Opinion
Civil Action AP-2023-21
11-17-2023
PRESCOTT MCCURDY, Petitioner, v. SECRETARY OF STATE, ET AL., Respondents.
ORDER
Mary Gay Kennedy, Justice
Before the Court is Petitioner Prescott McCurdy's "Motion to Reconsider, Remonsrance [sic] and Notice." By Decision dated August 28, 2023, and entered on the docket August 29, 2023, the Court denied Mr. McCurdy's Rule 80C Petition and affirmed Respondents' decision transferring title to a 2007 GMC Sierra to Atlantic Coast Towing, contingent on Mr. McCurdy's failure to pay accrued towing and storage charges by May 16,2023.
Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) provides as follows: "A motion to alter or amend the judgment shall be filed not later than 14 days after entry of the judgment. A motion for reconsideration of the judgment shall be treated as a motion to alter or amend the judgment." Mr. McCurdy's motion, which was received by the Court on September 18, 2023-twenty days after the Court's Decision was entered on the docket-is untimely. The Court will, therefore, deny the motion.
Had the motion been timely filed, the Court would still deny it on the merits. A motion for reconsideration "shall not be filed unless required to bring to the court's attention an error, omission or new material that could not previously have been presented." M.R. Civ. P. 7(b)(5). "Rule 7(b)(5) is intended to deter disappointed litigants from seeking to reargue points that were or could have been presented to the court on the underlying motion." Shaw v. Shaw, 2003 ME 153, ¶ 8, 839 A.2d 714 (quotation marks omitted); see Roalsvik v. Comack, 2019 ME 71, ¶ 3, 208 A.3d 367.
Mr. McCurdy argues that the Court should consider the definition of "abandon" in Black's Law Dictionary rather than in the applicable statute, 29-A M.R.S. § 1852. He also argues that his due process rights were violated by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles because it was not a proper tribunal and because due process requires more than notice and an opportunity to be heard (although he does not specify what additional process was due). Finally, he argues that the application of 29-A M.R.S. § 1851-56 to him violates the United States Constitution. Mr. McCurdy made these arguments in his original brief, and the Court addressed each argument in its Decision. Accordingly, his motion would still be denied even if it had been timely filed.
The entry is:
Petitioner Prescott McCurdy's Motion to Reconsider, Remonsrance [sic] and Notice is DENIED.
The Clerk is directed to incorporate this Order into the docket by reference pursuant to Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 79(a).