JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED. THE TOWN OF STERLING FAILED IN ITS ATTEMPT TO STEAL MARYANNE MACLEOD’S DRIVEWAY, BUT SHE DIDN’T LIVE TO ENJOY VINDICATION.

For decades the Town of Sterling asserted false claims that the late Maryanne MacLeod did not have a deeded ‘easement’ (‘right of way’) over the land where her driveway, formerly a farm cart path, had existed and been used by her and her predecessors-in-title since 1945, and attempted to claim that land as part of its deeded ‘conservation land’ in that area. That she had a deeded driveway easement/right of way became even clearer when, during the lawsuit she was forced to commence–Maryanne MacLeod vs. Town of Sterling et al., Worcester Superior Court Civil Action No. 1885CV01098B– the Town of Sterling ADMITTED that the key recorded deed to the Town of land in issue, now conservation land, granted by Bertha Hall in 1973, contained a DRAFTING ERROR and referred to “Kendall Hill Road” INSTEAD OF, rightly, Swett Hill Road. The deeds in Maryanne MacLeod’s chain of title, starting with the 1945 deed granted by the late Bertha Hall and late her husband, state clearly that Maryanne MacLeod and her predecessors-in-title had an easement/right of way to “Kendall Hill Road.” Those deeds should have referred to Swett Hill Road instead.

The Town of Sterling did not have a financial incentive to settle the case early on BECAUSE IT WAS NOT PAYING ITS DEFENSE LAWYERS. INSTEAD, THE TOWN’S INSURER RETAINED THE LAW FIRM OF HASSETT & DONNELLY, Worcester, Massachusetts, and HASSETT & DONNELLY BILLED THE LIVING SH*T OUT OF THE TOWN’S INSURER DURING THE YEARS’ LONG LITIGATION.

The stress of litigation and mounting legal bills took their toll on Maryanne MacLeod. She suffered a debilitating stroke in 2022 and died months later in January 2023. Indeed, justice delayed is justice denied. Her sons continued her lawsuit.

In February 2024 her case finally settled. Under the written “Settlement Agreement,” a copy of which I obtained from the Town of Sterling by a Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 66, Section 10 Public Records Request, the Town of Sterling relinquished all claims to the MacLeod driveway and recognized the MacLeods as owners of that driveway. In addition, the Town of Sterling agreed to pay the MacLeods $15,000 for dismissal of the lawsuit.

The Town of Sterling’s BOGUS CLAIMS in that matter constitute a shameful episode in the Town’s long history.

May Maryanne MacLeod REST IN PEACE.

J.G.