DOOLEY, J. 1. In this complaint for extraordinary relief, we are asked to determine whether a judicial officer has discretion to attach ex ante or prospective conditions to a search warrant. The State petitions this Court to strike ten such conditions pertaining to the search of a personal computer, seized by police as part of an identity theft investigation. The State contends that the conditions exceed the judicial officer's authority under the Fourth Amendment and unnecessarily impede law...
ROBINSON, J. 1. Rosann Maggio, widow and primary beneficiary of the estate of Daniel Maggio, appeals a decision of the superior court holding that Daniel Maggio did not own an interest in real property in Holland, Vermont at the time of his death. Ms. Maggio argues that the trial court erroneously admitted statements from her interrogatory answers in violation of the best evidence rule, the dead man's statutes, and the requirement in V.R.E. 602 that testimony be based on personal knowledge;...
SKOGLUND, J. 1. The Vermont Human Rights Commission appeals a trial court decision interpreting 9 V.S.A. 4554 as requiring all lawsuits brought by the Commission against the State of Vermont to be filed within a six-month conciliation period. The trial court held that because the Commission failed to file within this six-month period, its suit against the State was time-barred. We affirm the trial court's decision and dismiss the Commission's claim. 2. Under 9 V.S.A. 4552, the Human...
DOOLEY, J. 1. Neighbors of a proposed affordable housing development appeal an Environmental Division decision affirming a decision of the Town of Woodstock Development Review Board (DRB) granting appellee-applicants Woodstock Community Trust and Housing Vermont (hereinafter collectively referred to as WCT) a zoning permit and a decision of the District 3 Environmental Commission, granting an Act 250 land use permit. The Environmental Division had reversed an earlier decision of the DRB...
BURGESS, J. 1. Appellant Foti Fuels, Inc. (Foti), a fuel distributor, appeals from the Washington Civil Division's judgment in favor of Evans Group, Inc. (Evans), also a fuel distributor. Evans cancelled its agreement to sell fuel to Foti for resale and delivery to a retail gasoline station, and sued for payment of an outstanding balance of $68,864. Foti claims the unilateral termination of the agreement violated the federal Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA), 15 U.S.C. 2801-2807,...
DOOLEY, J. 1. Appellants John and Margaret Toor appeal a decision of the Superior Court, Environmental Division, upholding a notice of violation issued by the Town of Grand Isle Zoning Administrator for changing the use of their single-family home in Grand Isle without obtaining a zoning permit. On appeal, appellants argue that renting their home does not constitute a change in use under the Town's zoning ordinance, and accordingly they were not required to obtain a zoning permit prior to...
SKOGLUND, J. 1. Vermont Golf Association challenges the superior court's dismissal of its appeal from a decision by the Department of Taxes assessing sales and use tax on prior activities. The court based its dismissal on Vermont Golf's failure to provide security to the Commissioner of Taxes to perfect its appeal to the superior court pursuant to 32 V.S.A. 9817. We affirm. 2. Vermont Golf sponsors golf tournaments throughout the state. Golfers pay entry fees to Vermont Golf, which...
SKOGLUND, J. 1. Vermont Golf Association challenges the superior court's dismissal of its appeal from a decision by the Department of Taxes assessing sales and use tax on prior activities. The court based its dismissal on Vermont Golf's failure to provide security to the Commissioner of Taxes to perfect its appeal to the superior court pursuant to 32 V.S.A. 9817. We affirm. 2. Vermont Golf sponsors golf tournaments throughout the state. Golfers pay entry fees to Vermont Golf, which...
BURGESS, J. 1. The Windsor County State's Attorney filed this interlocutory collateral final order appeal seeking review on the question of whether 13 V.S.A. 4815(g)(1) violates the Vermont Constitution's separation-of-powers provision by divesting the trial court of the authority to order an inpatient mental health evaluation of a potentially incompetent defendant. The Attorney General intervened on behalf of the State, arguing that the appeal was improvidently granted, and that the...
DOOLEY, J. 1. Plaintiff Richard Daniels is seeking foreclosure of a mortgage on two parcels of real property owned by defendant Elks Club of Hartford, Vermont (the Club). Defendant creditors, who include the Vermont Human Rights Commission (VHRC), four individual women, and the Watts Law Firm (Watts), all have junior security interests in the property at issue and oppose foreclosure. Creditors appeal from a trial court decision granting plaintiff's motions for summary judgment, concluding...
SKOGLUND, J. 1. Plaintiff Stephen J. Pcolar appeals from a Chittenden Superior Court verdict in favor of defendant Casella Waste Systems, Inc. Plaintiff filed suit alleging negligence in connection with an incident where the gripper arm of a garbage truck owned by Casella and operated by defendant Robert Smith struck plaintiff. The superior court charged the jury to compare the negligence of the parties, and the jury returned a verdict assigning seventy percent of the causative negligence...
REIBER, C.J. 1. Wife appeals from a superior court, family division order requiring her to sign a waiver to correct a previously filed Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), which erroneously gave her survivorship benefits in her former husband's pension. We affirm. 2. The underlying facts are not in dispute. Wife and husband were married in 1976, legally separated in 2001, and divorced in 2003. The divorce order, fully incorporating the terms of the separation agreement, awarded wife...
BURGESS, J. 1. Defendant Jeffory Hammond appeals his convictions for sexual assault and lewd and lascivious conduct. Defendant argues that: (1) he was entitled to a judgment of acquittal based on the complainant's contradictory and otherwise incredible testimony; (2) alternatively, he is entitled to a new trial for the same reasons; (3) the court's jury instructions were erroneous; (4) the court erred under Vermont's Rape Shield statute, 13 V.S.A. 3255, by allowing the State to present...
REIBER, C.J. 1. John Doe, a Medicaid recipient, and the State appeal the trial court's decision allowing the State to partially recover the amount of its lien against Doe's settlement with a third party. The trial court calculated the State's reimbursement pursuant to Arkansas Department of Health & Human Services v. Ahlborn, 547 U.S. 268 , 126 S.Ct. 1752, 164 L.Ed.2d 459 (2006). We affirm in part, and reverse and remand in part. 2. The underlying facts are undisputed. In 1992, when...
BURGESS, J. 1. Plaintiffs Vermont Human Rights Commission (HRC) and Ursula Stanley, an employee of the State Agency of Transportation, appeal the Washington Civil Division's decision to grant the State's motion to dismiss her complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Ms. Stanley complains that, under the Vermont Parental and Family Leave Act (VPFLA), 21 V.S.A. 472(c), which requires continuation of certain "employment benefits" during family leave, she was...
BURGESS, J. 1. The principal question presented by this appeal is whether, and to what extent, a state's attorney who serves as a county's chief law enforcement officer is entitled to official immunity from civil liability for allegedly tortious conduct concerning a local police officer. The trial court concluded that liability for the acts complained of was precluded by either qualified or absolute immunity, or was otherwise barred. We conclude that the State's Attorney was entitled to...
REIBER, C.J. 1. In this case, we again confront the proper scope of the investigatory records exemption under the Vermont Access to Public Records Act (PRA), 1 V.S.A. 317(c)(5). At issue are documents that relate to the investigation and discipline of City of Rutland employees for viewing pornography, including possible child pornography, at work. The City challenges a superior court order requiring it to disclose certain documents to plaintiff Rutland Herald. AFSCME Council 93, Local 1201,...
SKOGLUND, J. 1. This case concerns public access to records that newspaper plaintiff Rutland Herald believes are of intense public interest: material related to a criminal investigation of possession of child pornography by employees of the Criminal Justice Training Council at the Vermont Police Academy. The Herald appeals from a trial court decision granting summary judgment to defendants, the Vermont State Police (VSP) and the Office of the Attorney General (collectively "the State"), and...
BURGESS, J. 1. Defendant Randy J. Rouleau appeals the decision of the Washington Civil Division holding that Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Trustee for the registered holders of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp., Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certifications, Series 2001-CF2 (Wells Fargo), is entitled to enforce defendant's personal guaranty of a promissory note secured by mortgages on five mobile home parks. The civil division concluded that Wells Fargo could...
BURGESS, J. 1. Following a jury trial, defendants R. Brown & Sons, Inc., a scrap metal hauling company, and its principal, Robert Brown (both referred to as hauler), were found liable for breach of contract, common law fraud, trespass, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and consumer fraud. Each of these claims stemmed from hauler's commercial dealings with plaintiff Rathe Salvage, Inc., a scrap metal salvage yard where hauler would crush cars and transport the...
