Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court terminating Mother's and Father's parental rights to their older child and the order finding that Mother's younger child was in jeopardy in her care, holding that there was no error or abuse of discretion.On appeal, Mother argued that the district court erred in concluding that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), 25 U.S.C.S. 1901-1963, did not apply to either child, and Father challenged the termination of his parental rights. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the court did not err in concluding that the ICWA did not apply to either of Mother's two children; and (2) the court did not err or abuse its discretion by finding at least one ground of parental unfitness and in determining that termination of Father's parental rights was in the best interest of the older child. View "In re Children of Michelle C." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the divorce judgment issued in the district court as to child support and affirmed in all other respects, holding that the district court erred in calculating child support.Lawrence Bloom and Annalee Bloom had two children when they divorced. The district court entered a divorce judgment on Annalee's complaint setting forth child support and spousal support and distributing the marital property. Lawrence appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment in part, holding (1) because the child support worksheets and orders contained multiple errors, the court's child support determination in the amended judgment must be corrected; and (2) the judgment is otherwise affirmed. View "Bloom v. Bloom" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated in part the judgment of the district court modifying the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities in the divorce judgment in this case, holding that the court abused its discretion in declining to take judicial notice of certain information and failed adequately to explain certain modifications.On appeal, Appellant argued that the court erred in failing to take judicial notice of vaccine information available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website and failed to provide an explanation when it changed the contract schedule and allocated final decision-making authority on educational and medical matters to Appellee. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment in part, holding (1) the court abused its discretion in refusing to take judicial notice; and (2) the court inadequately explained its modifications to the contact schedule and the allocation of decision-making authority. View "Seymour v. Seymour" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order entered in the superior court in favor of Defendants granting Defendants' special motion to dismiss Plaintiff's defamation claim pursuant to Maine's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute, Me. Rev. Stat. 14, 556, holding that the special motion to dismiss must be denied.Plaintiff filed this defamation claim relating to a letter that Defendants sent to school officials. Defendants filed a special motion to dismiss under the anti-SLAPP statute. The trial court granted the motion. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment, holding (1) Defendants met their burden of establishing that they had engaged in petitioning activities when they sent the letter complaining of Plaintiff’s conduct; but (2) Plaintiff met his burden of presenting prima facie evidence that the Defendants’ petitioning activity was devoid of any reasonable factual support. View "Thurlow v. Nelson" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court in this insurance dispute, holding that the superior court properly entered summary judgment in favor of 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company and 21st Century Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. (collectively, 21st Century).Collette Boure and Alexander Meyers took the car of Nancy Snow, Meyers's great aunt, and fled Maine to begin a drive across the country. While the teenage couple was in Oklahoma, they crashed in a chase with police, resulting in Boure's death. Boure's Estate sought uninsured motorist coverage from Concord General Mutual Insurance Company (Concord) on a personal auto policy issued to him and from 21st Century on a personal auto policy issued to Meyers's great aunt. After both insurers denied coverage Concord brought a declaratory judgment action against the Estate. The Estate counterclaimed against Concord and brought a separate action against 21 Century. The court granted summary judgments in favor of Concord and 21st Century. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the Estate's appeal of the summary judgment in favor of Concord was untimely; and (2) the court properly entered summary judgment in favor of 21st Century. View "Concord General Mutual Insurance Co. v. Estate of Collette J. Boure" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of conviction in violation of condition of release entered in the trial court following a jury trial, holding that there was no error.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) the trial court committed no error that affected Defendant's substantial rights in informing the jury of a joint stipulation of facts when the stipulation was signed by Defendant's counsel but not him personally; (2) the trial court did not err in its instructions to the jury; and (3) the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to supporting the jury's finding beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the crime charged. View "State v. Bilynsky" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial by the district court of Mother's Me. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion for relief from judgment, holding that the district court did not err.The parties in this case were divorced by a judgment entered in 2012. In 2014, the court entered an order reducing Father's child support obligation. In 2019, after both of the parties' minor children had reached the age of majority, Mother filed a Rule 60(b) motion arguing that Father's earnings had increased after the 2014 child support modification order but that he had failed to provide her with his tax returns or notify her about increases in his earnings, as required by the divorce judgment. The court denied Mother's motion. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the trial court properly concluded that it did not have the authority to modify Father's child support obligation retroactively, notwithstanding the unreported increases in his earnings. View "Marks v. Marks" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the superior court's summary judgment entered in favor of Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company as to Progressive Northwest Insurance Company's complaint seeking indemnification for a portion of a final settlement paid involving a mutually-insured party, Vincent Micale, holding that there was no error.Micale rented two jet skis from Jet Ski Guys, Inc. (JSG). Two individuals listed on Micale's rental agreement collided while operating the jet skis, resulting in injuries to one individual. At the time of the accident, Progressive provided a boat and personal watercraft liability insurance policy to Micale, and Metropolitan provided homeowner insurance to Micale. JSG filed a complaint alleging that Micale and others were negligent in the operation of the jet skis. The injured individual filed a cross-claim against Micale. In a settlement, Progressive agreed to pay $300,000 to the injured individual on Micale's behalf. Progressive then sued Metropolitan, arguing that Metropolitan had a duty to indemnify Micale for half the amount that Progressive had paid to the injured individual. The court entered judgment in Metropolitan's favor. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the plain meaning of Metropolitan's policy did not provide coverage for injuries arising out of the use of the watercraft involved in the accident. View "Progressive Northwest Insurance Co. v. Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the superior court dismissing with prejudice Plaintiff's complaint seeking judicial review of a decision of the Town of Kennebunkport's code enforcement officer (CEO) and a declaratory judgment, holding that the court should have dismissed Plaintiff's complaint without prejudice.At issue was a decision of the CEO to life the CEO's previous suspension of building and land use permits issued to Plaintiff's neighbors, Lori Bell and John Scannell, and a declaratory judgment that structures on Bell and Scannell's property violated certain municipal ordinances. The superior court dismissed the complaint with prejudice. On appeal, Defendant argued that the court should have instead dismissed his complaint without prejudice. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the lower court's judgment and remanded for a dismissal without prejudice, holding that Me. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1) did not authorize dismissal with prejudice. View "Slager v. Bell" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated in part the judgment of the district court allocating parental rights and responsibilities concerning the parties' minor child, holding that the district court abused its discretion in requiring that Father bear the full burden of transportation with visits with the child until July 1, 2022.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) there was no competent evidence in the record to support the trial court's finding that it was unreasonable for Father to drive or otherwise share in the child's transportation until July 1, 2022; (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in declining to deviate from child support guidelines even given Father's transportation costs; and (3) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allocating to Father child contact on the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays each year. View "Emerson v. Laffan" on Justia Law