However, Johnson still wanted his engagement ring back, so he submitted an appeal and won. In the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the judges considered that the state's fault-based approach may be outdated, bringing up the majority rule of the "modern no-fault approach."

After a dispute over a $70,000 engagement ring following a canceled wedding, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled it belongs to the buyer, ending a decades-old rule that tied ownership to who was at fault for the breakup.