Maine Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2014

Justia Opinion Summary: Lawrence Ireland and Brooke Tardiff were divorced by a divorce judgment entered by the district court. The district court later found Ireland in contempt for his failure to make timely payment to Tardiff of the judgment…

Justia Opinion Summary: Robert Nadeau filed a complaint for protection from harassment against Lynnann Frydrych, alleging that Frydrych had engaged in acts of harassment against him since the end of their personal relationship. Frydrych moved…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Bank of Maine filed a complaint seeking foreclosure of Defendant’s primary residence. Defendant failed to file a timely answer, and the superior court later entered Defendant’s default. Defendant responded to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Pisgah Mountain, LLC applied to the Town of Clifton Planning Board for approval to construct and operate a wind energy project. Peter and Julie Beckford, who own land adjacent to the proposed development site, timely…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, pursuant to the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA), Phillip Bowler requested a copy of the Attorney General’s investigative file concerning a death that occurred in 1953. The Deputy Attorney General denied Bowler…

Justia Opinion Summary: James Dickau was injured when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Irida Macomber. At the time of the accident, Dickau was covered by two insurance policies - a Dairyland Insurance Company policy and a Vermont Mutual…

Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of burglary, theft by unauthorized taking, and violation of a condition of release. The court imposed an aggregate sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. On appeal,…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the boundary between land owned by the parties to this case and an area of land with disputed ownership. Christopher and Diana Grondin filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment establishing the…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the boundary separating the parties’ parcels of land and the ownership of an eleven-acre triangular area of land. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint seeking to quiet title to the disputed area…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted for operating after revocation. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment as amended, holding (1) any error by the trial court in refusing to instruct the jury about certain…

Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Doyle submitted to the Town of Falmouth a request pursuant to the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) seeking to inspect certain cellular telephone bills of the School Department’s former Superintendent. The former…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with three Class E offenses. Defendant posted $500 cash bail in those matters and was assigned an attorney after the court found him indigent. While released on bail, Defendant was indicted on…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was at the place of his employment when his employer asked him to submit to a breath test. The results from the employer’s self-contained portable breath-alcohol testing device showed that Defendant had…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a construction company, filed a five-count complaint in superior court against Defendants, alleging breach of contract, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Prompt Payment Act. In the fifth…

Justia Opinion Summary: Cynthia Stacey-Sotiriou and Eve Sotiriou were the legal parents of a child born in 2006. In 2008, Cynthia and Eve jointly adopted the child. The parties’ relationship ended soon thereafter. In 2009, Cynthia filed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was a private road that provided access to sixteen parcels of property. In 2003, residents who lived along the road formed a road association pursuant to the Private Ways Act. At the association’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: From 2002 to 2012, Defendant leased from Plaintiff business premises located in Portland. In 2012, Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that Defendant had breached certain provisions in the written lease. Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sustained injuries when she collided with a bus owned and operated by Defendant. Believing the bus would drive straight, Plaintiff, who was riding a bicycle, began to pass the bus on the right when the bus…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the Workers’ Compensation Board found that Fay Johnson was injured while working for Home Depot USA, Inc. Home Depot agreed to pay Johnson benefits. In 2012, Johnson went missing. Later that year, Home Depot…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, among other crimes. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, holding (1) the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction;…

Justia Opinion Summary: Testa’s, Inc. and Jack and Sherri Coopersmith owned property on the westerly side of Main Street in Bar Harbor. The Coopersmiths owned two contiguous parcels that abutted Testa’s parking lot. In 1978, Testa’s granted the…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of numerous crimes, including two counts of aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs. The charges stemmed from events that occurred on four different dates - three dates in…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was 110 parcels of property owned by ninety-five separate owners that directly abutted Goose Rocks Beach. In 2009, Beachfront Owners sued the Town of Kennebunkport and all others who claimed any…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, the district court entered a judgment granting a divorce to Jeff Emerson and Patricia Bonner. Bonner subsequently filed motions for post-judgment relief pursuant to Me. R. Civ. P. 120 seeking enforcement of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother, who was from Italy, married Father, and the parties had one child. Father later filed for divorce. The district court entered a divorce judgment finding that, while the parties were both in Maine, it was in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a hearing, the district court issued a protection from abuse order against Father, finding that he had sexually abused his five-year-old daughter, ordering that he have no contact with her, and temporarily awarding…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded not guilty to passing a stopped school bus in violation of 29-A Me. Rev. Stat. 2308(2). After a bench trial, the trial court found Defendant guilty and imposed a $250 fine. Defendant filed a motion for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court revoked Defendant’s probation based on findings that Defendant committed the new crimes of burglary and theft. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by admitting, for the purpose of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas Cabatit was survived by two sons, Jerediah and Joseph, who were given equal shares of Thomas’s Estate after his death. In his will, Thomas designated his sister, Julibel, as the personal representative of his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to stealing drugs, and judgment was entered accordingly. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, holding (1) the court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress…

Justia Opinion Summary: Northern Maine Transport, LLC (NMT), a Maine limited liability company with only two members, including Paul Beaudry, was administratively dissolved in 2009. In 2012, Beaudry filed this action, individually and…

Justia Opinion Summary: David Fleming, a prisoner at the Maine State Prison, filed a complaint seeking review of a decision of the Department of Corrections not to return items to him that he claimed were stolen from him. Because Fleming did…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a termination hearing, the district court terminated Father’s parental rights to his child on the grounds that Father was unwilling or unable to take responsibility for the child in a time frame calculated to meet…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of the murder of the mother of his child. Appellant was sentenced to fifty-five years in prison and ordered to pay restitution. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Father and Mother divorced in 2010. In the divorce judgment, the district court awarded sole parental rights and responsibilities along with primary residential care of the parties’ son to Mother and granted Father…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Madawaska filed an amended land use citation and complaint against Richard and Ann Cayer for violations of a shoreland zoning ordinance. The Cayers filed a special motion to dismiss pursuant to Maine’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, the Town of Arundel reissued a conditional use permit to Dubois Livestock, Inc. In 2012, the Town’s code enforcement officer issued to Dubois a notice of violation for failure to comply with the conditional use…

Justia Opinion Summary: Gina Turcott filed a complaint for injunctive relief against the Humane Society Waterville Area (HSWA) seeking the release of HSWA records relating to a certain cat. The complaint further alleged that Turcott had…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of assault and domestic violence assault and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. The convictions stemmed from an altercation Defendant had with his fourteen-year-old son.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Defendant, alleging breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conversion, and related claims. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Me. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Plaintiff filed an…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Mother relocated to North Carolina, Mother and Father, who were divorced, litigated the issue of whether their child’s primary physical residence would be in Maine or North Carolina. The district court ordered that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Margaret Gray died in 2007, leaving a will that devised her estate to her surviving children, Ernest Gray and Elizabeth Tasker. In 2011, Elizabeth filed a claim against the estate seeking reimbursement for payments she…

Justia Opinion Summary: Sarah Craig, individually and on behalf of her two children, filed a complaint for protection from abuse alleging that Krystal Gayle Caron, the ex-wife of Craig’s boyfriend, came into her home and hit her. The trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: Passadumkeag Windpark, LLC (PW) sought approval to construct a wind farm on property owned by Penobscot Forest, LLC (PF) located in Grand Falls Township. The Department of Environmental Protection denied the requested…

Justia Opinion Summary: 32 Thomas Street, LLC applied to the Portland City Council for conditional rezoning of its property in Portland’s West End. The City Council ultimately approved the conditional zoning agreement (CZA) for the reuse and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Charles Adams conveyed a portion of his parcel of property to himself and his sister, Dorothy Adams, as joint tenants. Dorothy subsequently executed a promissory note to American Bankers Conduit and conveyed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Patrick Burrow filed a complaint for divorce from Rachel Burrow, the parties resolved all issues relating to parental rights and responsibilities. A trial was held on the disposition of the real property. The trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: After nearly thirty years of marriage, Christine Starrett filed a complaint for divorce from Irven Starrett. In preparation for trial, the parties hired an expert to calculate the value of Irv’s Drywall, the parties’…

Justia Opinion Summary: Patrick Jackson and Sally McLeod were divorced in 2004. The contentiousness that began at the outset of the divorce action extended over a decade with continuing conflict and litigation, much of which centered around the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Richard Sullivan began sexually exploiting and abusing Jane Doe starting when Doe was approximately thirteen years old. When Doe was twenty years old, she gave birth to the parties’ daughter. Doe later filed a complaint…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose from two suits. Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman (KRZ) filed suit alleging that Raisin Memorial Trust fraudulently transferred property to Samsara Memorial Trust. Samsara sued KRZ alleging slander of title and…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a hearing, the trial court granted Timothy Dalton and Sarah Dalton a divorce and awarded parental rights and responsibilities and primary residence of the children to Timothy. In the months following the divorce…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Harold Forest Snow died, Linda Moulton, as personal representative, filed a civil action against Susan Snow, alleging that one of the transfers identified in Harold’s codicil was an improvident transfer and a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Since 1983, Michael Dee repeatedly and unsuccessfully challenged in state and federal courts the constitutionality of Maine marijuana prohibitions. In 2007, the superior court enjoined Dee from filing further lawsuits in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Oxford County Probate Court awarded guardianship of a child to the child’s paternal grandparents with the consent of the child’s father, finding that the grandparents met their burden of proving by clear and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Santina Caruso was hired by The Jackson Laboratory as a veterinary technician to care for animals used in medical research. Caruso’s employment was terminated a few months later. Caruso subsequently filed a complaint…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Francis Small Heritage Trust, Inc. owned eleven parcels of land in the Town of Limington. The Trust requested tax abatement on its properties for the tax years 2009-2010, arguing that the properties should be granted…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection granted Janis Walsh and Paul Walsh a permit to construct a pier on their property. Thereafter, Marjorie Getz and David Tourangeau appealed the Commissioner’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: Reva Merrill appealed a Superior Court judgment that affirmed the Board of Trustees for the Maine Public Employees Retirement System's decision to deny her request for a waiver of past-due life insurance premiums.…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of unlawful trafficking of oxycodone, unlawful possession of oxycodone, and carrying a concealed weapon. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and Father’s child was placed in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services after the district court found the child had severe failure to thrive, needed consistent feeding by mouth and feeding…

Justia Opinion Summary: When Mother’s child was one year old, the district court found that Mother had placed her child in circumstances of jeopardy. Subsequently, after an evidentiary hearing, the district court entered judgment terminating…

Justia Opinion Summary: N.B. was the maternal grandmother of L.R. and the legal guardian of L.R.’s mother, who suffered from mental illness and had borderline intellectual functioning. L.R. was placed in foster care when she was two months old,…

Justia Opinion Summary: U.S. Bank National Association (the Bank) filed an amended complaint for residential foreclosure against Thomas Manning. The case progressed through its pretrial stages. Eventually, the superior court dismissed the…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of manslaughter. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because he was subjected to custodial interrogation and did not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Cote Corporation filed a mechanic’s lien against real property owned by Kelley Earthworks, Inc. Cote subsequently brought a complaint to enforce the lien against Kelley. Kelley did not respond to the complaint or to…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an order approving water quality certification (WQC) under the Clean Water Act for the continued operation of the Eel Weir Hydropower Project. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of unlawful sexual contact, unlawful sexual touching, and two counts of assault. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in limiting Defendant’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant’s probation officer asked Defendant to come to the probation office. When Defendant complied, he met two state troopers who sat down with him and asked him about a theft at the victim’s apartment. After the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Scott Greenleaf executed a promissory note to Residential Mortgage Services, Inc. (RMS). That same day, Greenleaf signed a mortgage on property securing that debt. The mortgage listed RMS as the lender of the debt and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and Father were the parents of two young daughters. Father was psychologically abusive to the family, most particularly to Mother. When Father, who was not a dentist, expressed his intent to perform dental work…

Justia Opinion Summary: Glen Harrington pleaded guilty in 2012 to eluding an officer and admitted to violating the conditions of his probation. Harrington was sentenced to forty-eight months’ imprisonment. The Department of Corrections…

Justia Opinion Summary: Pike Industries operated a quarry in the City of Westbrook. Smiling Hill Farm owned property and operated businesses near Pike’s quarry. After the City concluded that Pike did not have a grandfathered right to quarry and…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of elevated aggravated assault, burglary, and violation of a condition of release. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not err in (1) admitting into…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, David and Debra Sawyer defaulted on a mortgage held by U.S. Bank N.A. In 2012, the Bank filed a complaint for foreclosure. At the time the complaint was filed, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A. had taken over as loan…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff’s employment as a corrections officer at the county jail was terminated as a result of an incident with an inmate. Although Plaintiff was reinstated to his position at the jail, the Board of Trustees of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of failing to provide his correct, name, address, and date of birth; possession or distribution of dangerous knives; and refusing to submit to arrest or detention. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: When Douglas Going did not inherit land owned by his parents, Going sent a notice of demand to his cousin, Alayna Laprel, and her husband, Neal Smith, who had lawfully purchased the land from Going’s father. In the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Sarah Clifford and Debra Clifford petitioned the probate court for temporary guardianship of Tasha Young’s minor child. The court granted the Cliffords a temporary guardianship for a period of six months. Young…

Justia Opinion Summary: Janet Howe and Rajesh Mandekar (together, Howe) owed a condominium in the River Knoll Farms Condominium. The condominium association (Association) sued Howe for negligence, nuisance, and keeping a dangerous dog. MMG…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a hearing, the superior court determined that Dan Brown, a farmer in Blue Hill, unlawfully sold milk without a milk distributor’s license, sold unpasteurized milk in containers that were not labeled “not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State seized twenty-six cats in Defendant’s home and spent $36,800 to treat, house, and care for the cats. Defendant was ultimately convicted of cruelty to animals. Defendant was prohibited from owning any animals…

Justia Opinion Summary: Ruth married Donald on the same day that she executed a will. Ruth died the following day. Donald was appointed personal representative, and the will was informally admitted to probate. Jennifer, Ruth’s daughter, filed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered into a land installment contract that established the terms of a transfer from Plaintiffs to Defendant of a parcel of land. Defendant failed to make the payments required by the contract, and Plaintiffs…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was treated by a surgeon at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) for abdominal pain. The doctor informed Plaintiff that he may be suffering from either hepatic or pancreatic cancer, which has a very low survival…

Justia Opinion Summary: While Mother and S.S.’s divorce was pending, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) filed a petition for a child protection order on behalf of K.S., Mother’s child, alleging that Mother and S.S. placed K.S.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant asserting multiple intentional torts and alleging that Defendant sexually assaulted Plaintiff in the early 1970s when Plaintiff was a child and Defendant was a Roman Catholic…

Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Weatherbee brought litigation to recover money misappropriated by his sister, Peggy McPike, while she was handling their parents’ money before their deaths. The superior court entered judgment in favor of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of one count each of arson, burglary, aggravated criminal mischief, and theft. Defendant subsequently filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal as to the arson conviction.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Husband and Wife were married and had a daughter who was born in 2006. In 2009, Husband filed a complaint for divorce. In 2012, the family law magistrate appointed a guardian ad litem (GAL) for the child. In 2013, after…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Defendant was tried on a charge of domestic violence assault. During the trial proceedings, the trial court granted Defendant’s motion for a mistrial after finding manifest necessity to declare a mistrial.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Securities Administrator of the Office of Securities revoked the securities licenses of North Atlantic Securities, LLC, a licensed broker-dealer, Michael J. Dell’Olio & Associates, a licensed investment adviser, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of assault on an officer and criminal mischief. Appellant appealed, arguing that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by electing not to make an opening statement,…

Justia Opinion Summary: A Bank and Re/Max Realty One signed a listing agreement granting Re/Max the exclusive right to sell a certain property. A buyer signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Bank and paid $86,900 in earnest money, which…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the City of Portland entered into negotiations to sell a portion of Congress Square Park (Park), an urban park in the City’s ownership, Friends of Congress Square Park (Friends) filed a citizens’ initiative to…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Paula Bratton and Daniel Hills and their children (“the Brattons”), moved into a house that they rented from Halsey McDonough. In 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services notified McDonough that he was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Dozens of suits were filed against Irving Oil Limited (IOL) alleging environmental contamination by methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) occurring from 1979 to the present. At the time of this opinion, all of the MTBE…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the district court allocated primary residence of two minor children to Father, the children began residing with Father’s mother (“Grandmother”). Mother later sought primary residence and sole parental rights and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Plaintiff, frustrated with then-proposed budget cuts to mental health services, sent the Governor a series of emails that were interpreted as threatening. Plaintiff was delivered to MaineGeneral Medical Center…

Justia Opinion Summary: Amanda Moore and Matthew Pitts were in an “on again, off again” relationship when Moore learned she was pregnant. The child was born in 2009. In 2011, Pitts filed a complaint seeking parental rights and responsibilities…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) filed a petition for termination of Mother and Father’s parental rights to M.S., alleging that Mother had failed to take responsibility for her mental health…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, the State charged Defendant of aggravated assault and attempted murder. The State alleged that while Defendant and his wife, Lisa, were hiking on Megunticook Mountain, Defendant struck Lisa in the head, dragged…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Public Utilities Commission found that, from 2008 to 2010, Central Maine Power Company (CMP) had applied approximately $2.6 million worth of customer deposits to debts owed on its own transmission-and-distribution…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the assessor for the Town of Scarborough valued Plaintiff’s property for the tax year 2010-11 at the same assessed value as set in 2005. Plaintiff subsequently filed an application for a tax abatement, which the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection issued a compliance order requiring Mallinckrodt US LLC and United States Surgical Corporation (collectively, Mallinckrodt) to excavate material containing…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, the district court entered a divorce judgment that awarded primary residence of Mother and Father’s child to Mother with specific rights of contact to Father. After the initial divorce judgment was entered, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Philip Barter hired Philip Tobin to produce a book encompassing Barter’s artistic works. The parties subsequently entered into a written agreement providing that Tobin would write the text for the book and setting forth…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of gross sexual assault and suspended to twenty years imprisonment. On appeal, Defendant argued that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions,…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of gross sexual assault. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court committed obvious error by permitting the State to introduce evidence of his pre-arrest…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of criminal trespass for entering a Rite Aid store six months after a police officer ordered Defendant not to be on the premises. Defendant appealed, arguing that the State…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a six-day jury trial, Defendant was convicted of gross sexual assault and sentenced to a term of twenty-four years. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction, holding (1) the trial court did not commit…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder and sentenced to forty-five years’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment and sentence, holding that the trial court did not err in (1) denying…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was terminated from his employment as a registered nurse at a community hospital after a patient under Appellant’s care departed from the hospital, unescorted, into blizzard-like conditions and died less than…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact, and furnishing liquor to a minor. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court, holding (1) the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the Bangor Planning Board approved Harvey Sprague’s application to open and operate a quarry in Bangor’s rural residence and agricultural district. Sharon Cassidy sought judicial review of the Board’s decision,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Clifford Lippitt was a certified geologist employed at S.W. Cole, Inc. Worcester Associates retained S.W. Cole to provide the necessary technical assistance in order to complete the closure of a landfill Worcester owned.…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. issued a mortgage to Robert Collopy, who transferred the mortgaged property to a trust. Collopy died later that year. In 2010, the Bank of New York Mellon, which had assumed trustee…

Justia Opinion Summary: Edwina Jones rented a residence that she vacated in 2010. Because Jones did not replace heating oil in the residence’s oil tank at the end of her tenancy under the terms of the lease, Cost Management, Inc., the landlord,…

Justia Opinion Summary: When Michael Lewis was sixteen years old, he was involved in a fatal car accident. At the time, Michael was driving a Ford pickup truck he had allegedly purchased from William Dodge. The other driver’s insurer paid…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated attempted murder, arson, and burglary. The sentencing court sentenced Defendant to fifty years imprisonment for the aggravated attempted murder. The Supreme Court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother gave birth to a child in 2009. Mother arranged with a couple to adopt the child, and the couple was appointed the child’s temporary guardians (Guardians) while adoption proceedings commenced. However, subsequent…

Justia Opinion Summary: Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC filed a complaint seeking a judgment of foreclosure against John and Cheryl Bartlett, alleging that the Bartletts had defaulted on a note secured by a mortgage on their home. After Bayview…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Public Utilities Commission (Commission) approved, with multiple conditions, two petitions for reorganization filed by two regulated electrical utilities in Maine. The reorganization would allow changes in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Frederick McCollor died in 2010, Frederick’s wife, Patricia, brought suit against the couple’s children, John and Cheryl, for violation of the Improvident Transfers of Title Act (ITTA), undue influence, conversion,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Hancock Country Deputy Sheriff Christopher Sargent struck a deer with his patrol car while driving over the speed limit without cause. The County Commissioners voted to collect from Sargent the $1000 insurance deductible…

Justia Opinion Summary: Vescom Corporation provided security services for a mill. Richard Hickson worked for Vescom at the mill. After then-Governor John Baldacci and his party visited the mill without wearing the proper footwear, Hickson sent…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of intentional or knowing murder and sentenced to seventy years imprisonment. Defendant appealed, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court violated his right to confront…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs. The Supreme Court vacated the conviction, holding that the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion for a judgment of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Health and Human Services initiated proceedings against Father with regard to his child, G.W. After a termination hearing, the district court determined that the Department had demonstrated all four…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of two counts of knowing or intentional murder and sentenced to two concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment and sentence, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: Ada Greenblatt died testate and without issue. Ada’s will did not provide instructions on how to distribute her residuary estate, which consisted primarily of real property and personal property, including a mizrah - an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Kennebec County participated in the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MPERS), and at all times relevant to this appeal, eligible County employees had the option of joining MPERS. Some County employees were not…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of several sex offenses. The Supreme Court affirmed after clarifying the conduct the State was required to prove in order to prove the element of penetration, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of two counts of intentional or knowing murder. After Defendant’s convictions were affirmed on appeal, Defendant filed two consecutive motions seeking post-conviction DNA…

Justia Opinion Summary: Zacharia was born to Mother and Father in 2009. Because Mother was transient at the time of Zacharia’s birth, Zacharia began living with Mother’s grandparents, who became temporary guardians of Zacharia. In 2011, Mother…

Justia Opinion Summary: Vera Boulier fell on the premises of Presque Isle Nursing Home (PINH), where Boulier was a resident. Boulier died from the injuries she sustained from the fall. The Estate of Boulier commenced an action against PINH for…

Justia Opinion Summary: When Mother and Father divorced, primary custody of M.M. was awarded to Mother. Later, the district court modified the judgment by awarding sole parental rights to Father. Petitioners - Mother’s investigator and three…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of criminal operating under the influence and refusing to sign a uniform summons and complaint. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that he did not properly waive…

Justia Opinion Summary: Lewis Lubar, the trustee of The Clover Trust, filed a complaint for foreclosure against Frederick Connelly. Connelly filed an answer and several affirmative defenses. The superior court granted Lubar’s motion for summary…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Ellen Clark and John McLane ended their relationship, Clark instituted protection from abuse proceedings against McLane. The district court issued a protection order for a period of one year prohibiting McLane from…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Daniel Nickerson suffered a fatal heart attack, Nickerson’s wife, Cecelia, as personal representative of Nickerson’s estate, filed professional negligence and wrongful death claims against Daniel’s doctor, Dr. Alan…

Justia Opinion Summary: Bangor Savings Bank filed a foreclosure complaint against Robin Richard. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Bank. Richard appealed, arguing, that the district court erred in granting the Bank’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: Over the course of several decades, Plaintiffs and their predecessors in title used a section of their neighbor’s property, now owned by Defendants. In 2011, Plaintiffs filed an action alleging that they had obtained a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, owners of property fronting a beach in the Town of Kennebunkport, filed this action against the Town and any member of the public who claimed any right to use the beach. The State and neighboring landowners,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, the district court entered a divorce judgment that ordered Defendant to make certain payments to Plaintiff. Defendant made timely payments until 2012. Plaintiff subsequently filed a motion for contempt against…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of operating after habitual offender revocation. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) the trial court erred when it failed to clarify the definition of “public way” as defined in…

Justia Opinion Summary: John and Jane Doe, the parents Susan Doe, a transgender girl, filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission alleging that Regional School Unit 26 (RSU 26) had violated the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) by…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1993, Gloria Hall executed a will that devised all personal and real property to her husband. In 2002, Gloria’s husband filed for divorce. In 2004, Gloria devised a new will which revoked all earlier wills and which…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a public assistance recipient who was accepted to rent an apartment owned by RRE Coach Lantern Holdings, LLC. Plaintiff’s caseworker indicated that Coach Lantern would have to include a Housing and Urban…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of escape and for assaulting a corrections officer in a courtroom and then fleeing from the courtroom before being captured while attempting to flee from the courthouse. On…

Justia Opinion Summary: Darling’s, a Ford dealer and franchisee, filed a complaint before the Maine Motor Vehicle Franchise Board (Board), alleging that Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer and franchisor, violated the Business…

Justia Opinion Summary: The district court entered a divorce judgment awarding shared primary residence of Larry Nadeau and Jessica Potila’s minor children, determining child support, and allocating the dependent income tax exemptions. Nadeau…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a Maine-based law firm with affiliated law offices in other states. In an effort to determine the proper Maine income tax treatment for distributions to its New Hampshire partners, Plaintiff filed a Freedom…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and Father were married and had a son. After Father was convicted of sexual abuse of girls who had been his piano students, Mother filed for a divorce. The trial court granted the parties a divorce, concluded that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and Defendant each held a one-third interest in property as tenants in common. Plaintiff and Defendant, assisted by counsel, had discussions via email regarding the possible sale of Plaintiff’s interest. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Steven L. was ordered involuntarily committed to a hospital for up to ninety days. During the term of commitment, the hospital applied for an order directing Steven’s involuntary admission to a progressive treatment…

Justia Opinion Summary: Paul Ligor, the son of Mary Hiller, applied for informal probate and was appointed personal representative of Hiller’s estate after her death. Three of Ligor’s siblings filed multiple actions, including a petition to…