Gassman v. Reason (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-098-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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-409 Appeals Court ELIZABETH GASSMAN vs. KINZY REASON. No. 15-P-409. Suffolk. May 10, 2016. – August 11, 2016. Present: Grainger, Hanlon, & Agnes, JJ. Civil Harassment. Protective Order. Practice, Civil, Moot case. Complaint for protection from harassment filed in the Brighton Division of the Boston Municipal Court Department on June 13, 2013. The case was heard by David T. Donnelly, J., and hearings to extend a harassment prevention order were had before Thomas S. Kaplanes, J., and Patricia E. Bernstein, J. Jillise McDonough for the defendant. HANLON, J. The defendant, Kinzy Reason, appeals from the extension of a harassment prevention order issued pursuant to G. L. c. 258E, in the Brighton Division of the Boston Municipal Court. She argues that the order was improperly issued and wrongly extended. After a review, we are satisfied that, despite the fact that the order has now expired, the issue is not moot and therefore is properly before us. In addition, we agree that the order should not have been extended.[1] Background. The parties lived in the same public housing complex in Brighton; the plaintiff, Elizabeth Gassman, lived in an apartment on the third floor of the building, and Reason lived on the second floor in the apartment directly below Gassman’s apartment. Apparently, Gassman played the piano frequently and her playing was a source of considerable irritation for Reason. On June 13, 2013, Gassman sought an ex parte harassment prevention order against Reason, pursuant to G. L. c. 258E.[2] There was a short hearing; the judge asked several questions about a prior proceeding,[3] and then Gassman was sworn. The judge asked her, “Are you in fear of your safety?” Gassman responded, “Yes.” The judge also asked some questions about the relative locations of the parties’ apartments, the placement of the building elevator and the laundry room, and the location of a music school that Gassman was attending. After the hearing, the judge issued an ex parte order, ordering Reason to stay ten yards away from Gassman when in the building where both parties lived, not to enter the third floor of the building, to stay fifty yards away when outside the building, and to stay away from Gassman’s music school. A hearing after notice was scheduled for June 25, 2013. The hearing apparently was […]