D.D. v. D.C. ( 2023 )

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
SUPREME COURT
In Case No. 2022-0502, D.D. v. D.C., the court on April 27,
2023, issued the following order:
On March 23, 2023, we remanded for the limited purpose of having the
trial court clarify the basis for its determination that the defendant is disqualified
from having his firearm returned, and to enter specific factual findings as to the
particular statutory ground(s) upon which the court found him to be so
disqualified. If necessary, we authorized the trial court to obtain a complete copy
of the New Hampshire State Police “Gun Line” report, to allow the defendant an
opportunity to respond, and to take such steps as it deemed necessary to protect
any confidential information. We otherwise retained jurisdiction over the appeal.
On April 10, 2023, the Trial Court (Alfano, J.) issued its order on remand,
stating, in part, that the New Hampshire State Police “Gun Line” had failed to
provide, as ordered, a complete copy of its report, and that neither the plaintiff
nor the State had appeared at the hearing that the court scheduled to address
the issues for which we remanded the case. Given that the defendant filed an
affidavit affirming that he was not subject to any disqualifiers from owning a
firearm, and given that the incomplete “Gun Line” report referenced only
purported, but unspecified, federal disqualifier(s) that have been deemed non-
disqualifying under DuPont v. Nashua Police Dep’t, 167 N.H. 429, 434-43 (2015),
the trial court found that the defendant’s motion for the return of his firearm
should be granted.
We agree. Accordingly, we vacate the trial court’s order of July 18, 2022 —
denying the defendant’s motion for the return of his firearm — and remand for
the trial court to enter judgment in accordance with its order of April 10, 2023.
Vacated and remanded.
MacDonald, C.J., and Hicks, Bassett, Hantz Marconi, and Donovan, JJ.,
concurred.
Timothy A. Gudas,
Clerk