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147 Vt. 646

514 A.2d 322

Goode v. State

Supreme Court of Vermont

Decided July 1, 1986

Supreme Court of Vermont · decided 1986-07-01

Relies on Goewey v. United States

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1986-07-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently August 2005

2 district · 4 state decisions

20198619902000decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1 The State of Vermont moved to dismiss, alleging that the statute of limitations had run on the cause of action alleged in plaintiffs complaint. Plaintiffs response to the motion to dismiss indicated that he suffered “vast emotional trauma” as a result of the events of September 11, 1978, and was emotionally unable to construct his complaint before July 15, 1985.

¶2 It is the law in Vermont that insanity tolls the running of the statute of limitations. 12 V.S.A. § 551. A person may be insane, within the meaning of the statute of limitations, when his mental disability makes him unable to manage his business affairs or estate, or to comprehend his legal rights and liabilities. Goewey v. United States, 612 F.2d 539, 544 (Ct. Cl. 1979).

¶3 The record is insufficient for this Court to determine whether plaintiff suffered a mental disability which prevented him from comprehending his legal rights.

¶4 Remanded to the Bennington Superior Court for a determination of whether plaintiff’s mental condition prevented him from comprehending his rights, thus rendering him insane within the meaning of 12 V.S.A. § 551, and for such other proceedings as may be appropriate.

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