State v. Godek

In State v. Godek, 182 Conn. 353, 357-58, 438 A.2d 114 (1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1031, 101 S. Ct. 1741, 68 L. Ed. 2d 226 (1981), the trial judge who accepted the defendant's plea of nolo contendere to a charge of unlawful restraint in the first degree had not specifically advised him that he had a right to a trial by the court on that charge, which he was giving up by entering a plea of nolo contendere. The Court noted that although the defendant had a right to waive a jury trial under General Statutes 54-82 (a), that election is not a right guaranteed by our state constitution or by the federal constitution. State v. Godek, 182 Conn. at 362 & n.9. General Statutes 54-82 (a) provides: "In any criminal case, prosecution or proceeding, the party accused may, if he so elects when called upon to plead, be tried by the court instead of by the jury; and, in such case, the court shall have jurisdiction to hear and try such case and render judgment and sentence thereon."