Court Opinion

ID: 9753404
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 19:12:57.25142+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:36.075137
License: Public Domain

RAKER, Judge,
dissenting:
I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals and affirm, on grounds of judicial estoppel, the judgment of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City granting summary judgment in favor of petitioner. The position respondent took in the earlier guardianship proceeding and subsequent litigation challenging the results of that proceeding is inconsistent with the position he asserts in this action. Under the doctrine of judicial estoppel, he cannot do so and should be barred from claiming that he possessed a vested remainder in the property at issue.
Judicial estoppel has been defined as “a principle that precludes a party from taking a position in a subsequent action inconsistent with a position taken by him or her in a previous action.” Underwood-Gary v. Mathews, 366 Md. 660, 667 n. 6, 785 A.2d 708, 712 n. 6 (2001). This Court has explained that the policy underlying judicial estoppel is to preserve the integrity of the judicial system. WinMark v. Miles & Stockbridge, 345 Md. 614, 628, 693 A.2d 824, 830 (1997). We stated as follows:
“The policy underlying judicial estoppel and underlying the clean hands doctrine is the same. ‘The clean hands doctrine is not applied for the protection of the parties nor as a punishment to the wrongdoer; rather, the doctrine is intended to protect the courts from having to endorse or reward inequitable conduct.’ ”
Id. (quoting Adams v. Manown, 328 Md. 463, 474-75, 615 A.2d 611, 616 (1992)).
On March 22, 2000, respondent filed in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County a “Complaint for Guardianship of the Person and Property of Charlotte Berrett,” In the Matter of Charlotte Berrett, Case No. CAE 00-06597, in which he stated under oath that his mother “owns two parcels of real estate *466commonly known as 4305 Gallatin Street, Hyattsville, Maryland 20781 and 2304 Fordham Street, Hyattsville, Maryland 20783.” These representations were repeated in two subsequent petitions he filed in the Circuit Court. In each of these actions, respondent never mentioned or identified any interest he may have held in these properties.
A critical representation in a guardianship of the property proceeding is the list of any property owned by the subject of the petition and the nature of the interest owned. Maryland Rule 10-301 addresses the petition for a guardian over the property of alleged disabled persons and minors. Section 301(c)(8) and (10) of Rule 10-301 require that the petition contain information as to the nature, value, and location of the property of the alleged disabled person, and to the extent known or reasonably ascertainable, the name, address, telephone number, and nature of the interest of all interested persons and all others exercising any control over the property of the estate. Respondent drafted the deed related to the property at issue, and he knew of its existence during these proceedings. The guardianship judge, Judge G.R. Hovey Johnson, necessarily relied upon respondent’s representation that his mother owned the property. Respondent never listed in the petition any purported interest he may have held in the property. The majority misreads the petition when it states that “Mr. Berrett alleged in his verified petition ... that Charlotte Berrett possessed an ownership interest in 4305 Gallatin Street.” Maj. op. at 464, 910 A.2d at 1087. Respondent did not merely suggest “an ownership interest.” Respondent averred that “[Charlotte] Berrett owns two parcels of real estate ...”
In the present matter, the Circuit Court, Judge Joseph H.H. Kaplan, granted summary judgment in favor of petitioner. He stated as follows:
“As I indicated, counsel, I reviewed the file before today’s proceeding and it seems to the Court and I so find that [Standard Fire] is entitled to have their motion for summary judgment granted for the reasons stated in their memorandum in support of the motion that Mr. Berrett is collaterally estopped from claiming an interest in the prop*467erty. In his testimony before Hovey Johnson in Prince George’s County, he fully acknowledges several times throughout the proceedings, the guardianship proceedings, etc., that his mother was the owner of the property. There is nothing that says he’s the owner or has any interest in the property other than an unrecorded deed which didn’t give him a remainder interest, it gave him a fee simple interest. He’s not claiming that he has a fee simple, had a fee simple interest in the property. He’s claiming that he had, his mother had a life estate, there’s no document that sets up a life estate and that he had the remainder interest. So I think that he’s testified under oath too many times that his mother was the owner of the property to now come in and say no, he was the owner of the property and that’s his insurable interest. So I think he’s barred by collateral estoppel and estoppel by admission.”
Judge Kaplan was correct when he found that respondent’s previous statements estopped him from claiming a proprietary interest in the property in the present case.
The Court of Special Appeals’ basis for excusing respondent’s inconsistent position is not persuasive. The fact that Berrett may not have been represented by counsel should make no difference in the analysis. An unrepresented layperson is held to the same standard as a litigant who is represented by counsel; neither litigant may take an inconsistent position. Moreover, it appears that Berrett was represented by counsel when the guardianship petition was filed and the property owned by his mother was listed in the petition. Finally, Berrett apparently studied law and received a juris doctor degree in 1992.
Judicial estoppel should bar respondent from claiming that he possessed an interest over the property in question.