(a) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person convicted of murder, attempt to commit murder, kidnapping, robbery in the first degree or any felony involving serious physical injury or to any person who has been previously ordered to be treated under this section or section 19a-387 or 21a-285 of the general statutes, revised to 1989.

(b) Before sentencing a convicted person, the court may consider any information before it concerning the alcohol or drug dependency of the person, including an examination report made pursuant to section 17a-694. The court may impose a sentence and order treatment as provided in subsection (c) of this section if the court finds that (1) the convicted person was an alcohol-dependent or drug-dependent person at the time of the crime for which he was convicted, (2) there was a relationship between the dependency and the crime, (3) the person presently needs and is likely to benefit from treatment for the dependency, (4) the person is not ineligible under subsection (a) of this section and (5) the person meets the criteria for probation under subsection (c) of section 53a-29.

(c) The court may, after imposing sentence, (1) suspend execution of a sentence of imprisonment, either entirely or after a period set by the court, (2) impose a period of probation as provided in this section and subsections (b) and (c) of section 53a-28, and (3) as a condition of probation, order the Court Support Services Division to place the person in an appropriate treatment program for alcohol or drug dependency. The court may require that a probation officer have at least one contact per week with the treatment program in which the person is participating and at least one contact per week with the person when such person is not participating in an inpatient program. Placement in a treatment program shall be no earlier than the date that space is available in a treatment program as reported by the clinical examiner under section 17a-694.

(d) The court may order that the person be transferred immediately to a treatment program provided space is available as provided in subsection (c) of this section. If the court orders an immediate transfer, it shall issue a mittimus directing the judicial marshal to convey the person to the treatment program.

(e) Time spent in a treatment program by a person pursuant to the provisions of this section shall not be credited against any sentence, the execution of which was suspended because of such treatment.

(f) Any violation of conditions set under this section shall be a violation of probation under section 53a-32.

(g) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit the application of any provision of the general statutes requiring mandatory minimum sentences and prohibiting probation for certain offenses.

(P.A. 89-390, S. 9, 37; P.A. 90-230, S. 74, 101; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-8, S. 17, 88; P.A. 00-99, S. 55, 154; P.A. 02-132, S. 8.)

History: P.A. 90-230 deleted reference to “assault with intent to commit murder” from Subsec. (a); Sec. 17a-656 transferred to Sec. 19a-127h in 1995; Sec. 19a-127h transferred to Sec. 17a-699 in 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-8 replaced examining committee with clinical examiner in Subsec. (c), effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 00-99 replaced reference to sheriff with judicial marshal in Subsec. (d), effective December 1, 2000; P.A. 02-132 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “Office of Adult Probation” with “Court Support Services Division” and making a technical change.

Annotations to former section 17a-656:

Cited. 223 C. 907. Requirement of a relationship between defendant's alcohol dependency and violation of Sec. 14-215(c) is not a requirement for a showing of a contributory or causal link. 226 C. 191.

Cited. 27 CA 225.