J.S.H. v. J.S. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-019-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 15-P-1607 Appeals Court J.S.H. vs. J.S. No. 15-P-1607. Middlesex. December 14, 2016. – March 1, 2017. Present: Meade, Henry, & Lemire, JJ. Civil Harassment. Harassment Prevention. Protective Order. Fraud. Practice, Civil, Fraud. Complaint for protection from harassment filed in the Concord Division of the District Court Department on March 14, 2014. A motion to expunge a harassment prevention order issued pursuant to G. L. c. 258E was heard by David E Frank, J. Dana Alan Curhan for the defendant. Daniel Silverman for the plaintiff. LEMIRE, J. The defendant appeals from the denial of a motion to expunge a G. L. c. 258E harassment prevention order. The defendant claims that the c. 258E order was improperly issued and obtained through fraud on the court. We hold that, as in the context of G. L. c. 209A, expungement of a c. 258E order is available only in the rare and limited circumstance where it was obtained through fraud on the court, and that the judge did not err in concluding the defendant failed to satisfy that standard. Background. The c. 258E order arose from a dispute between the plaintiff, the founding president and executive director of a religious-based nonprofit organization that runs a support group for women exposed to domestic violence, and the defendant, the husband of one of the women the plaintiff was counseling. On March 14, 2014, the plaintiff filed against the defendant a complaint for protection from harassment pursuant to c. 258E, which included a supporting affidavit.[1] In her affidavit, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant had sent to a board member of the organization a letter dated February 27, 2014, discrediting the organization, and had sent her multiple harassing electronic mail messages (e-mails) attacking her and her organization’s work. She also claimed that the defendant had been in the parking lot of the church where the support group meeting was taking place. The plaintiff did not submit the February 27, 2014, letter or any of the e-mails with the affidavit. Following an ex parte hearing on the same day, a judge granted the c. 258E order with an expiration date of March 25, 2014. On the day the c. 258E order was to expire, a contested hearing was held at which the plaintiff sought to extend the order. During the hearing, the plaintiff submitted the […]