Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed Kathleen Flanders' appeal from an interlocutory order entered by the district court denying Flanders' motion to disqualify Attorney Eric Morse from representing Fern Gordon in a personal injury case, holding that allowing the appeal of this interlocutory order to proceed would not be in the interest of judicial economy.Gordon, the defendant in Flanders' personal injury suit, retained Attorney Morse to defend her. While the lawsuit against Gordon was pending, Flanders was injured in a motor vehicle accident. Flanders sought legal assistance from a partner of Attorney Morse, who continued to represent Gordon in the personal injury suit. Flanders moved to disqualify Attorney Morse, but the court denied the motion. Flanders appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the appeal, holding that none of the exceptions to the final judgment rule applied in this case. View "Flanders v. Gordon" on Justia Law

In this dispute over certain real properties the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court that Beth Clark had exclusive ownership of the properties, holding that the superior court correctly concluded that Beth was entitled to summary judgment.Sean Clark brought this action seeking a declaratory judgment that he and Jason Clark were each vested with a one-eighth share of the properties as tenants in common with Beth. The superior court granted summary judgment to Beth, ruling that Beth acquired her brother Kevin Clark's undivided half interest through a joint tenancy right of survivorship. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the superior court did not err in its judgment. View "Clark v. Clark" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of intentional or knowing murder, holding that the trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence of his cell site location information (CSLI).On appeal, Defendant argued that the judge who issued the warrant permitting officers to obtain his CLSI erred in determining that there was probable cause supporting the warrant's issuance. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial of Defendant's motion to suppress evidence of his CSLI, holding that the information in the affidavit was sufficient to support the judge's determination that there was probable cause to believe that Defendant was involved in the two homicides and that his CSLI would contain or constitute evidence relevant to the crime. View "State v. Marble" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court affirming a small claims judgment entered in the district court against Roger and Melody Vallee and in favor of Manon Cote and Sylvain Theriault subject to a modest reduction in the amount of damages awarded to Cote and Theriault, holding that the Vallees were not entitled to relief on their claims.Cote and Theriault filed a statement of claim in the district court seeking a small claims judgment against the Vallees for $6,000. The district court entered judgment in favor of Cote and Theriault. On appeal, the parties invited and consented to the superior court deviating from the practice for small claims appeals as specified in the court's rules. After a bench trial, the superior court remanded the matter for the entry of a judgment in favor of Cote and Theriault in the reduced amount of $5,196.84. The Vallees appealed, contending that the superior court should not have allowed them to waive their request for a jury trial. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the Vallees' strategic choices to deviate from procedural requirements for small claims appeals could not be undone on an appeal from the resulting judgment. View "Cote v. Vallee" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Mother's motion to modify an order determining her and Father's parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the parties' child, holding that the district court acted within its discretion in denying Mother's motion to modify.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the district court's findings were supported by evidence in the record and that the district court did not err or abuse its discretion by (1) failing to find that a substantial change in circumstances had occurred since the original determination of Mother's visitation rights with the child; and (2) determining that the child's best interests would not be served by granting Mother's motion to modify. View "Kelley v. McKee" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment finding that two of Father's children were in circumstances of jeopardy pursuant to Me. Rev. Stat. 22, 4035(2) and that returning the children to Father's custody was likely to cause them serious emotional or physical damage pursuant to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), 25 U.S.C.S. 1901-1963, holding that the court's factual findings supported its determination that the children were in jeopardy. Specifically, the Court held that, contrary to Father's contention, the court's findings established as more likely than not that returning the children to Father's custody would cause the children "[s]erious harm or [the] threat of serious harm." 22 Me. Rev. Stat. 4002(6)(A). View "In re Children of Troy H." on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court granting Progressive Casualty Insurance Company's motion for summary judgment and denying National Wrecker, Inc.'s (NWI) summary judgment motion, holding that a judgment obtained by NWI against Fred Muluya, Progressive's insured, was not covered by Muluya's automobile insurance contract.After an accident involving Muluya's truck NWI filed a complaint against Muluya seeking payment of its invoice for towing fees, storage fees, and costs associated with clean-up of the accident. The superior court awarded NWI $26,540 in total damages. Muluya carried a commercial auto insurance policy with Progressive. NWI filed a claim against Progressive seeking recovery of the judgment it obtained against Muluya. The superior court granted Progressive's motion for summary judgment, concluding that the policy did not cover NWI's judgment. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that Progressive was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because NWI did not establish that its judgment against Muluya was for covered damage. View "National Wrecker, Inc. v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co." on Justia Law

In this child protection proceeding the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decisions of the district court entering a jeopardy order against Father and a later order adjudicating that he was the child's father, holding none of Father's challenges to the court's orders was persuasive.At the jeopardy hearing, the court found that Father was the child's biological father, that the child was in circumstances of jeopardy to his health or welfare, and that Father's abuse of the other child constituted an aggravating factor, entering a cease reunification order on that basis. Later, based on genetic test results revealing that Father was the child's biological parent, the court issued an order adjudicating that Father was the biological parent of the child. Father appealed both orders. As to the first order, Father argued that the court was required to adjudicate that he was a parent of the child before it could consider whether he presented circumstances of jeopardy to the child. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the court correctly determined that Father was judicially estopped from challenging his parentage of the child; and (2) the court did not err by adjudicating Father's parentage without holding a hearing. View "In re Child of Nicholas P." on Justia Law

In this dispute between Beachfront Owners and the Town of Kennebunkport over who held title to disputed portions of Goose Rocks Beach the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the holding of the trial court that, under the circumstances of this case, legal title to the property was held by the Town for the benefit of the public.The Beachfront Owners sued the Town seeking a declaratory judgment that each of their parcels includes land to the mean low water mark - subject to public rights to fish, fowl, and navigate in the intertidal zone. The Beachfront Owners also sought to quiet title to their alleged breach property. In response, the Town asserted its title to the beach and the dry sand above it and that it and the public had the right to use those areas. The superior court determined that the Town held title - derived from the original Town proprietors' ownership of common land - to the dry sand and beach in front of the majority of the properties in dispute. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that title to the disputed land seaward of the seawall, including the beach, was held by the Town for the benefit of the public. View "Almeder v. Town of Kennebunkport" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the superior court denying Beal Bank USA's complaint to compel the assignment of a mortgage to Beal by the insolvent originating lender, New Century Mortgage Corporation, holding that the court did not err in denying the relief sought by Beal to compel assignment of the mortgage in this case.On appeal, Beal argued that because it was the holder of the note secured by the mortgage, the court erred when it failed to apply the equitable trust doctrine to conclude that New Century held the mortgage in trust for Beal and that Beal was entitled to an assignment of the mortgage. The Supreme Judicial Court disagreed, holding (1) although the holder of the note may retain some equitable interest in the accompanying mortgage, any such interest, standing alone, does not equate to actual ownership of the mortgage, nor is the interest sufficient to establish a pre-foreclosure right to compel its assignment; and (2) Beal did not produce sufficient independent evidence of ownership of the mortgage to compel an assignment. View "Beal Bank USA v. New Century Mortgage Corp." on Justia Law