31 results for 'court:"Virgin Islands Supreme Court"'.
J. Cabret finds the superior court properly entered an amended judgment in the property owner's favor in a dispute with her neighbor in part over payment of property taxes for properties on their adjacent plots. The superior court's judgment calling for reimbursement of property taxes paid by the property owner was the most equitable result given the competing interests of both parties, and the court did not abuse its discretion. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 21, Categories: Property, Tax
J. Hodge finds that the trial court properly held that defendants possess a valid easement for vehicle access to a property because the easement had been created prior to their ownership with the proper authority. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2023-0015, Categories: Property
J. Swan finds the trial court partially erred in its judgment awarding a one-half interest in a property to the ex-boyfriend in his dispute with the ex-girlfriend over ownership of the property they jointly purchased in 2001. The trial court's application of the evidence standard and challenged findings of fact are affirmed, but it improperly failed to complete its findings by not determining how much of the mortgage encumbers each of the ex-boyfriend and the ex-girlfriend's one-half interests. The trial court's judgment is partially affirmed and partially vacated, and the case is remanded only to determine how much of the ex-girlfriend's interest is encumbered by the mortgage. Affirmed in part.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 18, Categories: Property, Contract
J. Cabret finds the superior court committed no error in denying defendant's habeas corpus petition he filed after he was convicted of rape, murder and other charges and sentenced to life in prison. There is nothing in the record to suggest that defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was violated, in part because although the superior court incorrectly found that six of the 11 delays that caused a 27-month gap between defendant's arrest and trial were the fault of defendant, the delays caused by the prosecution were largely out of its control or due to negligence that does not support defendant's claims. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 16, Categories: Habeas, Murder, Speedy Trial
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J. Swan finds the superior court properly entered a judgment and commitment order against defendant after he was found guilty at trial of unauthorized firearm possession and other charges. The evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of all the charges he faced, and his arguments that the search of the residence where he was on house arrest violated the Fourth Amendment fail in part because his uncle who lived with him gave police consent to search the residence, because officers smelled marijuana while they searching, and because the officers were lawfully at the residence in the first place to perform a compliance check related to defendant's house arrest. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 17, Categories: Firearms, Search
J. Swan finds the superior court properly affirmed a magistrate's decision ordering the homeowner to pay $1,706 to the contractor for work he did remodeling her kitchen. The record shows that both the homeowner and the contractor breached the parties' work contract, so the magistrate properly apportioned liability between both of them, and the homeowner's appeals based on the magistrate shifting the burden of proof to her, disallowing her from calling witnesses, and awarding the contractor damages for her failure to pay him for electrical work all fail.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 15, Categories: Damages, Contract
J. Swan finds the superior court properly affirmed an arbitration award in favor of the business owner in the citizen's lawsuit claiming he was injured falling out of a defective chair at the business. The superior court did not err when it stayed the lawsuit pending arbitration, and the citizen has waived his right to argue that the owner waived its right to arbitration by litigating and delaying his lawsuit. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 14, Categories: Arbitration, Premises Liability, Contract
J. Hodge finds the former lawmaker and the taxpayer's lawsuit against the Virgin Islands Legislature and its president over the lawmaker's expulsion from the Legislature after an investigation into his alleged sexual harassment of a female employee must be dismissed. The "speech or debate clause" of the Revised Organic Act bars all claims against the president on immunity grounds, as well as the claim for money damages against the Legislature due to that body's sovereign immunity. Remaining claims against the Legislature in the lawsuit not barred on those immunity grounds must be dismissed because they are non-justiciable, as allowing them to proceed would violate the Legislature's authority to "administer its own affairs as a co-equal branch of government," including with regard to actions disciplining or expelling its members.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 13, Categories: Constitution, Government
J. Hodge finds the superior court improperly reversed a lower court's decision in the tenant and landlord's dispute over a commercial lease ordering restitution to the landlord and the release to her of rent money held in escrow. The superior court incorrectly dismissed the landlord's lawsuit on subject-matter jurisdiction grounds, in part because the relevant Virgin Island statutes, including the one relating to "forcible entry and detainer" actions to recover possession of a premises, do not prohibit inquiries into the validity or existence of lease agreements. The portion of the tenant's appeal relating to the restitution of the premises is now moot because he vacated the premises in 2021, but the portion of the superior court's order awarding escrowed rent money to the landlord is reversed and vacated. Reversed in part.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 12, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Cabret finds the superior court properly entered orders dismissing without prejudice and compelling arbitration in the employee's lawsuit in part claiming he was wrongfully fired by the resort company. The employee incorrectly argues that the parties' arbitration agreement only covers "previously asserted claims" and not the claims in his lawsuit. Because the plain language of the agreement clearly includes the employee's claims, and because he has failed to show the agreement is unconscionable, the superior court's orders stand even though it made an error in holding that the agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 11, Categories: Arbitration, Employment, Contract
J. Cabret finds the superior court properly confirmed a more than $1 million arbitration award in favor of the construction firm in its dispute with the condo association over payment for wastewater and sewerage services the firm provided. In part because the association failed to timely challenge the correctness of the award within the three-month limitation established in the Federal Arbitration Act, the superior court's judgments affirming the arbitration award stand. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 10, Categories: Arbitration, Contract
J. Cabret finds the superior court properly affirmed the employee relations board's decision excluding two union workers from a collective bargaining unit because of their status as "confidential employees," meaning they have access to confidential labor matters not known to the union which could unfairly affect negotiations over collective bargaining. In part because both workers classify as "political appointees" with access to confidential information under the relevant statute, the board's decision is supported by substantial evidence and was properly upheld, even though the superior court committed harmless error by relying on federal law and the "labor-nexus test" rather than the relevant statute. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 9, Categories: Agency, Labor / Unions
J. Hodge finds the superior court erred in awarding summary judgment to the holding company in a lawsuit from a citizen who slipped and fell on the vehicle ramp at a property the holding company leased but had sub-leased to the owner of the construction company occupying the property when the citizen fell. The superior court incorrectly concluded the holding company had no legal duty to the citizen, as it is unclear in the record whether they legally "possessed" the property such that they could have entered it and performed maintenance, making it unclear whether they could be on the hook for premises liability. The superior court's order is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 8, Categories: Tort, Premises Liability
J. Cabret finds the superior court properly granted summary judgment to the property owner in the tenants' lawsuit attempting to gain title to the owner's property through adverse possession after having lived there rent-free for more than 15 years because they could not locate the owner to pay rent while he was away on military service and did not know the property was occupied. In part because of the disrepair of the property from damages sustained from Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the fact that the tenants began living in the property in the 1970s as permissive tenants, and the tenants have not proven the required hostility factor for their adverse possession claim, the superior court's order stands. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 7, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Contract
Per curiam, the supreme court finds that transferring the lawmaker's lawsuit over what he claims was his illegal expulsion from the Legislature of the Virgin Islands from the superior court to the supreme court is necessary. In part because the superior court erred in setting the matter for trial despite not ruling on immunity defenses that have been pending for more than a year and a half, the lawsuit has presented one of the "extraordinarily rare cases" warranting transfer. The case is transferred and all proceedings are stayed pending consideration of the outstanding immunity matters.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 6, Categories: Judiciary, Immunity
J. Swan finds the superior court properly convicted defendant of first-degree murder, assault as an act of domestic violence, firearm possession and other charges connected to the murder of his wife. Defendant's challenges to his conviction all fail, including those claiming that the prosecution failed to prove his actions were not a result of mental illness; the superior court failed to call a mistrial in violation of his due process rights and improperly allowed the prosecution's expert witness to testify that defendant's expert witness' report was deficient during rebuttal; and jury instructions improperly gave him the burden of presenting "some evidence" of his insanity. Because the evidence presented at trial was also sufficient to show defendant was sane when he shot his wife in anger over her plan to divorce him, defendant's conviction stands even though the prosecution made some "inappropriate statements." Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 4, Categories: Competence, Murder, Experts
J. Swan finds defendant's habeas corpus petition must be denied, it being the second he has brought after entering a deal to plead no contest to first-degree assault in connection with the shooting of his domestic partner and being sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. Despite defendant's arguments that his no-contest plea was not entered knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily because certain evidence was withheld from him, his petition must be denied as procedurally barred because he previously filed a separate habeas petition making different arguments as to why his plea was unknowing, and that petition was rejected.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 5, Categories: Habeas, Assault
J. Cabret finds the superior court improperly denied defendant's motion for reconsideration of a final order that ended his probation, closed the juvenile case in which he originally pleaded guilty to assault as a minor and put him in custody of the Department of Health Services for supervision. The superior court went beyond its statutory authority when, without prompting, it cancelled defendant's final hearing, closed his case and placed him with the department for continued supervision, so the case is remanded for it to follow the proper procedures to extend, modify, revoke or terminate his probation. Reversed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 3, Categories: Juvenile Law, Probation, Assault
J. Swan finds the superior court properly denied defendant's habeas corpus petition after convicting him of first-degree murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment. Defendant's arguments supporting his petition, including that his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to inconsistent statements from two witnesses at his trial and that newly discovered evidence in the form of a witness statement exonerates him, fail, and the court's denial of his petition stands. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 2, Categories: Habeas, Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Hodge finds the superior court partially erred in its rulings in a more than 15-year dispute between the restaurant owners and their landlords in part alleging breach of contract, fraud and defamation, including allegations that one of the landlords publicly smeared the owners after a disagreement over their lease in which the landlord said he did not like the direction the restaurant was heading and wanted it to operate more like a "white, middle-class restaurant." In part, the portions of the superior court's order vacating the jury's verdict for the owners on their defamation claims as to one of the landlords are vacated and those portions of the jury's verdict are reinstated; the portion of the lower court's order vacating damages awarded for breach of contract is reversed; and the portion setting aside the jury's awards on other defamation claims and punitive damages is affirmed. On remand the superior court is ordered to determine post-verdict pre-judgment interest the owners are owed. Affirmed in part.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 2024 VI 1, Categories: Damages, Defamation, Contract
J. Cabret finds the superior court improperly denied the citizen's post-judgment motion contesting the seizure of his truck by Virgin Islands Marshals in the course of seizing his relative's personal and real property assets after the entry of a $1.3 million judgment in the trust's favor. The superior court erred by allowing the seizure of the citizen's truck to satisfy the judgment, as the underlying judgment did not specifically allow it to be seized. On remand the superior court is ordered to grant the release of the truck. Reversed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 17, Categories: Property, Enforcement Of Judgments
J. Hodge finds the superior court partially erred in granting defendant's motion for bail modification with an order that lowered his bail from $1 million to $250,000 for offenses related to his alleged rape of a minor. The superior court, without being asked, improperly relied on allegations of defendant's violent and threatening nature in his court-appointed attorneys' motions to withdraw without giving defendant a right to be heard, so the bail modification order is reversed on that basis and the matter is remanded for defendant to have an opportunity to be heard. Defendant's motion for transfer to a different detention facility is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Reversed in part.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 16, Categories: Sex Offender, Bail
J. Hodge finds the superior court properly granted a preliminary injunction to the property owner in her lawsuit claiming her neighbor has been trespassing by cutting paths across her property to a nearby beach. Although the superior court did not conduct the necessary analysis to determine what elements the property owner needed to prove in order to show she was reasonably likely to succeed on the merits of her trespass claim, this error is "overlooked" in the interest of judicial efficiency. In conducting the analysis separately, it is determined the evidence "clearly supports" the superior court's findings, including that the property owner has a reasonable likelihood of success, she would suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction and the neighbor would not be irreparably harmed by an injunction. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: December 18, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 14, Categories: Property, Injunction
J. Swan finds the superior court properly dismissed the corporation's lawsuit alleging breach of contract and nonpayment of a $265,296 debt by the condo company. In part because the corporation never adequately retained counsel according to the superior court's deadlines, and because its original complaint was signed by a project manager who was not a licensed attorney in the Virgin Islands, the superior court was required to treat the complaint as a "legal nullity" and dismiss it for failure to retain counsel. The corporation incorrectly argues that the superior court dismissed the complaint for failure to prosecute. Affirmed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Swan, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 13, Categories: Due Process, Contract
J. Hodge finds the superior court erred in its decision ordering the former husband to pay his former wife support including $350,000 in attorney fees, $7,500 in monthly cash alimony and $5,000 credit card access per month pending the remainder of their divorce litigation. Seeing as how the divorce proceeding is in such a late stage, as the petition for divorce was filed in 2016, a divorce decree was entered in February 2022 and the former wife petitioned for alimony and fees pending litigation for the first time in March 2022, the superior court did not have authority to award the alimony and fees, in part because its decree did not explicitly retain jurisdiction permitting a future claim for spousal support. The superior court's order is reversed, and the case is remanded for it to consider only the division of marital assets. Reversed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 12, Categories: Family Law, Jurisdiction
J. Cabret finds against the government hospital in its appeal of a superior court order denying its motion for a bench trial in the patient's lawsuit over what he claims was the hospital's staff's negligence in failing to properly diagnose and treat his broken pelvis after he was in a car accident. Because the question of whether the hospital is entitled to a bench trial instead of a jury trial given of its potential waiver of sovereign immunity and the details of the Tort Claims Act is "effectively reviewable" after the lower court's final judgment, essential requirements for review are not satisfied and there is not yet jurisdiction to hear the hospital's interlocutory appeal, which is dismissed.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 11, Categories: Tort, Jurisdiction, Medical Malpractice
J. Hodge finds the superior court improperly denied defendant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus arriving seven years after an amended judgment increased his sentence for second-degree murder from 10 years to 20 years, running consecutively with a separate 10-year sentence for voluntarily manslaughter. Defendant has made a case for ineffective assistance of counsel based on his lawyer's failure to respond to prosecutors' motion to increase defendant's sentence for around nine months before the motion was granted, and the superior court was wrong to determine there was no reasonable probability that the outcome of defendant's proceeding would have been different if defendant's lawyer had opposed the motion. Because the relief sought by the state to increase defendant's sentence also violates the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy clause, defendant's habeas petition is granted, and the case is remanded to the superior court to vacate the order modifying his sentence and reinstate his original sentence.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Hodge, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 10, Categories: Habeas, Ineffective Assistance, Double Jeopardy
J. Cabret finds the superior court erred by not making specific factual findings or conclusions of law or referencing the record and the parties' arguments in its decision enforcing a mediated settlement agreement in the property owner's lawsuit against his two brothers over their shared stakes and right to use their inherited property. The court vacates the superior court's decision, which in part would have forced the owner to execute a contract to sell the property to one of his brothers, and the case is remanded for the superior court to enter a new order.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Cabret, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 8, Categories: Property, Contract
Per curiam, the supreme court finds the ex-husband has not met his burden to force the lower court to issue rulings on motions he filed in a lawsuit involving partition of a property he and his now deceased ex-wife jointly owned as a couple before their marriage was dissolved. The lower court acted within its authority when it ruled in April 2023 that it would not make any further rulings in the case until a representative was appointed for the deceased ex-wife, whose death the ex-husband added to the record against court procedures in February 2023 with a phone call to chambers and a filed copy of the death certificate. The ex-husband also has not shown he has a "clear and indisputable" right to an order advancing his case on an expedited calendar based on the argument that, at 89 years old, he is entitled to advancement under part of the Virgin Islands Code granting litigants the right to petition for that preference if they are over 70, as the constitutionality of the mandatory elderly preference has been called into question and may well present due process, equal protection and separation of powers issues. The ex-husband's mandamus petition is denied.
Court: Virgin Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 2023 VI 9, Categories: Civil Procedure, Constitution, Property