Justia Vermont Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Homeowners Colin Masseau and Emily MacKenzie appealed a trial court’s order confirming an arbitrator’s dismissal of their claims against defendants Guy Henning and Brickkicker/GDM Home Services, LLC. Specifically, homeowners challenged the trial court’s referral of the case to arbitration on the ground that the purported arbitration agreement lacked the notice and acknowledgment provisions required under the Vermont Arbitration Act (VAA), and they urged the Vermont Supreme Court to vacate the arbitrator’s award because the arbitrator exceeded his authority by manifestly disregarding the law. The Supreme Court concluded the parties’ contract affected interstate commerce, and that the arbitration agreement was therefore governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and is not subject to the more exacting notice and acknowledgment requirement of the VAA. The Court declined to find the arbitrator's analysis rose to the level of "manifest disregard." View "Masseau v. Luck" on Justia Law

Defendant Max Misch was charged under 13 V.S.A. 4021(a) with two counts of unlawfully possessing a large-capacity magazine. This issue this appeal presented for the Vermont Supreme Court's review was whether Vermont’s ban on large- capacity magazines (LCMs) violated the right to bear arms under Chapter I, Article 16 of the Vermont Constitution. To this, the Supreme Court concluded the magazine ban was a reasonable regulation of the right of the people to bear arms for self-defense, and therefore affirmed the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss the charges against him. View "Vermont v. Misch" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-client Stephen Aguiar claimed attorney David Williams failed to turn over files related to plaintiff’s 2009 criminal prosecution. The civil division of the superior court granted summary judgment in favor of attorney, and client appealed. The Vermont Supreme Court held client owned the entire contents of the file, subject to certain exceptions. The Court agreed with the trial court that attorney had substantial grounds to refuse to disclose certain materials to client, and that client failed to demonstrate an ownership interest in an iPod containing recordings of wiretap evidence However, the Court concluded summary judgment was premature regarding two issues: whether client was entitled to a paper copy of the discovery file that attorney allegedly created for use at trial, and whether client has been provided with certain trial exhibits. The Supreme Court therefore reversed and remanded for further proceedings on those issues. View "Aguiar v. Williams" on Justia Law

Ian Baron appealed a Vermont magistrate decision declining to register and exercise jurisdiction over his petition to modify a Virginia child-support order. Baron argued that because the requirements of 15B V.S.A. sections 1602 and 1611 were met, the magistrate was required to register and exercise jurisdiction over his petition to modify. To this, the Vermont Supreme Court agreed, and remanded for further proceedings on whether the Virginia child-support order should have been modified. View "Baron v. McGinty" on Justia Law

Defendant Chad Spencer was convicted by jury of resisting arrest. Three uniformed state troopers were dispatched to serve a relief-from-abuse order on defendant. When the troopers explained their purpose, defendant became angry and stormed off inside the house. As was their practice to read the order to the recipient and obtain the latter’s signature on a return of service, the troopers asked defendant whether they could enter the home. When defendant consented, the officers followed him inside. There, defendant became increasingly agitated, and started yelling and swearing at the officers. At one point, defendant moved quickly and aggressively toward one of the troopers. Thinking he was being attacked, the other officers interceded and tried to arrest defendant for assaulting an officer. Defendant did not comply with the officers’ verbal demands; he was handcuffed, and placed inside a police cruiser, continuing to pull away and kicking an officer in the chin on the way. On appeal, defendant argued the superior court erred when it instructed jurors that whether he was read his Miranda rights was irrelevant to their consideration of the charge. The Vermont Supreme Court clarified the relevance of Miranda warnings to the resisting-arrest offense, and held on evidentiary grounds, there was no error in this case. View "Vermont v. Spencer" on Justia Law

Defendant Scott Lafaso was convicted by jury of burglary, unlawful restraint, stalking, interference with access to emergency services, and two counts of unlawful trespass. These charges stemmed from unsuccessful attempts to reconcile with a former girlfriend. When the girlfriend ended the relationship, defendant twice entered her home without permission, held her down, and grabbed her phone from her hand when she tried to call police. On appeal of his convictions, defendant argued he was deprived of his right to a speedy trial, and that the superior court erred in not excluding certain testimony from the jury’s consideration. Finding no reversible error, the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed. View "Vermont v. Lafaso" on Justia Law

Therese and Timothy Holmes appealed a Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) decision granting Acorn Energy Solar 2 a certificate of public good (CPG) to build and operate a solar net-metering system. The Holmeses argued the PUC erred in concluding that: (1) Acorn’s application was complete under the PUC Rules; (2) several proposed changes constituted minor amendments; (3) the project would be located on a preferred site; (4) the project would comply with setback requirements; and (5) the project would not have an undue adverse effect on aesthetics, orderly development, wetlands, air pollution, greenhouse gases, and traffic. Finding no reversible error, the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the PUC's decision. View "In re Petition of Acorn Energy Solar 2, LLC (Therese & Timothy Holmes, Appellants)" on Justia Law

Defendant Milton Town School District and plaintiff, a high-school football player who sued the District after being assaulted by team members during an off-campus team dinner at the residence of one of the players, both appealed various trial court rulings and the jury’s verdict in favor of plaintiff following a five-day trial. Plaintiff sued the District in 2017 claiming negligent supervision and a violation of the Vermont Public Accommodations Act (VPAA) in connection with his assault at the hands of fellow football team members at an on off-campus dinner in the fall of 2012. At that time, Plaintiff was a freshman, and the District was aware that members of the football team had a history of harassment, including sexual assaults and hazing, against underclassmen team members. In October 2012, nine or ten members of the team, including plaintiff, attended a team dinner at one of the player’s parents’ home. At some point that evening, plaintiff was dragged down to the basement and thrown onto a couch, where one player held plaintiff down while another player forcibly inserted a pool cue into plaintiff’s rectum. The school principal spoke to plaintiff and another football player after learning that some incoming freshman did not want to play football because they had heard rumors of team members using broomsticks to initiate new team members. When the principal told plaintiff that she would shut down the football program if the rumors proved to be true, plaintiff denied the rumors because he feared retaliation from other students for causing the football program to be shut down. The principal then directed plaintiff to speak to the incoming freshman and tell him he had lied about the use of broomsticks during the initiation of new team members. When the principal informed the district superintendent about the rumors, the superintendent declined to do anything further. In April 2014, the Department for Children and Families (DCF) opened an investigation into allegations concerning the Milton High School football team. The Chittenden County State’s Attorney later filed criminal charges against five Milton High School football players, including plaintiff’s attackers, all of whom pled guilty to criminal offenses related to harassment, hazing, and assault. After review of the trial court record, the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the judgment. View "Blondin v. Milton Town School District et al." on Justia Law

The State of Vermont appealed a trial court order denying its motion for a mental examination of defendant Aita Gurung, who was charged with the first-degree murder of his wife and attempted first-degree murder of his mother-in-law. The State argued the trial court had the discretion to order the evaluation and erred when it determined that, because a former prosecution and the current prosecution were the same proceeding, Vermont Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.1(a)(1)(I) did not allow for this evaluation and that, even if the rule allowed for it, an additional evaluation would not be reasonable. Defendant, a native of Nepal, was alleged to have attacked his wife and mother-in- law with a meat cleaver in 2017. Defendant was arraigned and ordered held without bail at the Vermont Psychiatric Hospital for the purpose of conducting competency and sanity evaluations. After a first competency evaluation using a Nepali interpreter, the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office and defendant stipulated defendant was competent to stand trial. A year later, the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office moved for a second evaluation. The second evaluation was conducted without an interpreter; a report of the second evaluation concluded defendant was insane at the time of the attack. Concluding it did not have sufficient evidence to rebut defendant's insanity defense, the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss without prejudice its case. After an independent review of the case, the Office of the Vermont Attorney General (AG) filed first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder against defendant. Defendant again provided notice of an insanity defense. At a subsequent hearing, the AG notified the trial court it intended to seek the mental examination at issue in this appeal. The AG noted that if the court did not permit the AG to conduct an independent evaluation of defendant, “then in essence it is binding the Attorney General’s Office to the previously obtained expert which [it] did not hire and [has] no involvement with.” The Vermont Supreme Court determined the trial court abused its discretion in denying the AG's motion. Judgment was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings. View "Vermont v. Gurung" on Justia Law

Petitioner H.H. appealed a Vermont Human Services Board order upholding the Department for Children and Families’ (DCF’s) substantiation of a report that she placed her daughter at risk of harm from sexual abuse. The Board granted summary judgment to the State, concluding that the stipulated findings in a related child-in-need-of-care-or-supervision (CHINS) proceeding precluded petitioner from contesting her substantiation and resulting placement on the Child Protection Registry. Petitioner argued the Board erred in applying collateral estoppel on the basis of the CHINS adjudication. To this, the Vermont Supreme Court agreed, reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "In re Appeal of H.H." on Justia Law