Opinion ID: 2353090
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Authority of the District Court

Text: [¶ 20] Rule 3(b) of the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure provides that [t]he trial court shall take no further action pending disposition of the appeal by the Law Court with limited, enumerated exceptions, none of which are applicable in the instant case. [5] There is no judicial economy exception to the limitation on the court's authority set out in M.R.App. P. 3 to allow the trial court to change a judgment or order while an appeal is still pending. The exceptions in Rule 3 focus on enforcement or contempt; in the absence of a clerical mistake in the judgment, see M.R.App. P. 3(b)(2), M.R. Civ. P. 60(a), a court has no authority to change a judgment while review of the judgment is pending appeal. The District Court erred in acting on Harvey's motion, which sought to substantially change the court's June 2006 order, while that order was on appeal. Nevertheless, because, as the District Court concluded, Harvey was entitled to unilaterally reduce his child support payments upon the graduation of each of his two older daughters, as discussed below, the District Court's error is harmless.