State v. Hedman

Argued November 30, 2000 OPINION After a hearing in this revocation of probation case, the court found the defendant, Edward Hedman, in violation of his probation, revoked it and sentenced him to the unserved remainder of the term of his original sentence. The court found that the defendant had violated the condition of probation that required him to obtain alcohol abuse testing, treatment and counseling. 1 The sole issue on appeal is whether the right of allocution as prescribed by Practice Book § 43-10 (1) and (3) required the trial court affirmatively to offer the defendant an opportunity to address the court personally before it imposed sentence in the dispositional phase of the probation revocation hearing. The defendant claims that the right of allocution requires a court to ask a defendant if the defendant wishes to make a statement in his or her own behalf if the defendant has not requested permission to make such a statement. The defendant further claims that the right is not satisfied by permitting the defendant's counsel to speak for the defendant or by asking the defendant's counsel if he or she wants to speak for the defendant. We agree with the defendant.