Steadman v. Pagels

• Decision Date: 03 September 2015
• Docket Number: Docket No. Was–14–462.
• Citation: 125 A.3d 713
• Parties: Melanie (Currie) STEADMAN v. Steven PAGELS.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

125 A.3d 713

Melanie (Currie) STEADMAN

v.Steven PAGELS.

Docket No. Was–14–462.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Submitted on Briefs: July 1, 2015.

Decided: Sept. 3, 2015.

As Amended March 1, 2016.

Daniel A. Pileggi, Esq., Roy, Beardsley, Williams & Granger, LLC, Ellsworth, for appellant Steven Pagels.

Sarah I. Gilbert, Esq., Elliott & MacLean, LLP, Camden, for appellee Melanie (Currie) Steadman.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and MEAD, GORMAN, JABAR, and HJELM, JJ.

HJELM, J.

[¶ 1] Steven Pagels appeals from a judgment of the District Court (Calais, Alexander, J. ) finding him liable to Melanie (Currie) Steadman for sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and awarding Steadman both compensatory and punitive damages. Pagels contends that the court erroneously admitted evidence of his prior bad acts, see M.R. Evid. 404(b), and improperly found Pagels liable for both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Pagels also argues that several of the court's findings are not supported by evidence in the record.¹ We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] We review the evidence in the light most favorable to Steadman as the prevailing party. Jacob v. Kippax, 2011 ME 1, ¶ 2, 10 A.3d 1159.

[¶ 3] Steadman, who was born in 1986, is Pagels's biological daughter. As a child, she lived in the family residence in Cherryfield with Pagels; her mother, who was married to Pagels; her two younger brothers; her half-sister, who was born to her mother from a prior relationship; and occasionally Pagels's son from a prior relationship.

[¶ 4] When Steadman was approximately seven or eight years old,² Pagels began to sexually assault her in ways that escalated over time. Early on, the sexual contact consisted of Pagels touching her breasts and genitals. Pagels began taking Steadman's clothes off during the assaults when she was between the ages of ten and eleven. When Steadman was approximately twelve years old, her half-sister, whom Pagels had also sexually assaulted, left the family residence to go to college. Pagels's assaults against Steadman then began to include incidents where he required her to touch his penis, and forcibly penetrated her with his penis, including occasions when he bound her with rope. The assaults occurred in various locations. When Steadman attempted to resist, Pagels threatened to beat her if she did not comply. Pagels also told Steadman that if she disclosed the assaults to her mother, the mother would become angry and jealous of Steadman.

[¶ 5] Nonetheless, in 2001 Steadman reported some of the assaultive conduct to her mother but was too afraid to divulge many of the details. Her mother removed Steadman from the home, and Steadman and her mother ultimately resettled in Calais. Steadman's mother divorced Pagels and was granted "full custody" of Steadman while Steadman's brothers remained with Pagels.

[¶ 6] On weekends, Steadman's mother returned to the family home in Cherryfield to visit her sons, leaving Steadman alone in Calais. As her mother spent an increasing amount of time at the Cherryfield residence, Steadman eventually learned that her mother had reconciled with Pagels and in fact had remarried him. Later, her mother permanently returned to Cherryfield to live with Pagels. Although her mother left money for food, Steadman often purchased drugs and alcohol instead.

[¶ 7] After Steadman left her family's home in Cherryfield, she experienced nightmares, cut and burned herself, and used illegal drugs. She left school, although she did graduate from an alternative education program, and as a juvenile was charged with several drug-related offenses. After she completed school she became involved in a series of abusive relationships. She moved to Florida with an abusive man and became addicted to crack cocaine. Later, she returned to Maine and attended a methadone clinic. When she applied to college, she had no choice but to ask Pagels for money to buy books. He insisted she work for him but when he made sexual advances toward her, she left.

[¶ 8] In July 2012, Steadman commenced this action, asserting claims for sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Before trial, Pagels filed a motion in limine to exclude evidence of his past sexual conduct with other females. The court issued a pretrial order denying the motion, but limiting the evidence as follows:

[Pagels's] motion to exclude evidence of prior "sexualized" acts between [Pagels] and two other named individuals is DENIED. The Court finds this evidence, as described by both [Steadman] and [Pagels], is relevant to show motive, opportunity, pattern, practice and interest in relations with individuals under the age of 18 in the home, office, and on boats under [Pagels's] control. The relevant evidence of acts on this issue would be limited to evidence of contacts between [Pagels] and the witnesses when the witnesses were under the age of 18, and statements [Pagels] made to the witnesses, at any time, regarding the contacts that occurred when the witnesses were under 18.

The court also ruled that Steadman could call one of the witnesses, Pagels's sister, to testify out of order because of scheduling issues and that because of the sequence of testimony, "some of her testimony may be conditionally admitted, subject to later qualification."

[¶ 9] A three-day bench trial began on September 29, 2014. Steadman testified to the history of assaults inflicted by Pagels, and she further testified about her course of mental health counseling. She presented evidence that she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder

, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and opiate addiction in remission. Because of her psychiatric conditions, the Social Security Administration found Steadman to be fully disabled.

[¶ 10] During the trial, Steadman also called three witnesses whose testimony is at issue on this appeal. The first of those witnesses was Steadman's half-sister, who is seven years older than Steadman and whose testimony was presented through a transcript from her deposition. She testified that when she was an adolescent, Pagels spanked her bare buttocks, touched her breasts, and got on top of her and engaged in simulated intercourse. She further testified that the sexual assaults against her ended when she left the family residence to go to college. The second witness was Pagels's sister, who testified that in the mid–1970s, when she was approximately sixteen years old and Pagels was twenty, he sexually assaulted her as many as six times. The third witness was a woman who had babysat Steadman and her siblings, and who worked briefly for Pagels's boat company. She testified that he sometimes touched her arms in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, and that once he told her that he wanted "to be with" her and invited her to try out the bed in his apartment.

[¶ 11] Pagels repeatedly objected to evidence of his conduct toward these other females. Although the court sustained some of Pagels's objections, it overruled others. In many of those instances when the court admitted the evidence over Pagels's objections, it explicitly stated that it would consider the evidence only on issues of motive, opportunity, and other purposes that are permitted pursuant to Maine Rule of Evidence 404(b), and that it would not treat the testimony as evidence of Pagels's character.

[¶ 12] In October 2014, the court issued a twenty-eight-page decision containing comprehensive findings of fact. The court found Pagels liable to Steadman for all three tort claims alleged in her complaint. The court assessed damages without distinguishing among the three liability claims. As special damages, the court awarded $33,594.10 for the costs of past medical care, consultation and treatment; $10,000 for future treatment and counseling; and $45,000 for lost earnings. The court also awarded general damages of $1,300,000 for past, present and future pain, suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life, and it assessed $500,000 in punitive damages.

[¶ 13] In its findings, the court did not refer to any of the incidents described at trial by Pagels's sister or the former babysitter. The court, on the other hand, did refer to the testimony of Steadman's half-sister and set out findings consistent with the testimonial descriptions of Pagels's sexual assaults of her. The court then stated, "The sexual or sexualized contacts with the stepdaughter ended when she entered college in the Fall of 1997. The most serious sexual assaults on [Steadman] began shortly thereafter."

[¶ 14] Pagels did not file a motion for further findings of fact, see M.R. Civ. P. 52(b), but appealed the judgment.

II. DISCUSSION

[¶ 15] Pagels argues that the court erroneously admitted evidence of prior bad acts and that it improperly found him liable for negligent infliction of emotional distress. We address these contentions in turn.

A. Evidence of Prior Bad Acts

[¶ 16] Pagels claims that pursuant to Maine Rule of Evidence 404(b), the court erroneously admitted evidence of his prior bad acts through the testimony of Steadman's half-sister, his own sister, and the woman who had babysat for the family. He asserts that the evidence of prior bad acts is tantamount to improper character evidence barred by Rule 404(b), and that the court's judgment demonstrates that the court used the evidence improperly.

[¶ 17] At the time of trial, Maine Rule of Evidence 404(b) provided, "Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that the person acted in conformity therewith."³ That rule, however, allowed an exception to the general principle of exclusion by permitting the admission of evidence of prior bad acts for any other "permissible purpose," see State v. DeLong, 505 A.2d 803, 805 (Me.1986), such as "motive,...