New Hampshire Supreme Court Decisions 2018

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose from the dismissal of a medical malpractice action filed by plaintiff Nicole Alward against defendants Emery Johnston, M.D., Gary Fleischer, M.D., Tung Thuy Nguyen, M.D., Elliot Hospital, and Southern…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Joel Martin appealed his convictions for second degree murder, second degree assault, and being a felon in possession of a dangerous weapon. Charges arose from a 2015 fight outside a Manchester, New Hampshire…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff T.P. appealed circuit court devisions to deny her motion to extend her domestic violence final order of protection against the defendant, B.P. Plaintiff had applied for multiple one-year extensions to a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent, the father of H.J. (child), appealed a circuit court order terminating his parental rights. The parenting plan allowed for supervised visitation, but that the mother could exercise discretion in refuse such…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jeffrey Keenan appealed his conviction for driving a motor vehicle while his vehicle registration privileges were suspended. Because defendant’s conviction was based upon his lawful operation of a vehicle owned…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Kyle Guillemette challenged a determination by the Administrative Appeals Unit (AAU) of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that the notice requirements set forth in RSA 171-A:8,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Lakes Region Water Company, Inc. (Lakes Region), appealed a New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (Commission) order requiring Lakes Region to refund a second base charge it had imposed on its customer,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Monica Anderson appealed a superior court decision dismissing her personal injury action against the defendant, the Estate of Mary D. Wood, as time-barred. Plaintiff was involved in a motor vehicle accident…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Hjalmar Bjorkman was convicted by jury on one count of using computer services for a prohibited purpose. He challenged the trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss, contending that jury selection did not…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant Abhishek Sachdev on two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault and one count of simple assault. On appeal, defendant argued the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Owen Labrie appealed his conviction by jury on three counts of sexual assault, one count of endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of using computer services for a prohibited purpose. He challenged:…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners the New England Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (NEPBA) and the State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire, Inc., SEIU, Local 1984 (SEA), appealed a decision of the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the Trustees of Dartmouth College, appealed a superior court order upholding the denial of its application for site plan approval by the Town of Hanover’s Planning Board for the construction of an Indoor…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State of New Hampshire appealed a superior court order granting defendant Shannon Glavan's motion to suppress evidence seized from her automobile. Defendant was discovered sleeping in the driver's seat in a gas…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Sean Stacey appealed his convictions on one felony count and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled drug. On appeal, he argued the Superior Court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Sandra Brown, DVM, appealed an October 2017 decision by the New Hampshire Board of Veterinary Medicine (Board) suspending her license to practice veterinary medicine for six months and further prohibiting her,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jason Wilbur was the former stepfather of the alleged victim (child) in the case. In 2007, the child disclosed she had been sexually assaulted by defendant. Defendant was subsequently indicted on charges of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Atronix, Inc. filed suit against defendant Kenneth Morris for, among other things, breach of contract, and sued defendant Scott Electronics, Inc. for tortious interference with contractual relations. Atronix…

Justia Opinion Summary: The parents of O.D., B.D., and G.D. appealed a circuit court order terminating their parental rights over their children, on the ground that they failed to correct the conditions leading to a finding of neglect. They…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Lisa Censabella appealed a superior court’s dismissal of her petition for relief against Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan under the Right-to-Know Law. Petitioner argued the trial court erred in ruling…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff San-Ken Homes, Inc. (San-Ken) appealed a superior court decision requiring it to apply for registration or exemption with defendant New Hampshire Attorney General, Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of the termination of petitioner James Cole by the New Hampshire Department of Information Technology (DOIT). One of Cole’s initial assignments was overhauling an Account Security Form (ASF). This was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Conduent State & Local Solutions, Inc. (Conduent) appealed a superior court order denying Conduent’s request for a declaration that defendant New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) exceeded its…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State appealed a superior court order granting defendant Foad Afshar a new trial following his convictions on one count of simple assault, two counts of unlawful mental health practice, and one count of aggravated…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire, Inc., SEIU, Local 1984 (Union), appealed a New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) order finding respondent State of New Hampshire did not…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Steven Hoyt appealed a circuit court order reinstating his alimony obligation to respondent Lesley Hoyt, and granting an upward adjustment to his child support payments. The parties had three children. Two…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Northern New England Telephone Operations, LLC and FairPoint Logistics, Inc. (collectively, “FairPoint”), appealed the final decision of the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security (NHES), claiming…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Anthony Franciosa, as father and next friend of Vaneesa Franciosa, appealed a superior court order granting summary judgment filed by the defendants, Jessica Elliott and Hidden Pond Farm, Inc. a/k/a Hidden Pond…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1985, petitioner Edward White was convicted in Massachusetts on two counts of indecent assault and battery arising from allegations that he sexually assaulted an eight-year-old female. He served three years in prison…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant John Brawley was charged with two criminal offenses in Circuit Court that were transferred to Superior Court for a jury trial. Because defendant was indigent, the trial court appointed a public defender to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the Grand Summit Hotel Condominium Unit Owners’ Association (Association), filed claims against defendant, L.B.O. Holding, Inc. d/b/a Attitash Mountain Resort (Attitash), arising from Attitash’s alleged…

Justia Opinion Summary: Following an evidentiary hearing on the merits, petitioner Edward White appealed a trial court order denying his petition to be relieved of the obligation to register as a sex offender in New Hampshire. In January 1994,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State of New Hampshire appealed a superior court order denying a motion for a bench warrant filed by the New Hampshire Division of Administrative Services, Office of Cost Containment (OCC) to secure the appearance of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Grand Summit Hotel Condominium Unit Owners’ Association (Association), filed claims against defendant L.B.O. Holding, Inc. d/b/a Attitash Mountain Resort (Attitash), arising from Attitash’s alleged failure to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The parties appealed and cross-appealed superior court rulings regarding claims of defendants, the direct or beneficial owners of real property on Great Island, to deeded or prescriptive easements to traverse a footpath…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff The Marist Brothers of New Hampshire (MBNH) appealed several superior court orders: (1) a decision upholding the denial by defendant Town of Effingham (Town), of MBNH’s request for a charitable tax exemption,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Daniel Allain appealed a superior court order denying his request for pretrial confinement credit toward a suspended sentence imposed for violating a good behavior condition. Defendant was arrested on October…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Shawn Plantamuro appealed his convictions by jury on two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, one count of felonious sexual assault, and one count of felony indecent exposure and lewdness. In May…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal stemmed from respondent’s, the New Hampshire Division of State Police (Division), termination of petitioner State Trooper David Appleby, based on petitioner’s abandonment of his extra-duty detail escorting…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Rochester City Council appealed a superior court order affirming defendant City of Rochester Zoning Board of Adjustment’s grant of a variance to defendants Donald and Bonnie Toy. On appeal, the Council argued…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Circuit Court transferred to the New Hampshire Supreme Court without ruling on a question of whether RSA 564-B:1-112 (Supp. 2017) (amended 2018), which addressed rules of construction for trusts, incorporated the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Sixteen-year-old E.G. was petitioned as a delinquent for having committed the offenses of falsifying physical evidence, and possession of drugs. The petitions also alleged that E.G.’s case had been screened and deemed…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant David Martinko appealed a superior court order denying his motion to vacate guilty pleas he entered in 2014 to three felony informations. The informations charged him with aggravated felonious sexual assault…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State and other defendants the New Hampshire Department of Education; Margaret Wood Hassan, individually; Christopher T. Sununu, as Governor; Virginia M. Barry, individually; and Frank Edelblut, as Commissioner of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Eric McAndrews appealed an order recommended by a Marital Master (DalPra, M.) and approved by the Circuit Court which dismissed his petition to modify a parenting plan on inconvenient forum grounds. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Cheryl Moore, M.D. appealed a superior court order granting summary judgment to defendants attorney Charles Grau and Upton Hatfield, LLP, on plaintiff’s claims for legal malpractice, violation of the New…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Steven Grady appealed a superior court order granting summary judgment to defendants, Jones Lang LaSalle Construction Company, Inc. (Jones Lang), and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Liberty Mutual Group,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs owned approximately 0.3 acres on the shore of Lake Waukewan in New Hampton. Per the town’s zoning ordinance, the property was subject to a twenty-foot side yard setback and a thirty-five-foot front setback…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Brandon Stachulski brought suit against defendant Apple New England, LLC (operating an Applebee's Neighborhood Bar and Grill), under a theory of strict products liability alleging that he contracted salmonella…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Michael Hanes appealed after a jury convicted him for improper influence. The charges arose over Pembroke New Hampshire's Department of Public Works plowed the town's roads and sidewalks; defendant contacted…

Justia Opinion Summary: The New Hampshire Secretary of State transmitted a certified copy of a resolution of the Governor and Executive Council requesting an opinion of the New Hampshire Supreme Court regarding House Bill 1264, an act to amend…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Robert Norman appealed his convictions on seven counts of possession of child sexual abuse images following a bench trial on stipulated facts in Superior Court. On appeal, he argued the superior court erred by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Brittany Boggs appealed two felony convictions by jury on charges relating to issuing bad checks. She argued on appeal: (1) that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to convict her of either felony;…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue before the New Hampshire Supreme Court in this matter was whether, under New Hampshire’s adoption statute, petitioner, J.P., an unmarried male, could become the adoptive father of Y.L., an adult female, without…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Richard Polonsky appealed, and defendant Town of Bedford (Town) cross-appealed a superior court order on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment as to plaintiff’s petition for injunctive and declaratory…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case presented two questions arising out of the operation of the Suncook Wastewater Treatment Facility (the “Facility”) in Allenstown, New Hampshire, for the New Hampshire Supreme Court's review. First, under an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Loon Valley Homeowner’s Association (the Association), appealed a superior court order denying its petition to quiet title to land owned by defendant Lewis Pollock and the decedent, Norman Wallack, based upon a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jeremy Surrell appealed a superior court order denying his petition to suspend his sentence under RSA 651:20, I (2016). Defendant was indicted on four counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault (AFSA). These…

Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated appeals, petitioner Vivian Silva appealed two circuit court orders in her divorce from respondent Robert Silva. She argued the trial court erred when it: (1) deviated from the child support guidelines;…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, Nikolaos Pappas and Ascend Medical, Inc. (Ascend), appealed multiple orders of the Superior Court ruling that they misappropriated trade secrets of plaintiff Vention Medical Advanced Components, Inc. d/b/a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Father challenged the Circuit Court’s authority to hold a hearing to determine his parental fitness to regain custody of his children, J.H. and A.H., following the dismissal of the neglect petitions filed by the New…

Justia Opinion Summary: Richard Exline appealed a circuit court order denying his motion for the immediate return of seized property on the ground that the affidavit supporting the search warrant under which the seizure occurred failed to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Nicole Collins appealed a New Hampshire Personnel Appeals Board (board) decision upholding the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) decision to dismiss her from employment. Prior to her…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Kevin Drown was convicted by jury on three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and one count of felonious sexual assault. On appeal, he argued the Trial Court erred by permitting the prosecutor to:…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant David Burris was indicted on three counts of felony reckless conduct. The indictment alleged defendant engaged in reckless conduct when, during a home visit to a probationer he was supervising, he discharged a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Bailey Serpa appealed a superior court order requiring him to register as a sexual offender. On appeal, defendant argued registration as a sexual offender for a conviction of violating RSA 649-B:4 was contrary…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants, Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC (Algonquin) and Public Service Company of New Hampshire d/b/a Eversource Energy (Eversource), appealed a New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) order dismissing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Mary Allen, Fred Ward, and other interested parties, appealed the decision of the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee (Committee) authorizing respondent Antrim Wind Energy, LLC (Antrim Wind), to construct…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner N. Miles Cook, III, appealed a Wetlands Council (Council) ruling upholding the decision of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) denying his request for a permit to reconstruct and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Allstate Insurance Company appealed a superior court order granting the motion for partial summary judgment filed by plaintiff Joseph Rizzo, and denying the cross-motion for partial summary judgment filed by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Brian Watson appealed his conviction by a jury for felony sale of a controlled drug with death resulting. On appeal, he argued the superior court erred by: (1) denying his motion to suppress statements…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Slania Enterprises, Inc. appealed a superior court decision to grant defendant Appledore Medical Group, Inc.’s motion to dismiss as time-barred a petition to recover damages stemming from an alleged breach of a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, the State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire/Service Employees’ International Union, Local 1984 (Union), appealed a New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) order dismissing its unfair…

Justia Opinion Summary: Darlene Washburn was convicted by jury of possession of a schedule II controlled drug. On appeal, she argued the Trial Court erred when it: (1) denied her motion to suppress evidence seized in warrantless searches of her…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant James Bazinet was convicted by a jury of negligent homicide for driving a motor vehicle while he was intoxicated and causing a fatal collision. He appealed the rulings of the Superior Court denying his motions…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Dominick Stanin, Sr. appealed after a jury convicted him for first degree assault, robbery, and being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon. On appeal he argued the evidence was insufficient to convict him…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff XTL-NH, Inc. (XTL), appealed a superior court order that defendant New Hampshire State Liquor Commission (Commission) did not breach its obligation to provide a competitive bidding process that complied with…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Brian and Nancy Langevin appealed a superior court order denying their motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment to defendant, Travco Insurance Company (Travco). The trial court ruled that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Lauren DiGiulio appealed a circuit court order granting petitioner Gregory Neal's petition to rescind a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity. Respondent also appealed the trial court’s denial of a hearing on…

Justia Opinion Summary: The New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) sought to challenge a circuit court order closing a child protection case. In November 2014, DCYF filed a petition for neglect under RSA chapter 169-C…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose in the wake of the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s decision in In the Matter of Mortner & Mortner, 168 N.H. 424, 429 (2015), in which the Court held that the death of Theodore Mortner (Husband) prior to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiffs were four companies with common owners and operators: Halifax-American Energy Company, LLC; PNE Energy Supply, LLC (PNE); Resident Power Natural Gas & Electric Solutions, LLC (Resident Power); and Freedom…

Justia Opinion Summary: The New Hampshire Banking Department (Department) initiated an adjudicative proceeding against CashCall, Inc. (CashCall), WS Funding, LLC (WS Funding), and John Paul Reddam, for violations of RSA chapter 399-A (2006 &…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Meghan Sage appealed her conviction for driving under the influence (DUI), second offense. On appeal, she argued that the trial court erred by: (1) denying her motion to suppress evidence derived from expansion…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Wendy White (Mother) appealed a trial court order finding respondent Michael White (Father) was entitled to a retroactive modification of his support obligation based upon the emancipation of the parties’…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Felix Ruiz was convicted by jury of misdemeanor receipt of stolen property; namely, a United States passport belonging to someone else. Defendant was suspected of helping others forge identity papers for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Gedeon Karasi appealed his conviction after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder, first degree assault, armed robbery, and resisting arrest or detention. On appeal, he argued the trial court erred when…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-landowner Carl Casagrande appealed a superior court order that granted summary judgment to plaintiff Town of Goshen. The issue before the trial court was whether a section of road abutting Casagrande’s property…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Bow (town) appealed a superior court order granting plaintiff Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) an abatement of taxes on its property in the town for tax years 2012 and 2013. PSNH owns certain…