New Hampshire Supreme Court
Cases Accepted - October 1998
94-674 Barden,* Alice P., v. Horace Mann Insurance
Administratrix of Company
the Estate of Mark L. Mallory
Allyson M. Barden
David L. Nixon
Leslie C. Nixon
Uninsured motorist award - wrongful death;
whether wrongful death statute allows estate to
recover for loss of enjoyment of life as an
element of damages; interlocutory transfer
96-569 State of NH v. Loubier,* Leon
Attorney General J.P. Nadeau
Second degree assault - ineffective assistance of
counsel; failure of State to prove that firearm
was a deadly weapon in the manner in which it
was used; whether defendant prejudiced by jury
instruction regarding use of deadly force in
defense of a person
97-808 State of NH v. Gathright,* James
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Timothy M. Landry
Probation violation - whether totem pole hearsay
was sufficient to justify finding of probation
violation
98-129 Hanover Investment v. Town of Hanover*
Corporation Adele M. Fulton
K. William Clauson
John J. Ratigan
Property tax abatement - whether conflict of
interest existed where plaintiff allowed to use
member of board of tax and land appeals as expert;
legal standards for determining highest and best
use of property; exclusion of evidence of value
from years subsequent to tax year at issue;
sufficiency of evidence
98-195 State of NH v. Rojas-Mendez,* Victor
Attorney General James Duggan
Jorel Booker
Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute -
denial of motion to suppress; whether defendant
was illegally seized; whether container allegedly
discarded by defendant was illegally searched
98-208 State of NH* v. Beckert, Walter
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Julian Nichols
Felon in possession - whether RSA 159:3 is
unconstitutionally vague as applied to a defendant
carrying a concealed hunting knife with a fixed 6-
inch blade under his jacket in downtown
Portsmouth; whether a hunting knife as a matter of
law is not a "dangerous weapon"
98-249 Tyler Road v. Town of Londonderry*
Development Corp. David R. Connell
Steven G. Shadallah
Current use land use change tax - abatement and
declaratory judgment; whether 1991 amendment to
RSA 79-A:7, V is unconstitutionally retrospective;
whether assessments by town were correct under
current statute and regulations; cross-appeal -
whether court, by denying abatement on phase II of
Tyler Estates because plaintiff had not filed a
formal abatement, erred in light of RSA 76:17-c
and fact that plaintiff had filed a constitutional
challenge to method of taxing entire parcel
98-329 In re: Marilyn M. Jones and Wayne J. Jones*
Stephen J.C. Woods, for Wayne Jones
Glenn Graper, for Marilyn Jones
Divorce - ordering incarceration of a party for
failure to pay money without providing hearing
upon ability to pay; whether court erred in
defaulting a party at final divorce hearing for
failure to provide discovery on one issue; award
of alimony in excess of amount requested that is
equivalent of respondent's entire disposable
income; disproportionate award of property
98-340 In re Gary H.*
James E. Duggan
Bruce R. Jasper
Attorney General
Juvenile delinquent - whether juvenile entitled to
dismissal of charges because adjudicatory hearing
was held more than 21 days after arraignment
98-363 Gears,* Deborah, Appeal of
(compensation appeals board)
Francis X. Quinn, Jr.
Benjamin T. King
James E. Owers
Attorney General
Workers' compensation - permanent impairment;
failure to accord substantial weight to treating
physician's permanent impairment evaluation;
reliance by board upon plainly erroneous facts
98-365 Johnson,* Kevin E. v. Rumley, Mark
William Saturley Paul Twomey
Legal malpractice - statute of limitation
98-396 State of NH v. Kropp,* Kevin
Attorney General Leonard D. Harden
Simple assault - admission of statements by victim
to doctor; denial of right to confront witnesses;
hearsay; admission of ambiguous statements made by
defendant; whether court erred in admitting
doctor's opinion about pattern abuse and
causation; whether prosecutor vouched for strength
of his case during closing argument to jury
98-408 State of NH v. Loubier,* Leon
Attorney General Albert E. Scherr
Second degree assault - motion for new trial;
ineffective assistance of counsel; failure to
object to jury instruction or to double hearsay
statement; failure to move to dismiss
98-417 LeBlanc,* Thomas v. American Honda Motor Co.,
Vincent C. Martina Inc.
John Garvey James M. Campbell
Products liability - failure to include separate
question regarding failure to warn claim on jury
special verdict form; whether failure to warn
count was subsumed by defective design question
98-467 State of NH v. Hutchins,* Michael
Attorney General George H. Ostler
Perjury - double jeopardy; whether perjury
indictment is barred by collateral estoppel in
light of defendant's acquittal on four counts of
sexual assault; interlocutory appeal
98-492 State of NH v. Francoeur,* Robert
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Joachim H. Barth
David W. Ruoff
First degree assault - denial of unanimity jury
instruction as to whether deadly weapon was a
bladed object or a shard of glass; allowing State
to call witness to impeach her; denial of motion
to recuse judge; sufficiency of circumstantial
evidence
98-497 State of NH v. Farrell,* Jason
Attorney General Paul Twomey
Second degree murder - numerous issues including
denial of bill of particulars and motion to quash
indictment; denial of motion to suppress
statements; admission of prior bad acts; failure
to vacate acceptance of certification of juvenile
as adult; refusal to give requested jury
instructions; denial of mistrial; failure to voir
dire jury after questions evidenced that jurors
feared for their safety; failure to repoll jury
98-501 State of NH v. Charest,* Jonathan
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Robert J. Watkins
Reckless conduct, criminal threatening - exclusion
of evidence of relationship between alleged
victims and defendant
98-515 State of NH v. McLellan,* Ronald
Attorney General James E. Duggan
Timothy M. Landry
Raylene Wentz-Fischer
Aggravated felonious sexual assault, sexual
assault - numerous issues including failure of
court to review privileged materials in camera;
denial of motion to suppress; evidentiary issues;
restrictions on cross-examination; sufficiency of
evidence; jury instructions; denial of services
for psychological sex-offender evaluation; failure
of State to prove prior felony convictions;
whether court erred by sentencing defendant to
life in prison without possibility of parole
Note: The court has consolidated 96-569 and 98-
408.