Opinions

Interest of G.J.E.P. (CONFIDENTIAL) (consolidated with 20210189) 2021 ND 156
Docket No.: 20210188
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

Pinkney v. State 2021 ND 155
Docket No.: 20200249
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Whether to grant a motion for a continuance rests within the district court’s discretion.

Post-conviction relief is not a device for investigating possible claims, but a means for vindicating actual claims.

State v. Lyman 2021 ND 154
Docket No.: 20200321
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: The district court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted blood test results into evidence over the Defendant’s foundational objections that the State failed to prove scrupulous compliance with the approved method for collecting and submitting a blood specimen.

Dubois v. State 2021 ND 153
Docket No.: 20210019
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Counsel’s failure to raise a novel or groundbreaking legal claim does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.

A district court is the best credibility evaluator in cases of conflicting testimony, and we will not second-guess the district court’s credibility determinations.

The procedures in Rule 11, N.D.R.Crim.P., does not apply to admissions on probation revocation.

Section 12.1-32-07(6), N.D.C.C., unambiguously restrains a district court’s authority in probation revocation cases to imposition of the sentence initially imposed but suspended.

State v. Gefroh, 458 N.W.2d 479, 483-84 (N.D. 1990) and State v. Lindgren, 483 N.W.2d 777, 779 (N.D. 1992) are overruled.

State v. Boger 2021 ND 152
Docket No.: 20200297
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A mistake of fact may support reasonable suspicion for a traffic stop if the mistake was objectively reasonable.

When reviewing a district court’s decision on a motion to suppress, we defer to the court’s findings of fact and resolve conflicts in testimony in favor of affirmance.

Lerfald v. Lerfald 2021 ND 150
Docket No.: 20210008
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A party moving to modify parenting time must establish that a material change of circumstances has occurred since entry of the prior parenting time order and that modification is in the child’s best interests.

Klundt v. Benjamin, et al. 2021 ND 149
Docket No.: 20210048
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: In proceedings relating to a motion to modify primary residential responsibility, a prima facie case warranting an evidentiary hearing consists of factual allegations sufficient to support a finding of a material change in circumstances and that a change is necessary to serve the best interests of the child.

To establish a prima facie case that modification of primary residential responsibility is necessary to serve the best interests of the child requires more than the improved circumstances of the moving party.

Isxaaq v. State (consolidated w/ 20210067 & 20210068) 2021 ND 148
Docket No.: 20210066
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: Whether an applicant for post-conviction relief adequately understands English without an interpreter is a finding of fact that will be affirmed on appeal if not clearly erroneous. An applicant cannot establish prejudice on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim alleging their attorney did not properly advise them on the immigration consequences of pleading guilty if the applicant offers only self-serving, subjective testimony that, with competent advice, they would have rejected a plea and proceeded to trial. An applicant must offer some evidence contemporaneous with the entry of the guilty plea to substantiate that the applicant would have gone to trial if he had known the deportation consequences of pleading guilty.

Bahmiller v. WSI, et. al. 2021 ND 147
Docket No.: 20210033
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A workers’ compensation claimant is not entitled to receive benefits if the claimant fails to file a written claim for benefits within the specified time under N.D.C.C. § 65-05-01.

To have a compensable injury, a claimant must know or have reason to know the significance, or seriousness, of their condition and that the injury is work-related.

Zepeda, et al. v. Cool, et al. 2021 ND 146
Docket No.: 20200193
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Personal Injury
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: Before dismissing an action for failure to prosecute under N.D.R.Civ.P. 41(b), a district court must consider several competing factors including a court’s need to manage its docket, the public interest in expeditious resolution of litigation, and the risk of prejudice to adverse parties from delay. The court must balance these factors against the great reluctance to impose the harsh remedy of dismissal based upon our policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits.

A district court’s decision to dismiss a claim for failure to prosecute will not be overturned absent an abuse of discretion.

While North Dakota law does not formally recognize motions to reconsider, motions for reconsideration may be treated as motions to alter or amend a judgment under N.D.R.Civ.P. 59(j), or motions for relief from a judgment under N.D.R.Civ.P. 60(b).