Opinions

Eubanks v. Fisketjon, et al. 2021 ND 124
Docket No.: 20200288
Filing Date: 7/8/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: The district court erred when it included half of an obligor and his roommate’s share of rent owed to a landlord as the obligor’s income for purposes of calculating child support.

Parenting decisions must be made in light of the child’s best interests.

City of Lincoln v. Schuler 2021 ND 123
Docket No.: 20200314
Filing Date: 7/8/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: This Court will affirm a district court decision regarding a motion to suppress if there is sufficient competent evidence fairly capable of supporting the district court’s findings, and the decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.

Interpretation of a statute is a question of law fully reviewable on appeal.

Section 39-10-38, N.D.C.C., requires that no person may turn a vehicle or move right or left on a roadway without giving an appropriate signal and make such turn or movement with reasonable safety.

Reasonable suspicion and criminality are different inquiries and the actual commission of a crime is not required to support a finding of reasonable suspicion.

Dietzler v. Dietzler 2021 ND 122
Docket No.: 20210001
Filing Date: 7/8/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: The judgment of the district court is summarily affirmed as not clearly erroneous under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

WSI v. Kemmet 2021 ND 121
Docket No.: 20210063
Filing Date: 7/8/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court’s summary judgment and denial of post-judgment motion are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(1), (4), and (6).

State v. Eggleston 2021 ND 120
Docket No.: 20200285
Filing Date: 7/8/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Homicide
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: Constitutional issues not appropriately raised in the district court will not be considered for the first time on appeal.

State v. Jensen 2021 ND 119
Docket No.: 20200295
Filing Date: 7/8/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: When a defendant has previously filed an application for post-conviction relief, a subsequent motion filed under the Rules of Criminal Procedure will be treated as an application for post-conviction relief when the motion seeks to evade the boundaries of post-conviction proceedings.

On its own initiative, a court may enter a judgment denying a meritless application for post-conviction relief on any and all issues raised in the application before any response by the state. A district court’s summary dismissal of an application for post-conviction relief before a response by the State is analogous to dismissal of a civil complaint under N.D.R.Civ.P. 12(b) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

A defendant may waive their speedy trial claim in four ways: (1) by failing to present the claim prior to or at the trial; (2) by entering a voluntary plea of guilty; (3) by failing to demand a prompt trial; or (4) by expressly consenting to the delay.

State v. Lelm 2021 ND 118
Docket No.: 20200236
Filing Date: 7/8/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: The State bears the burden to prove a warrantless search falls within an exception to the warrant requirement.

The automobile exception allows law enforcement to search a vehicle for illegal contraband without a warrant when probable cause exists.

The search incident to arrest exception is limited to searches that implicate interests in protecting officer safety and evidence preservation.

The inevitable discovery doctrine allows evidence obtained during an unlawful search to be admissible where it is shown that the evidence would have been gained even without the unlawful action.

Decker v. WSI 2021 ND 117
Docket No.: 20200289
Filing Date: 7/1/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: Statutory requirements for filing an appeal from an administrative agency decision are jurisdictional, and the appellant must satisfy the statutory requirements for the district court to acquire subject matter jurisdiction over the appeal.

State v. Van Der Heever 2021 ND 116
Docket No.: 20200309
Filing Date: 6/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: Information from a tip may provide the factual basis for an investigative stop. In evaluating whether the factual basis for a stop meets the legal standard of reasonable and articulable suspicion, we consider the totality of the circumstances.

Where a known, or easily ascertainable, informant provides a greater quantity of information than a bare assertion of possible impaired or erratic driving, the officer need not personally observe, or corroborate, evidence of criminal activity in order to have reasonable suspicion to stop a vehicle.

Interest of K.C. (CONFIDENTIAL) (consolidated with 20210123 & 20210124) 2021 ND 115
Docket No.: 20210122
Filing Date: 6/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Juvenile court orders terminating parental rights are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).