Attorney Sigmund David Schutz's Legal Cases

Libel and slander

Gunning v. Doe

May 04, 2017

OUTCOME: Judgment Affirmed

In August 2013, Marie Gunning brought suit in the Superior Court against the anonymous publisher and writer(s) (collectively John Doe) of News as Viewed From a Crow's Nest (Crow's Nest), a publication ... distributed locally in Freeport, Maine, and accessible on the Internet, which Gunning claimed had published defamatory statements about her in several of its issues. After a California court quashed a subpoena that Gunning served on the Crow's Nest's website host seeking to identify Doe, the Superior Court dismissed her complaint for failure to effect service on the defendants. Gunning appealed from that judgment. The publisher of the Crow's Nest (Doe #1) cross-appeals, agreeing with the court that Gunning is estopped by the California judgment from continuing to seek the Does' identities, and additionally contending that Gunning cannot force the Does to reveal their identities because the Crow's Nest is both nonactionable constitutionally protected parody and protected anonymous speech. On appeal, the Court concluded that Gunning could not re-litigate the issues decided in California and affirmed the dismissal of her claims.

Constitutional

McDonough v. City of Portland

May 01, 2017

OUTCOME: Judgment Affirmed

This case concerns a suit by Paul M. McDonough, in which he challenges the system by which the City of Portland ("Portland") distributes permits for taxis to pick up passengers at the Portland Inter ... national Jetport. McDonough alleges that Portland, in violation of the federal Constitution, denied him the opportunity to apply for a permit on the basis of his race and national origin.

Privacy

In re Conservatorship of Emma

Jan 05, 2017

OUTCOME: Report Discharged

The Kennebec County Probate Court (J. Mitchell, J.) reported a question to that concerns public access to information held by probate courts in electronic format, specifically, financial information in ... conservatorship matters. Because the concluded that the reported question (1) raises broad issues that extend beyond the controversy at hand, (2) requests decisions that are inconsistent with our basic function as an appellate court, and (3) may be rendered moot by subsequent proceedings, the Court declined to answer the reported question.

Securities and investment fraud

Landry v. Fidelity Brokerage Services

Mar 03, 2014

OUTCOME: Award in Favor of Claimant

The claim challenged Fidelity's customer verification policies as inadequate to safeguard personally identifying customer information and that Fidelity failed to honor its Customer Protection Guarantee ... against identity theft.

Communications and media

MaineToday Media, Inc. v. State of Maine

Nov 14, 2013

OUTCOME: Remanded to the Superior Court

The Portland Press Herald appealed an order denying a request to inspect and copy transcripts of 911 calls related to a double murder. The Maine Supreme Judicial court determined on appeal that the tr ... anscripts are public records and ordered disclosure.

Constitutional

In Re. MaineToday Media, Inc.

Jan 24, 2013

OUTCOME: Order barring Public From Voir Dire Process Vacated

Upholding a constitutional challenge to a trial court’s order barring the public from the entirety of the voir dire process in a criminal trial, the Maine SJC remanded the matter for the trial court to ... conduct the remaining voir dire of the jury pool in a presumptively public manner, exercising its considerable discretion to prevent the dissemination of sensitive juror information. The public’s access to the jury selection that has already occurred was to be addressed, again at the court’s discretion, by the release of appropriately redacted transcripts.

Land use and zoning

Pike Industries, Inc. v. City of Westbrook

Jun 14, 2012

OUTCOME: Affirm in Part, Vacate in Part, Remand for Further Proceedings

This appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court concerns a consent decree entered into by the City of Westbrook, Pike Industries, Inc., and intervenor IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. to settle a land use disp ... ute arising from Pike’s operation of a quarry in Westbrook.

Communications and media

MacImage of Maine LLC v. Androscoggin County, et al.

Mar 27, 2012

OUTCOME: Judgment Vacated; Remanded for Further Proceedings

A case that started out as a public records dispute -- involving a challenge to $1 million plus fee for access to recorded land records -- became a challenge to the constitutionality of a retroactive s ... tatute. After winning a victory after trial, where the Court agreed that an excessive fee for copies of public records is a constructive denial of the public's right to inspect and copy public records, the Legislature enacted a retroactive statute changing the fee structure for copies of land records while the law while the case was on the appeal. The Court decided that the new statute was constitutional, reinforcing the Legislature's broad discretion to meddle in pending litigation.

Real estate

McCormick v. Lachance

Nov 17, 2011

OUTCOME: Judgment Affirmed

In a dispute over the relocation of an easement having a fixed location on the face of the earth, the Court agreed that the servient estateâ€™s recording a plan, without more, and particularly without ... notice to the dominant estate or estates, is insufficient to relocate an easement that exists on the face of the earth.

Communications and media

Anastos v. Town of Brunswick

Mar 24, 2011

OUTCOME: Judgment Affirmed

Filed amicus brief on behalf of Maine Press Association in favor of public access to public records. The Court accepted a primary argument advanced on appeal, the mere existence of some element of pro ... prietary information within a document does not presumptively render the entire document confidential in every instance."

Sigmund David Schutz's Legal Cases (20)

Gunning v. Doe

McDonough v. City of Portland

In re Conservatorship of Emma

Landry v. Fidelity Brokerage Services

MaineToday Media, Inc. v. State of Maine

In Re. MaineToday Media, Inc.

Pike Industries, Inc. v. City of Westbrook

MacImage of Maine LLC v. Androscoggin County, et al.

McCormick v. Lachance

Anastos v. Town of Brunswick