The recent case of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother held criminally liable for the deaths and injuries caused by her son during a Michigan high school shooting in 2021, brought back memories from State v. Wilchinski, 242 Conn. 211 (1997), wherein, writing for the Connecticut Supreme Court, I examined C.G.S. §29-37, defining a standard of care for the storage of loaded firearms, and §53a-217a, punishing the criminally negligent violation of that standard of care.

Joseph Wilchinski’s 14-year-old son had removed the dad’s loaded Ruger .357 Security Six revolver from underneath the dad’s bedroom dresser and while fooling around with the weapon, killed his visiting 15-year old-friend. Following his conviction of one count of §53a-217a, Wilchinski raised several constitutional challenges, asserting that §53a-217a is unconstitutionally vague, both on its face and as applied to his conduct. He further claimed that §53a-217a is defective because it impermissibly criminalizes mere negligence, fails to require that a defendant proximately caused the underlying injury or death, and fails to incorporate the accessory liability standard of §53a-8.