Shahi v. Madden

• Decision Date: 18 June 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-184.,09-184.
• Parties: Kaveh SHAHI and Leslie Shahi v. Daniel MADDEN (Deirdre Donnelly, Intervenor).
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court

5 A.3d 869
2010 VT 56

Kaveh SHAHI and Leslie Shahi
v.
Daniel MADDEN (Deirdre Donnelly, Intervenor).

No. 09-184.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

June 18, 2010.

5 A.3d 870

Kaveh S. Shahi of Cleary Shahi & Aicher, P.C., Rutland, for Plaintiffs-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

Daniel Madden, Pro Se, Woodstock, Defendant-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Wesley M. Lawrence and Stephen D. Ellis of Ellis Boxer & Blake, Springfield, for Intervenor-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

William H. Sorrell, Attorney General, and Julio A. Thompson, Assistant Attorney General, Montpelier, for Amicus Curiae State of Vermont.

Present: DOOLEY, JOHNSON, SKOGLUND and BURGESS, JJ., and CRAWFORD, Supr. J., Specially Assigned.

SKOGLUND, J.

¶ 1. Defendant Daniel Madden and intervenor Deirdre Donnelly appeal the Windsor Superior Court's imposition of an injunction against Madden based on a hate-motivated crime against Kaveh and Leslie Shahi. Madden and Donnelly claim the trial court lacked jurisdiction to issue the injunction, failed to make the factual findings necessary to sustain such an injunction, and never found Madden committed a "hate-motivated crime" against the Shahis based on the Shahis' ethnicity and/or perceived religion that would support issuance of the injunction. Appellants also argue that in imposing the injunction the trial court violated Madden's right to a jury trial and that Vermont's hate-motivated crime law relies on an unconstitutionally low burden of proof.¹ Because the trial court lacked a sufficient evidentiary foundation for ordering the injunction, we reverse and remand the case.

¶ 2. This appeal is the offspring of a prior case before this Court,

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Shahi v. Madden, 2008 VT 25, 183 Vt. 320, 949 A.2d 1022 ( Shahi I ). That opinion provides ample factual background; thus, we will review the relevant facts here only in brief and lay out further material facts in the discussion that follows. Appellants purchased a property abutting the residence of Kaveh (Shahi) and Leslie Shahi in 2002 and have since built a home on the property. In 2003, after the Shahis refused to allow Madden to cut down a tree on their shared property line, he felled the tree when they were out of town. Appellants settled the Shahis' subsequent claim for timber trespass in October 2004, and shortly thereafter Madden began "waging an offensive of intimidation and vandalism that took a large personal and financial toll" on the Shahis. Id. ¶ 1. Over the next several months, he killed two dozen trees on the Shahis' property, blocked their driveway by felling another tree, spread garbage, sharp objects and bullets in their yard, and allegedly poisoned their dog. The Shahis eventually filed suit against Madden on a number of tort claims and added claims for further damages, injunctive relief, attorney's fees, and costs. Finally, they requested injunctive relief based on Madden's commission of hate-motivated crimes in violation of 13 V.S.A. §§ 1455-1457.²

¶ 3. The Shahis' claims went to a jury trial (Cohen, J.) on July 12 and 13, 2006. Before raising it with the jury, Shahi and the court determined that the request for injunctive relief under the hate crimes statute would be decided by the court after trial. The jury returned a verdict in the Shahis' favor and awarded damages in excess of $1.8 million, including $1 million in punitive damages. The trial court rejected Madden's subsequent motion for a new trial.

¶ 4. In September 2006, Madden appealed the verdict on several grounds, and on March 7, 2008, this Court affirmed the jury's verdict including the punitive damages award. Shahi I, 2008 VT 25, ¶ 1, 183 Vt. 320, 949 A.2d 1022. On April 2, 2008, the Shahis moved for entry of amended judgment under Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 59, requesting interest on the judgment while on appeal and raising anew their claim for injunctive relief based on the hate crimes statute. Citing this Court's decision in Shahi I as evidence Madden had committed a hate-motivated crime, the Shahis asked the trial court, pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 1461, to prohibit Madden from:

(1) Committing any crime, including hate crimes against the [Shahis], their family or property;

(2) contacting the [Shahis] or their family; and

(3) coming within one half mile radius of [the Shahis'] residence and property ....

Madden contested the order for injunctive relief. He claimed that the trial record could not support a finding of a hate-motivated crime, that the motion was untimely filed, and that an injunction could issue based only on a present showing of necessity.

¶ 5. In May 2008, the trial court (Morris, J.) granted the Shahis' motion with regard to interest. As to injunctive relief, the court noted that "the express language of [the Shahi I ] opinion ... [suggests] the record would have supported such a request in July 2006, but neither [the Shahis] nor the trial judge raised the issue

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in the period following the verdict." Because "evidence as to current circumstances may be most pertinent to the question of whether [injunctive] relief shall be granted," the court ordered a hearing "to address the viability of [the Shahis'] request." At the hearing, Madden reaffirmed his opposition to the injunctive order on grounds of timeliness, waiver, necessity, and equitable factors-namely that he lived less than half a mile from the Shahis. The trial court rejected those arguments, but likewise denied the Shahis' motion, holding that they "cannot rely on the trial record for various reasons," including the fact that "neither the jury nor the Supreme Court directly addressed the facts that would be necessary to support injunctive relief" and "nearly two years have elapsed following the trial." Accordingly, the court ordered a status conference to determine the parameters for an evidentiary hearing.

¶ 6. Following a series of procedural steps, including the withdrawal of Madden's attorney, the Shahis filed an emergency supplemental motion for injunctive relief under 13 V.S.A. § 1461 in November 2008, based on the deposition of a contractor. The contractor had worked on appellants' house and testified that Madden had threatened to kill Shahi in the fall of 2006 and had asked if the contractor would carry out the killing. The trial court (Eaton, J.) denied the emergency motion on the ground that "the alleged discussion(s) recounted [between Madden and the contractor] took place approximately two years ago. In the Court's view, there is insufficient basis for the granting of relief on an emergency basis." The court then set an evidentiary hearing on the original injunctive motion for January 14, 2009.

¶ 7. At the hearing before the trial court (Cohen, J.), the Shahis relied on the trial record to discharge their burden of proof, specifically referring to testimony from the 2006 jury trial and the Shahi I opinion, stating "the Supreme Court in its decision also found that the record supported a finding of a hate crime commission." They also called a series of witnesses including: the contractor who testified about Madden's knife collection and his threats against the Shahis in 2006; another contractor who testified about Madden's possession of a pistol in 2004; and a subcontractor who admitted he called Shahi a "towel head" and had purchased a rifle from Madden in 2004. Shahi also testified that Madden had "severely damaged" his family "in terms of our peace, our property, to this day ... we have concerns on an on-going basis for our safety, for our security." However, other than continuing to see Madden on the public roads near their houses, he did not describe any specific instances of harm subsequent to the 2006 threat. Madden appeared pro se, testified, and cross-examined witnesses. The trial court issued a final order "relying on the Supreme Court's decision as well as the jury verdict [in the 2006 trial] and also in regard to the testimony today," specifically the "threats of violence made to an individual ... after the jury verdict." The two-year injunction prohibited Madden from contacting the Shahis and ordered him to remain 300 feet from their home, their places of employment, and their children's schools.

¶ 8. Madden filed an objection to the order, and Donnelly was granted intervenor status to join in the objection only so far as it related to her property interests. After a subsequent hearing on the objection, at which appellants offered witnesses who testified that Madden was not a racist, and a site visit to the parties' abutting properties, the trial court amended the injunction order with regard to the boundary line. The amended order prohibits Madden from "coming within 20 feet of the

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common boundary line between the plaintiffs' and defendant's property." Both parties appealed.

¶ 9. As an initial matter, appellants and the Shahis raise jurisdictional challenges to each others' appeal. Appellants contend that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to issue the injunction because the Shahis' motion in April 2008-styled as a Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend judgment-was untimely filed. See V.R.C.P. 59(e) (motion to alter or amend "shall be filed not later than 10 days after entry of the judgment"). Because the trial court's judgment was final after it rejected Madden's motion for a new trial in late August 2006, appellants argue the Shahis' motion filed more than twenty months later was out of time. We recognize that the Shahis' April 2008 motion sought amended judgment and post-judgment interest, but also referenced the claim for injunctive relief included in their complaint, stating only that there had not been an opportunity to address the issue of injunctive relief before an appeal was filed. Even if true, the trial court in May 2008 was correct in noting that evidence as to current circumstances was needed to determine if injunctive relief was appropriate. Because there had been no judgment on the hate-motivated crimes injunction request during the 2006 trial, there was no...