Baker v. Wilmot

Supreme Court of New Hampshire

Baker v. Wilmot

509 A.2d 1252, 128 N.H. 121, 1986 N.H. LEXIS 258

CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire

DecidedMay 12, 1986

DocketNo. 85-393

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 509 A.2d 1252 (Baker v. Wilmot) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Baker v. Wilmot, 509 A.2d 1252, 128 N.H. 121, 1986 N.H. LEXIS 258 (N.H. 1986).

Pincite

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion

On plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment under RSA 491:8-a, the Superior Court (Bean, J.) made findings of fact and noted a “possible material mistake” of fact by the parties. Such findings of fact exceeded the trial court’s authority on motion for summary judgment which is limited to determining whether a “genuine issue of material fact requiring a formal trial” exists. Arsenault v. Willis, 117 N.H. 980, 983, 380 A.2d 264, 266 (1977). Moreover, the “possible” factual issue, if genuine, was itself sufficient to preclude summary judgment. Since the trial court did not find that there was no genuine issue of material fact, the order of summary judgment was erroneous.

We note that § 20 of the defendant’s response states that there are “no genuine issues as to any relevant facts.” (Emphasis in original.) It is clear, however, that the defendant judged relevance by a legal theory that the trial court rejected.

There being no basis to sustain the order, the summary judgment for the plaintiff must be reversed.

Reversed.

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Memorandum Opinion

On plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment under RSA 491:8-a, the Superior Court (Bean, J.) made findings of fact and noted a “possible material mistake” of fact by the parties. Such findings of fact exceeded the trial court’s authority on motion for summary judgment which is limited to determining whether a “genuine issue of material fact requiring a formal trial” exists. Arsenault v. Willis, 117 N.H. 980, 983, 380 A.2d 264, 266 (1977). Moreover, the “possible” factual issue, if genuine, was itself sufficient to preclude summary judgment. Since the trial court did not find that there was no genuine issue of material fact, the order of summary judgment was erroneous.

We note that § 20 of the defendant’s response states that there are “no genuine issues as to any relevant facts.” (Emphasis in original.) It is clear, however, that the defendant judged relevance by a legal theory that the trial court rejected.

There being no basis to sustain the order, the summary judgment for the plaintiff must be reversed.

Reversed.

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Bluebook (online)

509 A.2d 1252, 128 N.H. 121, 1986 N.H. LEXIS 258, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-wilmot-nh-1986.

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