Sparrow v. Demonico

960 N.E.2d 296 (2012)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P and D had a dispute over ownership of the family home. P filed a complaint, and prior to trial, the parties resolved their differences by a settlement agreement reached during voluntary mediation. P contends that the case was settled during this mediation wherein D would sell the property and pay P $100,000 from the sale proceeds. When P sought an order enforcing the agreement, D claimed that the agreement was unenforceable because P had experienced a mental breakdown during the mediation and thus lacked the capacity to authorize settlement. Evidence was presented that D was slurring words, and become less coherent, was crying and out of control. D testified that she had been taking Zoloft, prior to the mediation, but had stopped at some point before the mediation and that she cried much of the day. The motion judge denied P's motion on the basis that 'the purported agreement may have been the product of an emotionally overwrought state of mind on the part of D.' At trial, the court allowed D's motion for a directed verdict on all counts. P appealed from the judgment and the denial of her motion to enforce the mediated settlement agreement. The courts played ping pong with the case. Eventually. P appealed once again.