Opinion
Argued October 8, 1964
Decided October 29, 1964
Information charging the defendant with the crime of selling obscene literature, brought to the Superior Court in Hartford County and tried to the court, Covello, J.; judgment of guilty and appeal by the defendant. Error; further proceedings.
Joseph F. Skelley, Jr., for the appellant (defendant).
John D. LaBelle, state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were George D. Stoughton and Harry W. Hultgren, Jr., assistant state's attorneys, for the appellee (state).
The defendant was found guilty as charged in a trial to the court. General Statutes § 53-243.
Counsel agreed in open court that the issues involved in this appeal have been decided by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Grove Press, Inc. v. Gerstein, 378 U.S. 577, 84 S.Ct. 1909, 12 L.Ed.2d 1035. From an examination of the several opinions of the justices in that case, we conclude that a majority of the Supreme Court of the United States hold that the particular publication in issue before us is not sufficiently obscene to forfeit the protection of the first amendment to the federal constitution. In view of that decision, the issues on this appeal, being entirely directed to that principal question, have been conclusively determined in favor of the defendant. We therefore do not pass upon the issues and, solely in deference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, hold that the trial court erred.