Overlook Rd. Ass'n v. Oogle

• Court: Superior Court of Maine
• Decided: April 5, 2011
• Docket: CUMap-10-07
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT CUMBERLAND, ss CIVIL ACTION DOCKET NO. AP-IO-p OVERLOOK ROAD ASSOCIATION, (I/;V1- C t(Ji') - c/§je-:'o , , Ij

Plaintiff

v. ORDER ON PLAINTIFFS MOTION FOR CONTEMPT DEBORAH 1. OOGLE, TRUSTEE, DEBORAH 1. SeT', nr: 'i'~!{)'.f,C~ OOGLE REVOCABLE TRUST, c,ulr.';'.:·;'~\

Defendant ~.,. ,

Before the court is the plaintiff's motion for contempt. For the following reasons,

the motion is denied.

Background

This case involves the appeal of a small claims case, in which judgment was

entered against the defendant. (Tr. of 10 / 27/09 Hearing.) A judicial settlement

conference was conducted. The case was settled and the terms of the settlement were

placed on the record. (Tr. of 6/28/10.) The court signed two orders to file docket

entries. (Exs. A & H attached to Def.'s Opp. to Pl.'s Mot.)

After efforts to gather the required signatures to effect the settlement, the

necessary documents were not executed. During this time period, the defendant

reported the President of the Board of the plaintiff to the State of Maine Board of

Licensure for Professional Engineers for alleged ethical violations. The plaintiff

believed that the defendant violated the terms of the parties' mutual release by her

report of the President of the Board. (IQ. Ex. E.)

As a result of the impasse, the defendant filed a motion to enforce the settlement

agreement. The plaintiff sent a letter to the settlement justice and requested a finding of

contempt against the defendant. The matters were scheduled for hearing. By the time 1 of the hearing, the settlement documents had been signed. At the hearing, the

defendant withdrew the motion to enforce and the parties signed a stipulation of

dismissal. (Id. Ex. G.) The settlement justice did not act on the request for contempt.

Conclusions

First, based on the circumstances of this case, the plaintiff has not proved by clear

and convincing evidence that the defendant is in contempt. See M.R. Civ. P.

66(a)(2)(A)(i) & (ii); 66(d)(2)(D)(i) & (ii). Second, the individual the defendant reported

to the Board of Licensure is not a party to this case. The plaintiff requests, however,

among other relief, that the court order the defendant to withdraw her complaint to the

Board of Licensure, compensate the individual for attorney's fees and costs, and not

communicate with anyone except her attorney about this case. See Halfway House Inc.

v. City of Portland, 670 A.2d 1377, 1380 (Me. 1996) (access to the courts is limited "to

those best suited to assert a particular claim").

The entry is

The Plaintiff's Motion for Contempt is DENIED.

Date: April 5, 2011 ancy Mills Justice, Superior C

2 Date Piled 02-11-10 CUMBERLAND Docket No. AP-10-07 County

Action _ _--"S-'-'MA=L=L_C-=.cLA=I=M=S~A=P_=_P=E=A=L _

OVERLOOK ROAD AT BRIDGTON ASSOCIATION OGLE, DEBORAH L. (TRUSTEE)

VS.

Plaintiff's Attorney Defendant's Attorney KAREN JM MITCHELL, ESQ. -C-HfH·f,..~-tr;--fl1\o~;-~Qw/drew9-28-10 ALAN E. WOLF, ESQ. ~-fr~- 294 MAIN STREET, PO BOX 275 -ffiffi-~~ CUMBERLAND, ME 04021-0275 ~-irlffi-;--MH-~:HH

CHRISTOPHER PAZAR ESQ DRUMMOND & DRUMMOND ONE MONUMENT WAY PORTLAND ME 04101 Date of Entry