Justia New Hampshire Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Petitioner Hannaford Brothers Company appealed a superior court order that dismissed its appeal of a Town of Bedford Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) decision for lack of standing. Petitioner owned and operated a 36,541 square foot supermarket on Route 101 in Bedford’s commercial district. Petitioner obtained planning board approval for its supermarket in November 2006, shortly after the Town of Bedford (Town) enacted a zoning ordinance amendment restricting the size of any single building in the commercial district to 40,000 square feet. Retail Management and Development, Inc. (RMD), the intervenor in this case, developed supermarkets. In November 2010, RMD filed an application with the ZBA seeking a variance to exceed the 40,000 square foot restriction in order to construct a 78,332 square foot supermarket on Route 114 in the commercial district. The location of RMD’s proposed supermarket is 3.8 miles from petitioner’s supermarket. Although petitioner objected to the variance application, the ZBA granted it. The ZBA found, among other things, that the "spirit of the ordinance" was intended to limit the size of buildings on Route 101, but not on Route 114, where RMD sought to build. The ZBA denied the petitioner's motion for rehearing, finding that the petitioner was not a "person directly affected" by its decision and, thus, lacked standing to move for rehearing. Petitioner argued on appeal to the Supreme Court that the trial court erred in dismissing its appeal based upon a lack of standing. Upon review, the Court concluded that petitioner failed to demonstrate that it had a "direct, definite interest in the outcome of the [ZBA’s] action," and accordingly affirmed the superior court's order. View "Hannaford Brothers Co. v. Town of Bedford" on Justia Law

Claimant William Stewart appealed a decision of the appeal tribunal, as affirmed by the appellate board of the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security (DES) that denied his application for unemployment benefits. Stewart worked as the code enforcement director for the City of Laconia from March 14 to June 29, 2011. Following his termination, Stewart applied for unemployment benefits. A DES certifying officer denied the application. The officer determined that Stewart did not have annual earnings of at least $1,400 in two of four quarters of his alternate base period. Stewart appealed the decision to the tribunal. He argued that he had earnings of at least $1,400 in both the third and fourth quarters of his alternate base period. Following a hearing, the tribunal affirmed the decision denying Stewart’s claim. Stewart argued on appeal to the Supreme Court that the tribunal erred in concluding that he had insufficient quarterly earnings under RSA 282-A:25 to establish a claim for benefits. Upon review, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded, finding that DES’s reliance on its decision in "Appeal of Tennis" was misplaced. View "Appeal of William Stewart" on Justia Law

Petitioner Town of Bartlett Board of Selectmen appealed a superior court order that upheld a decision of the Town of Bartlett Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) finding that a sign erected by intervenor River Run Company, Inc. (River Run) was permitted under the Town's zoning ordinance. Upon review of the applicable ordinances and the superior court record, the Supreme Court found no error in the superior court's decision and affirmed. View "Town of Bartlett Board of Selectmen v. Town of Bartlett Zoning Board of Adjustment" on Justia Law

Respondent Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) appealed a superior court decision that vacated decision of the New Hampshire Motor Vehicle Industry Board (Board) and ruled that RSA chapter 357-C rendered unenforceable a provision of a written settlement agreement between Nissan and petitioner, Strike Four, LLC, a Nissan dealer. Nissan also appealed the superior court's ruling that it was entitled to neither specific performance of the settlement agreement nor attorney's fees. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court's decision, but vacated that court's dismissal of Nissan's claim for attorney fees. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "Strike Four, LLC v. Nissan North America, Inc." on Justia Law

Petitioners Steve and Laura Trefethen appealed a superior court order that dismissed their appeal from a Town of Derry Zoning Board of Adjustment for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Board concluded that the petitioners' appeal was untimely filed, but the Supreme Court disagreed. The decision was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings. View "Trefethen v. Town of Derry" on Justia Law

The City of Nashua appealed a New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) ruling that taxpayer Marijane Kennedy was entitled to an "elderly exemption" under RSA 72:39-a (2012) for the 2011 tax year. Upon review of the applicable statute and the facts on record in this case, the Supreme Court found that the BTLA erred in its interpretation and accordingly reversed. View "Appeal of City of Nashua" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Osahenrumwen Ojo appealed a superior court order that granted Defendants Officer Joseph Lorenzo and the Manchester Police Department's motion to dismiss. Plaintiff was stopped while walking away from his brother's home to after an altercation at the home. Officer Lorenzo arrested Plaintiff after Plaintiff was identified from a photographic line up by a kidnapping victim. The State charged Plaintiff with criminal kidnapping. A grand jury later returned an indictment against him. After Plaintiff spent seventeen months in pretrial custody, the State nol prossed all charged against him because the complaining witness allegedly moved to Germany. Unrepresented by counsel, Plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit against defendants alleging, among other things, that defendants: (1) ignored their duties to fully, reasonably, and prudently conduct their investigation before placing him under arrest (and therefore lacked probable cause to arrest); and (2) employed unnecessarily suggestive, unreliable, and untrustworthy identification procedures. Finding probable cause existed at the time of Plaintiff's arrest, the superior court granted defendants' motion to dismiss. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that defendants did not have probable cause to arrest Plaintiff due to inconsistencies in the alleged victim's description and photographic identification and Plaintiff's actual appearance the day he was arrested. The Court affirmed the superior court with respect to all other issues raised on appeal. View "Ojo v. Lorenzo" on Justia Law

Petitioner David Stacy appealed a decision of the New Hampshire Bar Association Public Protection Fund Committee (PPFC) denying his claim for reimbursement for the fees and costs that he and his conservatorship estate paid to attorney Donald Wyatt. The PPFC found that the petitioner failed to demonstrate that the funds at issue were lost as a result of Wyatt’s embezzlement, conversion, or theft. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the PPFC sustainably exercised its discretion when it denied petitioner's claims. View "Appeal of Stacy" on Justia Law

Defendant Kevin Guay appealed his convictions for two counts of unlawful operation of a solid waste facility, and one count of unlawful maintenance of a subsurface septic system. Defendant was a land developer and operated a junk removal business. A neighbor called police to report hazardous materials buried on Defendant's property. Department of Environmental Services (DES) investigators unearthed (among other items): a home heating oil tank, carpeting, old mattresses, foam insulation, a metal stove, shingles, wiring, a hot tub broken into pieces, and paint cans; above-the-ground items included mattresses, appliances, chairs, couches, ceiling tiles, a snowmobile, an oil tank, metal debris, and insulation, the majority of which had been exposed to the elements and were not in usable condition. An investigator observed liquid on top of defendant's septic system and a garden hose attached to a sump pump that channeled untreated brown water from the septic tank, bypassing the leach field, and discharging liquid in the direction of the Turkey River. Based on investigators' observations, the State charged defendant with three misdemeanors. After a week-long trial, a jury convicted him on all counts. On appeal, defendant argued that RSA 485-A:37 did not allow the State to charge him with a misdemeanor because the statutory penalty was civil forfeiture. Furthermore, defendant argued he was entitled to a new trial under the plain error doctrine because certain "[i]nadmissible evidence concerning witness credibility was presented at trial and discussed in closing argument." Upon review, the Supreme Court disagreed with defendant's interpretation of RSA 485-A:37, and concluded that in light of other evidence admitted at trial, defendant could not demonstrate that the "inadmissible evidence concerning witness credibility" affected the outcome of his case. Accordingly the Court affirmed defendant's convictions. View "New Hampshire v. Guay" on Justia Law

Defendant Robin Lukas appealed a superior court decision that denied her motion to dismiss the indictment against her for theft by unauthorized taking, a class B felony. The only issue on appeal was whether defendant, having been convicted twice of class A misdemeanors in another state, could be charged with a class B in New Hampshire. Defendant argued that her prior out-of-state convictions could not be considered for the purposes of enhancing her New Hampshire conviction. Having reviewed the plain language of the applicable New Hampshire statute, the Supreme Court disagreed with defendant's interpretation and affirmed the superior court having used the out-of-state convictions to enhance her New Hampshire sentence, and for denying defendant's motion to dismiss. View "New Hampshire v. Lukas" on Justia Law