State v. Collette

In State v. Collette, 199 Conn. 308, 313, 507 A.2d 99 (1986), the defendants claimed that the witness who testified as to value employed a replacement value rather than a market value standard. The expert witness in Collette, an experienced professional jeweler and appraiser, testified that he based his appraisal on a "'comparison to what merchandise costs, and whether it's used and how much depreciation it has.'" Id., 315. The witness further testified that the appraisal was based on what he thought he could get as a fair price and that these estimates were based on the retail value of the items. Id. Reviewing the witness' testimony as a whole, the court concluded that the jury reasonably could have found that he appraised the items at market value. Id.