New Opinions: April 4 Thursday, April 4, 2024

Urrabazo v. State 2024 ND 67
Docket No.: 20230316
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
Author: Bahr, Douglas Alan

Highlight: A district court judgment denying an application for postconviction relief is affirmed.

This Court does not reweigh credibility or resolve conflicts in the evidence.

State v. Freeman 2024 ND 66
Docket No.: 20230207
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: HOMICIDE
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A motion for mistrial is reviewed for an abuse of discretion or a manifest injustice would result. Granting a mistrial is an extreme remedy and should only be resorted to when a fundamental defect or occurrence in the trial proceedings exists that makes it evident that further proceedings would be productive of manifest injustice.

Trial courts have wide discretion over the conduct of trial and the courtroom.

A trial court does not abuse its discretion by granting a recess when jurors are ill or have other such emergencies.

A criminal judgment entered after a jury found the defendant guilty of murder is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

Kemmet v. Kemmet 2024 ND 65
Docket No.: 20230194
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: CHILD CUST & SUPPORT (Div.\Other)
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A divorce judgment is reversed in part and remanded for clarification of the district court’s findings regarding equitable distribution of the marital estate and a correct accounting of the distribution.

All property held by either party, whether held jointly or individually, is considered marital property, and the district court must determine the total value of the marital property before making an equitable distribution.

Separate property, even if it is inherited, must initially be included in the marital estate, but the property’s origin may be considered when equitably dividing the estate.

State v. Alameen 2024 ND 64
Docket No.: 20230320
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: SEXUAL OFFENSE
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: When asserting a claim of obvious error, a defendant must show: (1) error; (2) that is plain; and (3) the error affects the defendant’s substantial rights, if there is no error there is no reason to go further into the analysis.

When the sufficiency of evidence to support a criminal conviction is challenged, the conviction rests on insufficient evidence only if no rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt when weighed in a light most favorable to the verdict.

Adoption of T.J.R. and B.L.R. 2024 ND 63
Docket No.: 20240056
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: TERMINATION/PARENTAL RIGHTS
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A district court order terminating parental rights under N.D.C.C. § 14-15-19 is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

A district court finding of abandonment is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4).

A court may waive the investigation and report required under N.D.C.C. § 14-15-11 for a petition of adoption if the petitioner is a court-appointed legal guardian or a relative other than a stepparent of the minor, the minor has lived with the petitioner for at least nine months, no allegations of abuse or neglect have been filed against the petitioner or any member of the petitioner’s household, and the court is satisfied that the proposed adoptive home is appropriate for the minor.

For convenience or to avoid prejudice, the court may order a separate trial of one or more separate issues, claims, crossclaims, counterclaims, or third-party claims under N.D.R.Civ.P. 42(b).

Cote v. Cote 2024 ND 62
Docket No.: 20230274
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: CHILD CUST & SUPPORT (Div.\Other)
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: If the district court determines a material change in circumstances has occurred, the court must consider whether changing primary residential responsibility is necessary to serve the child’s best interests. When a trial court does not make required findings, it errs as a matter of law, and it is necessary to remand for additional findings.

Interest of S.S.C. 2024 ND 61
Docket No.: 20240053
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: TERMINATION/PARENTAL RIGHTS
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A juvenile court order terminating parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

State v. Henke 2024 ND 60
Docket No.: 20230302
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: SEXUAL OFFENSE
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: An invited error of a non-structural issue will not be reviewed by this Court under the Invited Error Doctrine.

A sentence is illegal when the sentence is not within statutory limits or the sentence is unable to be served within statutory limits.

A reviewing court must clearly understand the sentencing court’s intent for the sentence and there must be no ambiguity for when probation begins.

Urrabazo v. State 2024 ND 59
Docket No.: 20230317
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court’s order for denying an application for postconviction relief is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Hoever v. Wilder 2024 ND 58
Docket No.: 20230295
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: DIVORCE/PROPERTY DIV./ALIMONY
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: An appellant’s argument must contain the appellant’s contentions and the reasons for them, with citations to the authorities and parts of the record on which the appellant relies, and citation to the record showing that the issue was preserved for review or a statement of grounds for seeking review of an issue not preserved. A party waives an issue by not providing supporting argument and, without supportive reasoning or citations to relevant authorities, an argument is without merit. The Court will not consider an argument that is not adequately articulated, supported, and briefed, or engage in unassisted searches of the record for evidence to support a litigant’s position.

Interest of J.D. 2024 ND 57
Docket No.: 20240059
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: TERMINATION/PARENTAL RIGHTS
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Interest of S.B. 2024 ND 56
Docket No.: 20240043
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: TERMINATION/PARENTAL RIGHTS
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

State v. Nelson 2024 ND 55
Docket No.: 20230346
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: DUI/DUS
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: If a defendant’s crime and revocation of probation occurred after the 2021 amendment to N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-07(6), a district court may resentence the defendant up to the maximum allowed at the time of his original sentence.

State v. Thornton, et al. 2024 ND 54
Docket No.: 20240017
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: WRIT OF SUPERVISION (Crim.)
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: We exercise our authority to issue supervisory writs rarely and cautiously on a case-by-case basis and only to rectify errors and prevent injustice in extraordinary cases when no adequate alternative remedy exists. Our authority to issue a supervisory writ is discretionary. We generally will not exercise our supervisory jurisdiction where the proper remedy is an appeal.

The plain language of the statute gives the Department the authority to approve the secondary process of the risk assessment and the responsibility to perform that secondary process, and the statutory definition of “risk assessment” is not a rule of procedure subject to being superseded by court rule.

Dahms v. Legacy Plumbing 2024 ND 53
Docket No.: 20230349
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: TORTS (NEGLIGENCE, LIAB., NUIS.)
Author: Bahr, Douglas Alan

Highlight: Conduct constituting a breach of contract does not create a tort for negligence, unless the defendant’s conduct also establishes a breach of an independent duty that does not arise from the contract.

Speculation is not enough to defeat a motion for summary judgment, and when reasonable persons can reach only one conclusion from the evidence a court may grant summary judgment.

This Court does not review issues which are raised for the first time on appeal.

Whitetail Wave v. XTO Energy, et al. 2024 ND 52
Docket No.: 20230283
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: OIL, GAS AND MINERALS
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A title dispute does not establish a taking. The State may protect its interests in a title dispute and must do “something more” than assert title to complete a taking.

Suspension of royalty payments was lawful under N.D.C.C. § 47-16-39.1 when there is a dispute of title that would affect distribution of royalty payments.

Interest of Y.R. 2024 ND 51
Docket No.: 20240063
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: TERMINATION/PARENTAL RIGHTS
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A juvenile court order terminating parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).