New Hampshire Supreme Court
Cases Accepted - January 2000
* denotes appealing parties
99-445 In re Ryan D.*
James E. Duggan
Sven D. Wiberg
Attorney General
Reckless conduct, criminal mischief - juvenile
proceeding; whether RSA 169-B:46 mandates court
disclosure of juvenile's name and address following a
true finding on petition alleging criminal mischief;
whether juvenile should be allowed to withdraw plea in
light of court's ruling that juvenile's name and
address will be disclosed
99-465 In re Bill F.
Elliot Berry, for the father*
Attorney General
Wayne T. Moynihan, GAL
Child abuse and neglect - denial of due process by
permanently depriving father of custodial rights over
child in absence of any finding that father abused or
neglected child or is unfit parent; whether father
waived claim by failure to appeal dispositional order
99-497 State of NH v. Farren,* James J.
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Plea withdrawal - numerous issues including whether
defendant is entitled to appointed counsel; ineffective
assistance of counsel; whether defendant should have
been allowed to withdraw plea
99-510 State of NH v. Dahood,* Michael
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Andrew R. Schulman
Driving while intoxicated, subsequent offense - whether
court erred by taking judicial notice that Horizontal
Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test is a reliable scientific
technique; denial of Daubert hearing on reliability and
admissibility of HGN evidence; whether police officer
was qualified to interpret results of HGN test; whether
officer may testify to his opinion that defendant
"failed" individual field sobriety tests
99-522 State of NH v. Cajigas,* John
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Joseph C. Malfitani
Criminal threatening - sufficiency of evidence
99-580 State of NH v. Phillips,* William
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Andrew D. Correia
Simple assault - denial of mistrial after witness
testified to statements of defendant not disclosed to
defendant by State in pretrial discovery; denial of
mistrial in light of discussions by one juror with
other jurors prior to deliberations
99-633 State of NH v. King,* Jason
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Leonard D. Harden
Criminal trespass, criminal threatening, conspiracy to
commit simple assault - sufficiency of evidence;
whether court erred by sua sponte preventing a witness
from testifying without providing opportunity for
witness to invoke his right to remain silent;
limitation upon defendant's right to cross-examine
State's witnesses
99-653 Bishop,* Scott E., v. Hanover Insurance Company
Cindy Bishop Andrew D. Dunn
Paul B. Kleinman James E. Owers
Uninsured motorist benefits - workers' compensation
lien; whether defendant is entitled to proceed in
subrogation against itself to recover its workers'
compensation lien by filing a claim and demand for
arbitration of its uninsured motorist proceeds
99-677 Town of Nottingham v. Newman,* Diane, Rick
Newman
Newman,* Diane, Rick v. Town of Nottingham Board
Newman of Adjustment
pro se Mark Gearreald, for
town
Municipal regulation - civil penalties and attorney's
fees; numerous issues including imposition of civil
penalty retroactively while case is in dispute in
court; due process; whether penalties can be imposed
during period in which court had granted permission to
keep mobile home on property and while stay of order to
remove mobile home was in effect; whether town is
entitled to award of attorney's fees
99-687 State of NH v. West,* Kenneth
Attorney General Philip Desfosses
Felonious sexual assault - failure to exclude
defendant's confession; admission of prior bad acts
despite stipulation that defendant would not contest
mental state of crimes charged; sufficiency of evidence
99-689 State of NH v. Voight,* Robert
Robert Voight v. Warden, N.H. State Prison
Attorney General James E. Duggan
George H. Ostler
Arson, insurance fraud - habeas corpus; whether
$32,083.02 is correct amount of restitution owed;
whether insurer and police department are "victims"
within meaning of restitution statute; whether prior
failure to object to insurer and police department as
victims waived that issue; denial of habeas corpus
relief; whether court erred in holding hearing after
counsel disclosed a conflict of interest
99-696 In re Joshua V.*
James E. Duggan
Dennis P. O'Connor
Attorney General
Receiving stolen property - failure of juvenile
petitions to allege that juvenile knew or believed
property was stolen; sufficiency of evidence
99-704 Electric Insurance,* Appeal of
Eric P. Bernard
D. Lance Tillinghast
Attorney General
Workers' compensation - misapplication of legal
standard for statutory construction to resolve all
factual doubts in favor of claimant; whether claimant
met burden of proof on medical causation; whether board
erroneously shifted burden of proof to carrier
99-709 McKenzie, Avis S. v. McKenzie,* John Craig
pro se Mark S. Moeller
Douglas C. Gray Robert G. Eaton
Post-divorce proceeding - whether marital master has
authority to issue supplemental order after supreme
court has accepted earlier appeal; whether appeal was
timely; whether master committed plain mathematical
error in enforcing property distribution provisions of
divorce decree
99-710 State of NH v. Gourlay,* Burton Michael
Attorney General James E. Duggan
James H. Moir
Diane Nicolosi
First degree murder - exclusion of expert testimony
concerning defendant's mental deficits on issue of mens
rea; whether defendant was competent to stand trial;
whether State witness was competent to testify;
allowing jury to listen to tape-recorded confession of
defendant during deliberations
99-720 Hillsborough County,* Appeal of
(public employee labor relations board)
Carolyn M. Kirby
Jennifer Springer
Attorney General
Public employees - unfair labor practice; whether PELRB
failed to apply positive assurance test and order union
to pursue complaint through grievance resolution
procedure; whether board erred in ruling that nurse had
right to an assigned shift through shift bidding
99-722 In the Matter of Ingeborg Sasser and Rodney Gagne*
Attorney General
Rodney Gagne, pro se
Paternity and child support - enforcement of foreign
judgment; whether German court has jurisdiction over
obligor; whether RSA 546-B:1, XIX provides for
registration of child support judgment from foreign
country; whether comity exists between Germany and
United States regarding registration of child support
obligations; res judicata; whether support order is
enforceable while appeal is pending
99-746 Meunier,* Bernhardine, Appeal of
(board of tax and land appeals)
Donald F. Hebert
Walter L. Mitchell
Daniel D. Crean
Attorney General
Property tax abatement - determination of town
boundary; denial of motion for leave to submit new
evidence; whether board has subject matter jurisdiction
to determine location of boundary between adjoining
towns
99-749 Vautour,* David S. v. Body Masters Sports
Industries, Inc.
Robert MeKeel Gregory S. Clayton
Gregory R. Couture Gregory M. Eaton
Products liability - leg press machine; whether court
misapplied elements of strict liability; whether court
erred in requiring plaintiff to essentially redesign
defendant's defective product
99-752 City of Laconia,* Appeal of
(board of tax and land appeals)
Walter L. Mitchell
George R. Moore
Attorney General
Property tax abatement - whether 1907 legislative grant
of tax exemption remains valid and applicable; whether
facility housing the elderly qualified as a public
charity in whole or in part; whether court erred in
applying 1907 tax exemption
99-760 Neumann,* Clarice v. Village of Winnipesaukee
Richard Y. Uchida Timeshare Owners'
Association, Inc.
Benette Pizzimenti
Condominium timeshare association - denial of hearing;
upholding bylaw allowing board to exercise votes of
members who did not return proxies or attend meeting;
whether defendant is exempt from RSA 356-B:39; whether
plaintiff is entitled to current membership list
including telephone numbers; whether court erroneously
allowed use of proxies to defeat motion to adjourn
despite bylaw limiting such votes to members present at
meeting
99-764 Graham,* Elizabeth v. Glover, Gerald
Joshua L. Gordon Richard A. Mitchell
Negligence - whether plaintiff agreed to jury of ten
deciding case; sufficiency of evidence
99-765 McQuade, Paul R., Paul v. McQuade,* William P.,
R. McQuade Investments, McQuik Stop, Inc.
Inc. Daniel J. Harkinson
Mark F. Weaver
Interest - whether plaintiffs are entitled to interest
on the judgment calculated prior to the date the equity
petition was filed; cross-appeal - whether plaintiffs
are entitled to compounded interest calculated as of
the date of the imposition of a constructive trust
99-767 State of NH v. Sawyer,* Charles
Attorney General Mark L. Stevens
Possession with intent to distribute marijuana/hashish
- whether plain view exception permits search of sealed
containers; whether driver can consent to search of
containers under exclusive control of passengers;
whether State Constitution permits unlawfully obtained
statement to be used at trial to impeach defendant
99-768 Grenier,* Valerie, Appeal of
(compensation appeals board)
James H. Leary
Jeffrey H. Karlin
Attorney General
Workers' compensation - whether exposure to fumes and
chemicals at work resulting in disability constituted
injury or occupational disease within meaning of
Workers' Compensation Law
Note: 99-709 consolidated with 99-391.