Maine Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2021

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the summary judgment of the superior court concluding that the complaint brought by the Estate of Marion Sprague against Bankers Life and Casualty Company for breach of a home health…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the summary judgment entered in the business and consumer court in favor of UIG, Inc. on Yankee Pride Transportation and Logistics, Inc.'s claims of negligence, breach of contract, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the appellate division of the Workers' Compensation Board affirming the decision of an administrative law judge (ALJ) granting Plaintiff's petition for award of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgments entered by the district court establishing Dawn and James Ostrander as de facto parents of two biological children of Mark Martin and Marylou…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court terminating Mother's and Father's parental rights to their older child and the order finding that Mother's younger child was in jeopardy in her care,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order entered in the superior court in favor of Defendants granting Defendants' special motion to dismiss Plaintiff's defamation claim pursuant to Maine's anti-SLAPP (Strategic…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the divorce judgment issued in the district court as to child support and affirmed in all other respects, holding that the district court erred in calculating child support. Lawrence…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated in part the judgment of the district court modifying the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities in the divorce judgment in this case, holding that the court abused its…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court in this insurance dispute, holding that the superior court properly entered summary judgment in favor of 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of conviction in violation of condition of release entered in the trial court following a jury trial, holding that there was no error. Specifically, the Supreme Judicial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial by the district court of Mother's Me. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion for relief from judgment, holding that the district court did not err. The parties in this case were divorced…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the superior court dismissing with prejudice Plaintiff's complaint seeking judicial review of a decision of the Town of Kennebunkport's code enforcement officer (CEO)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated in part the judgment of the district court allocating parental rights and responsibilities concerning the parties' minor child, holding that the district court abused its discretion in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the superior court's summary judgment entered in favor of Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company as to Progressive Northwest Insurance Company's complaint seeking…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the summary judgment entered by the superior court in favor of Defendant on Plaintiff's complaint alleging that he was injured as a result of Defendant's negligent operation of a motor…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the Public Utilities Commission dismissing Appellants' complaint alleging that Central Maine Power Company (CMP) committed unreasonable practices by delivering notices…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court entering summary judgment in favor of Karen and Ronald White on Cecelia Boles's complaint alleging premises liability, holding that there was no…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this matter challenging the superior court's judgment affirming a decision of the Board of Dental Practice sanctioning Appellant, a licensed dentist in Maine, for unprofessional…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of intentional or knowing murder, elevated aggravated assault, and robbery, holding that none of Defendant's arguments on appeal had merit. On appeal, Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed as interlocutory Father's appeal from a judicial review order requiring him to return his child to Maine, holding that Father's appeal of the interlocutory order was not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the superior court reversing the decision of the Board of Appeals affirming the Town of China code enforcement officer's (CEO) issuance of an after-the-fact permit to allow the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant's conviction for intentional or knowing murder entered in the trial court following a jury trial, holding that the trial court erred in denying Defendant's motion to suppress…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgment of the superior court granting a partial summary judgment in favor of Defendants on count two of Plaintiff's second amended complaint seeking a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court affirming the decision of the Secretary of State to draft a single ballot question for a direct initiative, holding that the Secretary of State did…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court declining Patricia Monteith's request to register in Maine a child support order issued in Maryland against George Monteith as to the parties' four…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the trial court accepting Defendant's conditional guilty plea to escape, holding that, by separately trying Defendant for criminal threatening in Sagadahoc County and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's sentence of forty years' imprisonment imposed in connection with his guilty plea to murder, holding that the trial court did not misapply any principle or abuse its…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the superior court vacating the determination of the Town of Wells Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) denying Plaintiff's application for two setback variances on the grounds…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the district court denying Mother's second motion for relief from the judgment of the district court terminating her parental rights to her four children, holding that Mother…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for knowing or intentional murder and the denial of his motion for a new trial, holding that there was no error. On appeal, Defendant argued that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court granting summary judgment against the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce on its claims that voter-initiated legislation establishing an emergency…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court affirming a decision of the State Board of Property Tax Review upholding the Town of Madison's denial of Madison Paper Industries' (MPI) request for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the decision of the superior court affirming the judgment of the district court entered in the Business and Consumer Docket in favor of Ocean State Job Lot of Maine 2017 LLC and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court finding Defendant guilty of manslaughter, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Defendant was indicted for intentional or knowing…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the superior court affirming the Portland City Council's decision not to submit to voters a citizen-initiated ballot question proposing a change to the City of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the divorce judgment entered by the district court granting primary residence of the parties' son to Mother, who intended to relocate to Texas, holding that the district court did not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the probate court denying Mother's petition for termination of the parental rights of Father, which she filed in conjunction with her petition for adoption pursuant to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court affirming a decision by the Department of Health and Human Services excluding Stephen Doane, MD from participation in and reimbursement from Maine's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated in part the judgment of the district court denying Mother's motion to modify the parties' parental rights and responsibilities as to the parties' two children, holding that the matter…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the superior court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Twin Rivers Paper Company, LLC on Plaintiff's claim brought under the Maine Whistleblowers' Protection Act (WPA), Me. Rev.…

Justia Opinion Summary: 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…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the dispositional order imposed after an adjudication that juvenile Timothy Silva committed manslaughter, holding that the court did not err in committing him to detention. Silva was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court dismissing Appellant's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, holding that the superior court did not err in determining that Appellant's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the Business and Consumer Docket in favor of JJ Cars, LLC and John Mokarzel on H&B Realty, LLC's complaint for breach of contract, holding that there was no error in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's judgment of conviction for intentional or knowing murder, holding that the district court did not err or abuse its discretion. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of Deutsche Bank on Deutsche Bank's foreclosure complaint, holding that the district court did not err or abuse its discretion. On appeal,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the superior court dismissing for failure to state a claim Corinth Pellets, LLC's complaint alleging that a fire loss at Corinth's wood pellet mill was covered under a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the twelve-year concurrent sentences imposed on Defendant for three counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs months after the parties entered into a plea agreement involving…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the superior court's grant of summary judgment concluding that the taxable "sale price" of iPhones sold at discounted prices to customers who entered into wireless service contracts at…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the superior court denying A.S.'s petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking release from his detention, holding that the superior court erred when it determined that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of possession of sexually explicit material, holding that the superior court did not err by denying Defendant's motion to suppress on the grounds that Defendant,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the summary judgment entered by the superior court in favor of Concord General Mutual Insurance Company on Arthur Bibeau's complaint for alleged breaches and violations of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order of the probate court ordering that a sixteen-year-old minor, who had been residing with his mother and his siblings in Mississippi for over a year, would start living with his…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's sentence imposed after he pled guilty to the intentional and knowing murder of his wife, holding that the sentencing court followed proper sentencing procedures and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed this appeal from an order of the superior court denying Down East Orthopedic Associates, P.A.'s motion to dismiss Carol Cutting's complaint for medical malpractice, holding that Down…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of John Bump on Wells Fargo Bank's foreclosure complaint, holding that the court did not err by concluding that a 2015 order dismissing…