No. 25-903

Sandra J. Bezanson, as Executor of the Estate of Dennis G. Bezanson v. Exeter Hospital, Inc.

Lower Court: New Hampshire
Docketed: 2026-02-02
Status: Pending
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: administrative-error court-system due-process electronic-filing fourteenth-amendment procedural-due-process
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits a state supreme court to forfeit a litigant's rights based on an administrative failure in the court's mandatory electronic filing system — where the court's own secure portal shows a timely "Submitted" filing —followed by a refusal to correct the error upon presentation of the system-generated proof.

2. Whether a state trial court violates procedural due process by imposing the "death penalty" sanction of dismissal for asserted discovery deficiencies where the court and opposing party refused meaningful conferral and the court denied the Petitioner's motion seeking the conference required by the court's own case-structuring and discovery framework, thereby creating a procedural trap and foreclosing compliance.

3. Whether due process is violated where later-issued federal agency determinations (Department of Veterans Affairs / Board of Veterans' Appeals) confirm that critical non-VA community-care medical records were missing due to third-party provider transmission failures under federal community-care obligations —evidence that did not exist during the state discovery period —and the state courts nonetheless treated resulting record gaps as willful "discovery abuse" warranting dismissal.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits a state supreme court to forfeit a litigant's rights based on an administrative failure in the court's mandatory electronic filing system — where the court's own secure portal shows a timely 'Submitted' filing —followed by a refusal to correct the error upon presentation of the system-generated proof

Docket Entries

2026-02-04
Waiver of right of respondents Exeter Hospital, Inc. and Exeter Health Resources, Inc. to respond filed.
2026-01-26
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 4, 2026)

Attorneys

Exeter Hospital, Inc. and Exeter Health Resources, Inc.
Jonathan A. LaxGallagher Callahan & Gartrell, P.C., Respondent
Sandra Bezanson
Sandra Bezanson — Petitioner