Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court affirming the decision of the Town of Casco Zoning Board of Appeals in which the Board denied the request for a shoreline zoning permit filed by Mark and Valerie Tomasino, holding that the Tomasinos lacked standing to seek such a permit.On appeal, the Tomasinos argued that the Board erred in determining that they demonstrated insufficient right, title, or interest in the property to obtain a permit to remove three trees from property owned by Lake Shore Realty Trust, the abutting property owner, over which the Tomasinos claimed a deeded easement. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that, even assuming that the Tomasinos demonstrated that they had some interest in the particular portion of property at issue in this case, they failed to demonstrate that they had the kind of interest that would allow them to cut the trees if they were granted a permit to do so. View "Tomasino v. Town of Casco" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of Lisa Berry following a bench trial on the complaint for foreclosure filed by Wilmington Trust, National Association, as Trustee for MFRA Trust 2014-2 (Wilmington), holding that the district court did not err.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) the district court did not err by excluding evidence of business records showing Berry's payment history with various loan services because the business records were untrustworthy; (2) Wilmington failed to prove that Berry received a properly served notice of default and mortgagor's right to cure; and (3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees to Berry. View "Wilmington Trust, National Ass'n v. Berry" on Justia Law

In this action for recovery of personal property the Supreme Judicial Court vacated in part the judgment of the district court finding Kathryn Colton in contempt and imposing a jail sentence and ordering her incarceration, holding that the district court violated Colton's right to due process by ordering her to be incarcerated without an opportunity to "show cause" in some fashion.Debbie Silverwolf, a former tenant on Colton's property, brought an action against Colton for recovery of personal property. The court entered judgment in favor of Silverwolf and ordered Colton to return the property. When Colton failed to do so the judge held Colton in contempt and ordered her incarceration. No show cause proceeding was held. The Supreme Judicial Court remanded the case for a show cause hearing, holding (1) the court did not err in finding Colton in contempt, and the court's factual findings were supported by the evidence; and (2) the court denied Colton the opportunity to show cause, notwithstanding her attempt to make an offer of proof. View "Silverwolf v. Colton" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of manslaughter, holding that the trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motions for a judgment of acquittal and for a new trial.On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred by denying his motion for judgment of acquittal and by denying his motion for a new trial based on allegedly improper arguments proffered by the State during its closing argument. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction; and (2) Defendant did not demonstrate that the trial court erred by allowing the State to refer to Defendant's disability in its closing argument. View "State v. Bilodeau" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the portion of the superior court's judgment granting, in part, Defendant's special motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' amended complaint pursuant to Maine's Anti-SLAPP statute, Me. Rev. Stat. 14, 556, holding that the court erred in dismissing Count 1 of the complaint regarding Defendant's service of the notice of claim.Defendant served Plaintiffs with a notice of claim asserting, among other claims, defamation. Defendant did not file a complaint after serving the notice of claim. Plaintiffs later filed a seven-count complaint against Defendant. The superior court granted Defendant's special motion to dismiss as to two of the four counts in the amended complaint and authorized an award of attorney fees to Defendant. The Supreme Judicial Court held (1) Defendant's notice of claim was not petitioning activity as defined in the Anti-SLAPP statute, and therefore, the court erred in dismissing Count 1; and (2) the court did not err in determining that it could award attorney fees to Defendant, and therefore, the cause is remanded for the trial court to decide whether an award of attorney fees is warranted as to the two remaining counts. View "Pollack v. Fournier" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of conviction entered by the trial court after a jury found Defendant guilty of burglary and theft by unauthorized taking, holding that the trial court did not commit reversible error.On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress portions of a surveillance video recording because other portions of the recording were not preserved and that the court committed obvious error by failing to intervene after several allegedly improper comments made by the prosecutor during closing argument. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court's finding that the State did not act in bad faith when it failed to preserve the remainder of the recording did not constitute clear error, and therefore, the court did not err when it denied Defendant's motion to suppress; and (2) the majority of the prosecutor's statements challenged on appeal did not rise to the level of misconduct, and as to the remaining statement, the court's instructions clarified any misimpression that the prosecutor's comments may have created. View "State v. Chan" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgments of conviction for both murder and robbery, holding that the instructions on the elements of robbery misstated the law and thereby also rendered erroneous a portion of the court's instructions on self-defense, requiring a new trial.Defendant was convicted of intentional or knowing murder and robbery. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court's jury instructions allowed the State to obtain a conviction without proof of every element of robbery as charged. The Supreme Judicial Court agreed, holding (1) the instructions on the elements of robbery made it possible that the jury reached a verdict based on impermissible criteria; (2) the error in the robbery instruction also affected the judgment of conviction of murder; and (3) the error seriously affected the fairness and integrity of the proceedings and may have affected the verdicts. View "State v. Asante" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the juvenile court placing A.I. in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, holding that the juvenile court correctly applied the preponderance of the evidence standard when it determined whether to place A.I. in the custody of the Department.On appeal, Mother argued that the matter should be remanded to the juvenile court so that findings can be addressed under a clear and convincing standard rather than a preponderance of the evidence standard. The Supreme Judicial Court disagreed, holding that A.I.'s dispositional hearing fell on the less-intrusive end of the continuum and that the juvenile court did not err when it applied the preponderance of the evidence standard in the proceedings below. View "State v. A.I." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the superior court entering summary judgment in favor of State Farm Fire and Casualty Company on the complaint filed by Plaintiffs seeking to reach and apply the State Farm vehicle insurance coverage of a man found jointly and severally liable to Plaintiffs for damages, holding that the facts did not bring Plaintiffs' damages within the policy's coverage.Grover Bragg was driving a truck insured by State Farm to transport an intoxicated and delusional friend when the friend jumped out of the truck, broke into Plaintiffs' house, damaged property, and assaulted one of the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs brought a complaint against Bragg, alleging negligence, and against Bragg's friend. The court concluded that Bragg and his friend were jointly and severally liable to Plaintiffs and awarded damages. The Supreme Court affirmed. Plaintiffs then commenced the present action seeking to reach and apply Bragg's vehicle insurance policy and to obtain a declaratory judgment that the coverage applied. The court entered summary judgment for State Farm. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the injuries and property damage suffered by Plaintiffs were not causally connected to the vehicle use in a way that brought them within the insurance coverage. View "Haskell v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court terminating Father's parental rights to his two children, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support the trial court's finding that Father was parentally unfit and that the court did not abuse its discretion in finding that termination was in the best interests of the children.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) the record contained sufficient evidence for the trial court to find by clear and convincing evidence that Father was unable or unwilling to protect the children from jeopardy or take responsibility for the children within a time reasonably calculated to meet the children's needs or in finding that Father failed to make a good faith effort to rehabilitate and reunify with the children and was therefore unfit to parent the children; and (2) the record contained sufficient evidence for the trial court to conclude that termination was in the children's best interests. View "In re Children of Jason C." on Justia Law