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New opinions: Feb. 27 Friday, February 28, 2020

The Supreme Court has issued 10 new opinions. Summaries of the opinions are below.

To see an opinion, click on the "View Opinion" button. Opinions display in a printable format. Hyperlinks to all North Dakota opinions and rules cited in an opinion are included in the text: hover over the citation and click to follow the hyperlink.

See other Supreme Court opinions at: /supreme-court/opinions

State v. Mohammed 2020 ND 52
Docket No.: 20190280
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: SEXUAL OFFENSE
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Sufficient evidence supports the criminal judgment finding the defendant guilty of gross sexual imposition. Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the defendant’s motion for acquittal.

State v. Ovind 2020 ND 51
Docket No.: 20190351
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: MISC. STATUTORY OFFENSE (FELONY)
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald W.

Highlight: Defendants have the right to court-appointed counsel at public expense in all felony cases and in all non-felony cases, unless the sentence upon conviction will not include imprisonment, only if they are eligible under the guidelines governing indigency.
Non-indigent defendants also have the right to court-appointed counsel, at their own expense, if they are unable to secure the assistance of counsel.
An appellant assumes the consequences and the risk of failing to file a transcript on appeal, and this Court will not review an issue if the record on appeal does not allow a meaningful and intelligent review of the district court’s alleged error.

State v. Marcum 2020 ND 50
Docket No.: 20190229
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: DRUGS/CONTRABAND
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Exclusion of evidence is not the proper remedy when law enforcement acts in good faith upon objectively reasonable reliance that a warrant was properly issued.
Sufficient competent evidence capable of supporting the district court’s findings exists, and its decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.
Sufficient evidence supports finding the defendant had a prior conviction for an equivalent offense, and residue in a pipe supports the conviction for possession of methamphetamine.

Rieger v. Ackerman, et al. 2020 ND 49
Docket No.: 20190197
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: REAL PROPERTY
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald W.

Highlight: District courts have broad discretion in partition actions to do equity and make a fair division of the property or proceeds between the parties and have wide flexibility in ordering proper relief for the parties.
There is no bright-line rule in deciding whether great prejudice would result from a partition.

State v. McAllister 2020 ND 48
Docket No.: 20190188
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: ASSAULT
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: The district court did not err when it limited cross-examination of a victim regarding the victim’s interest in obtaining restitution.

The district court did not err when it ordered the defendant to pay restitution for injuries the defendant was convicted of causing.

Northwest Grading, Inc. v. North Star Water, LLC, et al. 2020 ND 47
Docket No.: 20190128
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: CONTRACTS
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Rule 37(b)(2)(A)(ii), N.D.R.Civ.P., permits a district court to sanction a party in violation of a discovery order by prohibiting the disobedient party from supporting or opposing a claim or defense with evidence not disclosed under the discovery order.

Where there are offsetting damages awards between two parties, the proper method of calculating prejudgment interest is to first determine the net award and then determine interest on that net amount.

Smithberg v. Jacobson, et al. 2020 ND 46
Docket No.: 20190369
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: WRIT OF SUPERVISION (Civil)
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: When an appellate court remands a case for a trial without limitation, a party who previously stipulated to waive the right to a jury trial may demand a jury trial, unless the parties intended the stipulation to apply to any future trials or the right is otherwise limited by law.

Interest of G.L.D. 2020 ND 45
Docket No.: 20190179
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: CIVIL COMMIT OF SEXUAL PREDATOR
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court order denying a petition for discharge from commitment as a sexually dangerous individual is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Interest of E.K. 2020 ND 44
Docket No.: 20200034
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: MENTAL HEALTH
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court treatment order is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

State v. Benson 2020 ND 43
Docket No.: 20190278
Filing Date: 2/27/2020
Case Type: THEFT
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court judgment is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2), (4), and (7).