Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the divorce judgment entered by the district court in which the court adopted a referee's determination of the parties' child's primary residence and awarded Kristina Toland marital fees, holding that there was no error.The referee determined that Toland be awarded primary residence of the parties' minor child even if Toland relocates from Maine to Ohio and that Toland be awarded attorney fees. The district court adopted the referee's findings and recommendations. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the referee's findings were not clearly erroneous, nor was the determination based on these findings that the child's best interest would be served by living in Toland in Ohio while maintaining contact with Helge Reimann; and (2) the attorney-fee waiver provision in the parties' premarital agreement was unenforceable as applied to their litigation of parental rights. View "Riemann v. Toland" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court declined to consider a question certified to the Court by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, holding that there was no clear controlling precedent.Plaintiff brought a complaint in a federal district court against multiple defendants, including Investor's Business Daily (IBD) and Sally Pipes, a writer for the IBD, alleging, among other claims, defamation and negligent infliction of emotional distress. IBD filed a special motion to dismiss, arguing that Me. Rev. Stat. Title 14, 556, Maine's anti-SLAPP statute applied. The district court denied the special motion to dismiss. On appeal, the First Circuit certified to the Supreme Court regarding whether IBD's special motion to dismiss should be granted under Maine's anti-SLAPP law. The Supreme Judicial Court declined to answer the question, holding that there was no clear precedent that applied to this dispute. View "Franchini v. Investor's Business Daily, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed as interlocutory this appeal from a partial summary judgment entered by the superior court in favor of Defendants on Plaintiffs' complaint, holding that the court improvidently granted Defendants' motion to certify the partial summary judgment as a final judgment pursuant to Me. R. Civ. P. 54(b)(1).In their complaint, Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants violated common restrictions in the parties' deeds. The superior court granted Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment on count one of Plaintiffs' complaint, but Plaintiffs' remaining claim and Defendants' counterclaims remained pending. Plaintiffs appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the court's certification of a partial final judgment was based on the flawed premise that the partial summary judgment entered in favor of Defendants could produce a full and final resolution of count one of Plaintiffs' complaint. View "Stiff v. Jones" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for gross sexual assault and sexual misconduct with a child under twelve years of age, holding that the trial court did not err or abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment based on an alleged violation of the Interstate Compact on Detainers, Me. Rev. Stat. 34-A, 9601-9636.Defendant pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to possession of child pornography. Thereafter, the state of Maine lodged a detainer against Defendant seeking to have him brought to trial on charges against him for gross sexual assault and sexual misconduct with a child under twelve years of age. Defendant was delivered to Maine and arraigned. In light of restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the State filed a motion to extend the time to bring Defendant to trial for "good cause" under Me. Rev. Stat. 34-A 9603. Defendant objected and moved to dismiss the charges. The trial court granted the State's motion and denied Defendant's motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the State met its burden of showing that good cause existed for an extension of time. View "State v. Shepard" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of intentional or knowing murder, holding that there was no error.On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the indictment for failure to comply with the Interstate Compact on Detainers and violated his constitutional rights by holding bench conferences in the hallway and by denying his motion to represent himself. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to dismiss based on the Compact; (2) Defendant failed to show obvious error on his argument that holding bench conferences in the hallway violated his public trial rights; and (3) the trial court did not err or abuse its discretion when it denied Defendant's mid-trial request to represent himself. View "State v. Reeves" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the divorce judgment entered by the district court that awarded shared parental rights and responsibilities concerning the parties' minor children, holding that the court impermissibly based its determination on hearsay evidence.At issue before the Supreme Court was the admission of testimonial evidence regarding Father's substantiation by the Department of Health and Human Services for sexual abuse of a child. On appeal, Father argued that the evidence regarding his substantiations was inadmissible hearsay and that the evidence prejudiced him. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment below, holding (1) the evidence regarding Father's substantiation was inadmissible hearsay; and (2) the error was not harmless. View "Needham v. Needham" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the superior court denying the motion to compel arbitration brought by Uber Technologies, Inc. and Rasier, LLC (collectively, Uber) in this action brought by Patricia Sarchi, a user of Uber's ride-sharing service, and the Maine Human Rights Commission, holding that the superior court did not err.Plaintiffs brought this action against Uber for violating the Maine Human Rights Act, Me. Rev. Stat. 5, 4592(8), 4633(2), after Sarchi, who was blind, was refused a ride because of her guide dog. Uber moved to compel Sarchi to arbitrate and to dismiss or stay the action pending arbitration. The motion court denied the motion to compel, concluding that Sarchi did not become bound by the terms and conditions of Uber's user agreement. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that, under the facts and circumstances of this case, Sarchi was not bound by the terms. View "Sarchi v. Uber Technologies, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of Quang Pham on Atlantic Home Solutions, Inc.'s claim for recovery of personal property pursuant to Me. Rev. Stat. 14, 7071, holding that there was no error.Atlantic sought a judgment and writ of possession authorizing it to take possession of a modular home, the appliances, and the heating unit by removing them from Pham's property. The trial court issued judgment in favor of Pham, concluding that the modular home and other items no longer constituted personal property because they had become part of Pham's real estate. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not misapply the law, and its findings were supported by the record evidence. View "Atlantic Home Solutions, Inc. v. Pham" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in part the judgment entered in the Business and Consumer Docket (BCD) awarding attorney fees and expenses to Forney & Weygandt, Inc. (F&W) but vacated a portion of the judgment awarding F&W attorney fees and expenses related to subcontractor claims, holding that remand was required.Lewiston DMEP IX, LLC, et al. (collectively, GBT), a group of limited purpose entities and a commercial real estate developer, appealed the attorney fees and expenses award to F&W, a commercial general contractor, pursuant to Maine's prompt payment statute, Me. Rev. Stat. 10, 1111-1120. Specifically, GBT contended that the BCD erred in awarding attorney fees and expenses that were not incurred in direct pursuit of F&W's prompt payment claims, including those related to F&W's contract claims, GBT's counterclaims and affirmative defenses, and subcontractor claims against F&W. The Supreme Judicial Court largely affirmed the judgment but vacated the award of attorney fees and expenses related to the subcontractor claims, holding that the court abused its discretion when it did not articulate a basis for an award of fees that would be proper under the prompt payment statute and this Court's interpretative case law. View "Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. v. Lewiston DMEP IX, LLC" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the superior court's order concluding that because Jackson Lumber & Millwork Co. was both the mortgagee and the purchaser at the public sale of certain foreclosed property the fair market value of that property as established by an independent appraisal - rather than the value established by the highest bid at the public sale - was appropriate to determine the amount of any deficiency, holding that the superior court did not err.In ruling on Jackson Lumber's motion for approval of attachment and trustee process, the superior court concluded that Jackson Lumber was the "purchaser at the public sale" and that there was no recoverable deficiency given that the appraised value of the property exceeded the amount owed at the time of the foreclosure. At issue was whether Jackson Lumber was the "purchaser at the public sale" even though it did not ultimately acquire the property because it later assigned away its rights and never received the deed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the superior court did not misinterpret the law or otherwise err or abuse its discretion in denying the motion for approval of attachment and trustee process as to the property. View "Jackson Lumber & Millwork Co. v. Rockwell Homes, LLC" on Justia Law