New opinions: Nov. 10 Thursday, November 10, 2022
The Supreme Court has issued 22 new opinions.
The summaries 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: https://www.ndcourts.gov/supreme-court/opinions
Kaspari v. Kaspari 2022 ND 204 Highlight: A district court may not order an award of spousal support that exceeds the court’s own finding of need for a recipient spouse without specifically identifying and quantifying those additional expenses. |
Buchholz v. Overboe 2022 ND 203 Highlight: A divorce based on irreconcilable difference applies to both parties. An argument implying the judgment does not apply to both parties is “nonsensical and frivolous.” |
Beland, et al. v. Danel, et al. 2022 ND 202 Highlight: A district court may impose sanctions if litigation was brought for an improper and unjust purpose under N.D.R.Civ.P. 11(b)(1), or lacked evidentiary support under N.D.R.Civ.P. 11(b)(3), even if a portion of the litigation had merit under N.D.R.Civ.P. 11(b)(2). |
State v. Davis-Heinze 2022 ND 201 Highlight: A trial court may avoid a violation of the public trial right by summarizing on the record what was discussed at the conference, the conference must have occurred in open court, and both parties to the action must have an opportunity to object to the accuracy of the court’s summary or supplement the record as to the off-the-record events. |
Interest of E.H. 2022 ND 200 Highlight: Order affirming juvenile court findings of fact and orders of the judicial referee terminating parental rights summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2), (4), and (7). |
State v. Ismail 2022 ND 199 Highlight: Criminal judgments of possession and delivery of a controlled substance are affirmed under N.D.R.Ev. 614(b) and sufficient weight of evidence and sufficiency of evidence. |
State v. Archambault 2022 ND 198 Highlight: Upon a defendant’s written request, a prosecuting attorney must disclose all documents and objects material to the defense for use in preparation for trial. |
State v. Sapa 2022 ND 197 Highlight: The crime of gross sexual imposition with a child under the age of fifteen is a strict liability offense. |
State v. Peters 2022 ND 196 Highlight: A trial court violates a criminal defendant’s speedy trial right only when four factors, in sum, weigh against the state: the length of the delay, reasons for the delay, proper assertion of the right, and actual prejudice to the accused. |
State v. Lane 2022 ND 195 Highlight: When this Court views evidence admitted at trial in a light most favorable to a verdict, and finds sufficient evidence exists that would allow a jury to draw a reasonable inference in favor of conviction, a criminal judgment must be affirmed. |
Interest of K.L.B. 2022 ND 194 Highlight: Dismissal of motion requesting termination of mother’s parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(8). |
Ordahl v. Lykken, et al. 2022 ND 193 Highlight: Words are given their ordinary and popular meaning unless the words are used in a technical sense or given a special meaning. |
Williamson v. State 2022 ND 192 Highlight: A district court order denying an application for post-conviction relief is summarily reversed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(b). |
Troubadour Oil & Gas v. Rustad, et al. 2022 ND 191 Highlight: This Court’s authority to issue supervisory writs is discretionary and is used only to rectify errors and prevent injustice in extraordinary cases where no adequate alternative remedy exists. |
Addai v. State 2022 ND 190 Highlight: A defendant’s ability to waive their right to a public trial knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, as declared in State v. Martinez, 2021 ND 42, ¶ 13, 956 N.W.2d 772, is not retroactive in application to previous cases as it is neither a substantive rule nor a rule that qualifies as watershed implicating the fundamental fairness and accuracy of a criminal proceeding. |
Kuntz v. State 2022 ND 189 Highlight: Whether a defendant is competent to enter a plea is a question of fact, and a district court’s finding on the issue will not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. |
Kratz v. State 2022 ND 188 Highlight: A district court does not abuse its discretion when it dismisses an application for post-conviction relief where the applicant failed to provide any evidentiary support for the claims. |
Knapp v. The Jones Financial Co., et al. 2022 ND 187 Highlight: Rule 43 of the North Dakota Rules of Appellate Procedure is intended to provide a mechanism for substitution of a party who dies after proceedings in the district court have concluded. Under Rule 43(a)(3), an attorney may file a notice of appeal on behalf of a decedent if he or she was “entitled to appeal” before dying. If a party dies during proceedings in the district court—i.e., before the party is entitled to appeal, North Dakota Rule of Civil Procedure 25 applies. |
Goff v. NDDOT 2022 ND 186 Highlight: The public does not have a right of access to a private parking lot for vehicular use when the lot is marked “private property” and a city ordinance makes such use unlawful when so marked. |
Richardson v. Richardson, et al. 2022 ND 185 Highlight: A district court order denying a motion to modify residential responsibility and denying a motion to reconsider is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7) and (4). |
State v. Vickerman 2022 ND 184 Highlight: A hearsay statement may be admitted as an exception if it illustrates the declarant’s state of mind, is relevant to the criminal act in question, and shows a defendant’s motive to engage in that act. |
Wilkinson, et al. v. Bd. of University and School Lands of the State of N.D. 2022 ND 183 Highlight: A person bringing a claim against the State for an injury shall present to the director of the office of management and budget within 180 days after the alleged injury is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered a written notice. |