Opinion ID: 4533598
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Adjudication Without a Hearing

Text: [¶6] Anctil first argues that the protection from harassment statutes prohibited the court from adjudicating his complaint without first holding a hearing. “The interpretation of a statute, including whether or not the statute requires a hearing, is an issue of law that we review de novo.” Copp v. Liberty, 2008 ME 97, ¶ 6, 952 A.2d 976 (quotation marks omitted). “We look first to the The court also stated that it was granting Cassese’s motion on the additional ground that it 2 lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Cassese had argued, in her motion to dismiss, that the court could not adjudicate Anctil’s complaint because it “involve[d] an allegation of harassment by a prisoner against a prison employee while that employee [was] acting in her official capacity at the Maine State Prison.” She acknowledged, however, that the District Court “is generally vested with jurisdiction and authority over protection from harassment complaints.” See 5 M.R.S. § 4652 (2020). To the extent that the court’s determination was based on principles of sovereign immunity, we need not address it, given our ruling, see infra ¶¶ 10-18, that Anctil’s complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Cf. Mulero-Carrillo v. Román-Hernández, 790 F.3d 99, 105 (1st Cir. 2015) (bypassing sovereign immunity issues to review and affirm a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal). 4 plain language of the statute to determine its meaning if we can do so while avoiding absurd, illogical, or inconsistent results.” State v. Conroy, 2020 ME 22, ¶ 19, --- A.3d ---. “In interpreting a statute, we must consider the entire statutory scheme in order to achieve a harmonious result.” Town of N. Yarmouth v. Moulton, 1998 ME 96, ¶ 5, 710 A.2d 252. [¶7] The relevant statutes contain several provisions that touch on the role of a hearing in a protection from harassment proceeding. First, 5 M.R.S. § 4654(1) (2020) provides that “[a] hearing must be held at which the plaintiff shall prove the allegation of harassment by a preponderance of the evidence.” Another of the protection from harassment statutes provides, however, that the court “may grant” a protection from harassment order “after a hearing and upon finding that the defendant has committed the harassment alleged.” 5 M.R.S. § 4655(1) (2020) (emphasis added). Finally, “[u]nless otherwise indicated in [the] chapter [governing protection from harassment], all proceedings shall be in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.” 5 M.R.S. § 4658(1) (2020). [¶8] Although subsection 4654(1) contains the phrase “[a] hearing must be held,” viewing that statute alongside the provisions of sections 4655(1) and 4658(1) quoted above, we cannot conclude that a court is prohibited in all 5 circumstances from dismissing a protection from harassment complaint without first holding a hearing. Because we can discern no reason for the Legislature to require the court to hold a hearing on a complaint that fails, on its face, to state a claim, we agree with Cassese that it would be illogical to interpret the statute to require a hearing in those circumstances. See M.R. Civ. P. 1; Merrifield v. Hadlock, 2009 ME 1, ¶ 6, 961 A.2d 1107 (“[T]he overall purpose of the Rules of Civil Procedure . . . is to ensure the speedy and inexpensive resolution of a case.”). [¶9] This conclusion is consistent with our decision in Nadeau v. Frydrych, in which the trial court dismissed a protection from harassment complaint on Rule 12(b)(6) grounds “after a non-testimonial hearing.” 2014 ME 154, ¶¶ 1, 4, 108 A.3d 1254. We vacated the judgment based on our conclusion that “the allegations in the complaint [were] sufficient to overcome a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss”—not because the court had failed to hold an evidentiary hearing. Id. ¶ 9; see Staples v. Michaud, 2003 ME 133, ¶ 1 n.1, 836 A.2d 1288 (rejecting a similar argument where the applicable statute, 5 M.R.S.A. § 4654(1) (2002), provided that “[w]ithin 21 days of the filing of a petition, a hearing shall be held at which the plaintiff shall prove the allegation of harassment by a preponderance of the evidence”). Here, we conclude 6 expressly that section 4654(1) does not always preclude the court from adjudicating a protection from harassment complaint without first holding a hearing.