Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for intentional or knowing murder and sentence of forty years' imprisonment, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held that the trial court (1) did not err in determining that Defendant had waived the religious privilege in relation to a communication he made to church leaders; (2) did not err by declining to give Defendant's requested jury instruction that the State was required to prove that he intentionally or knowingly killed the victim and not just intentionally or knowingly killed another human being; (3) did not err when it denied Defendant's motion to continue the sentencing hearing; and (4) misapplied no legal principles and acted within its discretion in sentencing Defendant. View "State v. Gaston" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment entered in the business and consumer docket affirming the State Tax Assessor's denial of Appellant's request for an income tax refund for the 2013 taxable year, holding that the superior court did not err.Somerset Telephone Company and affiliated corporations (collectively, Appellant) filed a 2013 Maine tax return showing positive Maine taxable income and state income tax liability. Appellant later filed an amended 2013 return listing an adjusted federal taxable income resulting in a decreased Maine taxable income and decreased tax liability. To account for the difference, Somerset unsuccessfully requested from the Assessor a partial refund. In this ensuing litigation, the business and consumer docket entered a final judgment in the Assessor's favor. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the superior court correctly affirmed the decision of the State Tax Assessor. View "Somerset Telephone Co. v. State Tax Assessor" on Justia Law

In this business dispute involving several tort claims the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the business and consumer docket dismissing the complaint for failure to state a claim, holding that the trial court did not err in dismissing the complaint.Plaintiff sued three Delaware corporations asserting aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, and conspiracy. The trial court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that all of Plaintiffs claims against Defendants failed. View "Meridian Medical Systems, LLC v. Epix Therapeutics, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the superior court affirming a 2019 decision of the State Board of Property Tax Review granting the tax abatement requests of Expera Old Town, LLC for the 2014 and 2015 tax years for a wood pulp and paper mill, holding that the superior court erred.Expera Old Town, LLC requested tax abatements for 2014 and 2015, but the City of Old Town denied the requests. In 2017, the Board affirmed the City's denial of the requested abatements. The superior court vacated the Board's decision and remanded the case. On remand, in 2019, the Board granted Expera Old Town's tax abatement requests for the same tax years. The Supreme Court vacated the superior court's judgment, holding that Expera Old Town failed to meet its initial burden of showing that the assessments were manifestly wrong. View "City of Old Town v. Expera Old Town, LLC" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment entered by the superior court denying in part Petitioner's petition for post-conviction review of his conviction on several sexual assault charges, holding that Petitioner was deprived of his right to the effective assistance of trial counsel.After a trial, the jury found Petitioner guilty of one count each of gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact, and sexual abuse of a minor. The Supreme Court affirmed. Petitioner subsequently filed a postconviction petition arguing that he had been deprived of his right to the effective assistance of counsel. The Supreme Court granted the petition as to the convictions for unlawful sexual contact and sexual abuse of a minor and vacated Petitioner's convictions on those counts but denied Petitioner's petition as to the conviction for gross sexual assault. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment and remanded for entry of a judgment granting Petitioner's petition for post-conviction review and vacating the remaining conviction, holding that counsel's performance was deficient and that Petitioner was entitled to post-conviction relief from the remaining portion of the judgment of conviction. View "Hodgdon v. State" on Justia Law

In these cases concerning property tax abatement requests the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed two decisions of the superior court vacating a decision denying requests for abatement and granting a petition for judicial review of an adverse decision concerning another request for a tax abatement, holding that the superior court did not err.This consolidated appeal concerned property tax abatement requests made by the Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation (RIGHC). The superior court vacated a decision of the Board of Appeals (BOA) of the Town of Jonesport denying RIGHC's requests for abatement concerning three tax years and remanded the matter for the BOA to make an independent determination of the property's fair market value. The court also granted judicial review as to the State Board of Property Tax Review's adverse decision concerning RIGHC's request for another tax year abatement and directed the Town to grant the abatement request. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed both decisions, holding that the superior court did not err. View "Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corp. v. Town of Jonesport" on Justia Law

In this consolidated appeal regarding collection actions by a debt buyer, the Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgments that the district court entered in favor of Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, holding that the court's factual findings underlying the admission of certain challenged records were erroneous.When the trial court decided these credit card debt collection matters Supreme Judicial Court jurisprudence contained conflicting interpretations of Me. R. Evid. 803(6) with regard to the admission of integrated business records. The trial court admitted the records in accordance with the predominant evidentiary standards at the time. In Bank of New York Mellon v. Shone, 239 A.3d 671 (Me. 2020), however, the Supreme Court clarified the proper approach for evaluating the sufficiency of the foundation laid for the admission of integrated business records. In the instant case, the Supreme Judicial Court held that because the parties developed their records with a different evidentiary standard in mind, fairness required that the matters be remanded for further proceedings, including potentially reopening the record to allow further evidence or to take new evidence. View "Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC v. Casey Clougherty Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court affirming the Department of Public Safety's denial of Appellant's application for a professional investigator license, holding that Appellant's First Amendment rights were not violated by the application of statutory competency standards to his conduct on social media.The Department denied Appellant's application based on comments and posts that he had made on social media using an account bearing the name of his out-of-state private investigation business concerning a police lieutenant. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the circuit court's affirmation of the Department's decision, holding (1) intermediate scrutiny applies to the Department's application of the licensing statutes to Appellant's application; (2) the Department did not err in its findings; and (3) the Department's application of the licensing standards to Appellant did not violate the First Amendment. View "Gray v. Department of Public Safety" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of the depraved indifference murder of her daughter and sentence of forty-eight years in prison, holding that Defendant's claims of error were unavailing.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress the statements she made to investigators on the day of and the day after her daughter's death; (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Defendant's request for a mistrial; (3) the court did not err by declining Defendant's requests for jury instructions regarding accomplice liability and duress; and (4) the court acted within its discretion in arriving at Defendant's sentence. View "State v. Carrillo" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the decision of the Appellate Division of the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) affirming the decision of the WCB ALJ denying Appellant's petition for review of incapacity benefits paid by Hydraulic Hose & Assemblies, LLC, through its insurer, The Hanover Insurance Group, because the statute of had expired, holding that the claim was timely.Appellant filed a petition for review of incapacity, claiming that he was entitled to total incapacity benefits. The ALJ denied the petition, concluding that the six-year statutory limitation period had expired and that Appellant's receipt of Social Security benefits did not toll the statute of limitations. On appeal, Appellant argued that the receipt of his Social Security benefits under the circumstances tolled the statute of limitations. The Supreme Judicial Court agreed, holding (1) offsetting Social Security old-age insurance benefits must be treated as primary payments of workers' compensation; and (2) the "date of the most recent payment" under Me. Rev. Stat. 39-A, 306 is the date of most recent payment of offsetting Social Security old-age insurance benefits. View "Charest v. Hydraulic Hose & Assemblies, LLC" on Justia Law