1 “The NCIC database is maintained by the [Federal Bureau of Investi- gation] and aggregates criminal justice information from a variety of sources. Some files in the database contain information about individual persons and are known as person files. Other files contain records regard- ing stolen property. Law enforcement agencies routinely check NCIC records to obtain information concerning persons in custody or under investigation.” Commissioner of Correction v. Freedom of Information Commission, 307 Conn. 53, 58 n.4, 52 A.3d 636 (2012). 2 Although § 54-65c has been amended since the events at issue; see Public Acts 2025, No. 25-25, § 2; that amendment has no bearing on the merits of this appeal. In the interest of simplicity, we refer to the current revision of the statute. State v. Bey

inherent bail authority. We reject Aces’ claims and deny the writ of error. The record reveals the following undisputed facts. On January 13, 2023, the police arrested the defendant and charged him with interfering with an officer in violation of General Statutes § 53a-167a, failure to move over and reduce speed when approaching an emergency vehicle in violation of General Statutes § 14-283b (b), operating a motor vehicle without a license in violation of General Statutes § 14-36 (a), failure to carry a registration certifi- cate and insurance card in violation of General Statutes § 14-13, and failure to wear a safety belt in violation of General Statutes § 14-100a (c) (1). Aces executed a surety bail bond in the amount of $10,000 to obtain the defendant’s release from custody. On January 25, 2023, the defendant was arrested again and charged with interfering with an officer in violation of § 53a-167a, refusal to show a license or reg- istration certificate in violation of General Statutes § 14-217, operating a motor vehicle without a license in violation of § 14-36 (a), and parking within ten feet of a fire hydrant in violation of General Statutes § 14-251 (a). Aces executed a surety bail bond in the amount of $20,000 to obtain the defendant’s release from custody. In April 2024, after the defendant failed to appear in court, the trial court issued a rearrest warrant and ordered the surety bonds totaling $30,000 forfeited.

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