Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

William Buckley appealed a decision of a Workers' Compensation Board hearing officer on remand from the Supreme Court. Buckley contended that, when determining whether his permanent impairment level was above the threshold for receiving partial incapacity benefits for the duration of his incapacity, the hearing officer misinterpreted the Court's mandate by failing to combine or "stack" the percentages of permanent impairment attributable to all of his work injuries. Furthermore, Buckley asserted that the hearing officer's finding that he suffered 0% permanent impairment from a 2001 injury is inconsistent with a finding in the prior decree that he suffered 7% permanent impairment for that injury. Upon review, the Supreme Court found no error and affirmed the hearing officer's decision. View "Buckley v. S.D. Warren Co." on Justia Law

The Lougee Conservancy; Eleanor Lougee Chapin, as trustee and beneficiary of the Lougee Conservancy; David Lougee, as trustee and beneficiary of the Lougee Conservancy; and Arthur “Jim” Lougee, as beneficiary of the Lougee Conservancy (collectively, the Lougees) appealed the superior court's grant of summary judgment in favor of CitiMortgage, Inc. The court granted summary judgment on the Lougees’ complaint for common law and statutory trespass, invasion of privacy, conversion, intentional infliction of emotional distress, punitive damages, and negligence, and in favor of Safeguard Properties, LLC, and David and Shelly Alley, d/b/a D&S Properties, LLC, on all claims except common law and statutory trespass. The Lougees' claims arose when an unencumbered home and barn owned by the Lougee Conservancy were entered and secured as part of CitiMortgage’s foreclosure action that pertained to a neighboring property. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment on the claims for invasion of privacy, conversion, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and punitive damages, and vacated on the claim of negligence as to all three defendants. View "Lougee Conservancy v. CitiMortgage, Inc." on Justia Law

Defendant Tammy Bragg appealed her conviction for operating under the influence following a jury trial. On appeal, Defendant contended that the court erred when it refused to suppress statements she made at the scene of the accident and at the police station. After review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment. View "Maine v. Bragg" on Justia Law

Defendant Aaron J. Patton appealed his conviction following a jury trial at which he was found guilty of four counts of gross sexual assault; one count of unlawful sexual contact; and two counts of sexual abuse of a minor. Upon review, Defendant contended that the court erred in several respects, including: (1) a constitutional error resulting from the court's decision to permit a State's witness (a police officer) to testify over his objection about Defendant's assertion of his right to remain silent shortly before his arrest; (2) the admission of evidence of Defendant's use of hypnosis; (3) the admission of police officer testimony that contained inadmissible hearsay evidence and was unfairly prejudicial; and (4) the misstatement of jury instructions. Upon review of the superior court record, the Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed the judgment. View "Maine v. Patton" on Justia Law

Dale Henderson Logging, Inc. (DHL), and Oak Leaf Realty, Inc. (OLR). DHL owned property in Washington County, and OLR owned several thousand acres in Hancock County. The DHL and OLR properties have a four-rod-wide rail corridor running over them that was once owned by the Maine Central Railroad Company which was later conveyed to the State of Maine, which the Department of Transportation (DOT) claimed to own in fee simple absolute by virtue of deeds given to Maine Central's predecessor in title from 1897 to 1898. DHL and OLR contended that Maine Central held only a railroad easement that it abandoned prior to its purported conveyance to the State, and therefore DOT owned nothing. Alternatively, OLR contended that if DOT held an interest in the corridor, two deeds in DOT's chain of title contained covenants allowing OLR to compel DOT to build and maintain a fence along a portion of the corridor in Hancock County. DHL and OLR appealed the grant of summary judgments entered in favor of DOT by the Superior Court on their complaints seeking a declaration on who owned what. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the superior court correctly found that DOT held an easement that had not been abandoned in the Washington County portion of the corridor, and owned the fee simple in the Hancock County portion of the corridor. Furthermore, the Court concluded that the covenants requiring Maine Central to build and maintain a fence along the corridor were not enforceable against DOT in equity. View "Dale Henderson Logging, Inc. v. Dept. of Transportation" on Justia Law

Alfred Miliano appealed a divorce judgment, contending that the court clearly erred or abused its discretion by: (1) erroneously classifying his nonmarital real property as marital property and then awarding certain parcels to Renee Miliano; and (2) awarding Renee general spousal support of $2500 per month until the death of either party or here remarriage. Because the evidentiary record was inadequate to overcome the conclusion that property purchased by Alfred before the marriage was nonmarital property, and the Supreme Court was uncertain of the trial court's intention regarding the allocation of property in lieu of spousal support. The Court remanded the case for clarification reconsideration. View "Miliano v. Miliano" on Justia Law

William Weber, Jr. appealed a protection from abuse order entered in district court on a complaint filed by Maureen O'Brien on behalf of her sixteen year old daughter. Weber contended that the court lacked authority to enter a new protection order based solely on the same act of abuse that was the subject of an expired, unextended protection order between the same parties. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed and vacated the judgment. View "O'Brien v. Weber" on Justia Law

The issue on appeal before the Supreme Court in this case was whether the notice provision of the Paper Streets Act requires that the person asserting the claim to own a paper street notify all record lot owners in the subdivision that includes the street, or only those lot owners that the person asserting ownership of the paper street seeks to exclude from the paper street property. Barbara Carson appealed a superior court judgment in favor of her neighbors who brought suit to determine if they had rights to use a portion of a paper street that bisected Carson's property in order to access another paper street that provides access to the Atlantic Ocean. Because the Court concluded that notice to all subdivision lot owners is required, the Court affirmed that portion of the trial court's judgment addressing the notice issue. View "Brooks v. Carson" on Justia Law

Defendant Rachel Prescott appealed her conviction following a conditional guilty plea to operating while under the influence and for failing to report an accident. Defendant's plea preserved her right to appeal the trial court's order that denied her motion to suppress evidence derived from police questioning. Defendant argued on appeal that she was not technically in police custody at the time she was questioned because she was not read her rights nor did the police use its crusier lights when transporting her from the scene of the accident. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded Defendant was in custody at the time of her questioning, and vacated the judgment and part of the suppression order entered in Defendant's case. View "Maine v. Prescott" on Justia Law

Defendant Colin Haag appealed his conviction on two counts of kidnapping after a jury trial at superior court. Defendant was charged with kidnapping stemming from divorce proceedings through which Defendant's ex-wife withheld access to Defendant's two daughters. On appeal, Defendant contended that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions and that the court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal. Upon review of the superior court record, the Supreme Court found the evidence sufficient to support Defendant's conviction, and affirmed the superior court's judgment. View "Maine v. Haag" on Justia Law