Our client J. Michael Farren authorized us to speak to the Connecticut Law Tribune regarding the Appellate Court’s recent rulings in the civil case. Mr. Farren was involuntarily committed at the Institute of Living during the duration of his civil trial. We anticipate speaking with the Law Tribune shortly.
From last week’s Connecticut Law Tribune:
“The plaintiff and her counsel certainly benefitted from being unopposed at the proceedings. Conversely, the defendant lost nearly four times his life earnings without having the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses or present a defense,” wrote Allison McKeen. “The plaintiff may attempt to justify the trial court’s decision to proceed while the defendant was being held at the [Institute of Living] and physically restrained from attending trial, but this is not a circumstance in which the trial court was entitled to exercise judgment. A trial court has a great deal of discretion when conducting trial, but it never has the discretion to deprive a party of property without due process of law.”
On appeal, Farren asked the judges to adopt a rule stating that involuntary commitment is reasonable grounds to not be present for trial.
We have received a number of press inquiries surrounding this case. However, the Connecticut Law Tribune is the only publication we will be making comments to at this time.