Replevin

"The action of replevin may be maintained to recover any goods or chattels in which the plaintiff has a general or special property interest with a right to immediate possession and which are wrongfully detained from him in any manner, together with the damages for such wrongful detention. (C.G.S.A. § 52-515) In an action of replevin, no cause of action, except of replevin or for a conversion of the goods described in the writ of replevin, may be stated. (C.G.S.A. § 52-522)

An action of replevin shall be commenced by a writ of summons or attachment, describing the parties, the court to which it is returnable and the time and place of appearance. The writ shall be signed as in other civil actions and may run into any judicial district. An action of replevin, to the extent that it includes a prejudgment remedy, shall not be allowed unless the provisions of the prejudgment remedy statutes, are complied with. (C.G.S.A. § 52-516)

A writ of replevin shall not be issued: Until the plaintiff, or some other credible person, subscribes an affidavit annexed to the writ stating the true and just value of the goods which it is desired to replevy, and that the affiant believes that the plaintiff is entitled to the immediate possession of the goods, and until some person, known to the authority signing the writ to be of sufficient responsibility, has entered into a recognizance before him, with at least one sufficient surety, in a sum at least double the sworn value of the property. (C.G.S.A. § 52-518)"

Depreciation in value of the goods or equipment sought to be replevied during the period of detention is a proper element of damages in an action of replevin. See Faulkner v. Marineland, Inc., 18 Conn. App. 1, 2 (1989); see also Faulkner v. Marineland, Inc., 152 Conn. 694, 695 (1965); Leasing Technologies Intern., Inc. v. Uniscribe Professional Services, Inc., 2002 WL 1949198 (Conn. Super. 2002) (depreciation damages, related to detention of leased equipment, awarded in replevin action).

The prejudgment remedy of replevin is available in Connecticut, pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. §52-516, which incorporates by reference Connecticut's comprehensive prejudgment remedy statutes (codified at Conn. Gen. Stat. §52-278, et seq.). At a replevin (prejudgment remedy) hearing, the applicant must establish that it has an interest in the property at issue, that it has the right to immediate possession of the property, and that the defendant has wrongfully detained the property. See Shankman v. Schmugler, 2000 WL 775595 (Conn. Super. 2000). The standard of proof under Connecticut law in connection with the granting of a prejudgment remedy of replevin is limited to probable cause, i.e., ""[t]he trial court, vested with broad discretion, need determine only the likely success of the plaintiff's claim by weighing probabilities… Civil probable cause constitutes a bona fide belief in the existence of the facts essential under the law for the action and such as would warrant a person of ordinary caution, prudence and judgment, under the circumstances, in advancing the action."" Tyler v. Schnabel, 34 Conn. App. 216, 219-20 (1994);