Opinions

Gerving v. Gerving 2021 ND 50
Docket No.: 20200291
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

State v. Walbert 2021 ND 49
Docket No.: 20200197
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Courts possess broad power to control their courtrooms, minimize disruptive behavior, and maintain security.

Restricting movement in and out of a courtroom during testimony of a child witness as an attempt to minimize disruptions did not constitute a closure but instead was within the court’s managerial authority.

Gil v. WSI 2021 ND 48
Docket No.: 20200253
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Timely filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional and procedural rules may not be used to enlarge periods of time conferring jurisdiction that are definitely fixed by statute.

Saucedo v. State 2021 ND 47
Docket No.: 20200265
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: An order denying an application for post-conviction relief is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).

State v. Stands 2021 ND 46
Docket No.: 20200179
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Sufficient competent evidence existed to show a defendant consented to a search of his person when he shrugged, mumbled, nodded, and lifted his hands.

Requests for consent to search during a traffic stop are permissible so long as they do not prolong and measurably extend the duration of the stop.

An officer may extend or expand the scope of a traffic stop if reasonable suspicion exists or the encounter becomes consensual.

Campbell v. State 2021 ND 45
Docket No.: 20200227
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: The issue of ineffective assistance of counsel presents a mixed question of law and fact and is fully reviewable on appeal.

Ineffective assistance of trial counsel claims are ordinarily unsuited to summary disposition without an evidentiary hearing.

Solberg v. McKennett 2021 ND 44
Docket No.: 20200207
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Determining when a cause of action accrues is normally a question of fact, but it becomes a question of law when the material facts are undisputed.

Under the discovery rule the accrual of a claim is postponed until the plaintiff knew, or with the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, of the wrongful act and its resulting injury.

A party alleging fraud must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud.

Breeze v. NDDOT 2021 ND 43
Docket No.: 20200267
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Department of Transportation
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: An officer must be in an immediate pursuit of a person who is endeavoring to avoid arrest for hot pursuit to apply.

State v. Moore (consolidated w/20200081 & 20200082) 2021 ND 42
Docket No.: 20200080
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A district court should not automatically approve public trial waivers without considering the broader interests in open courts and public trials by conducting pre-closure Waller analysis. A defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial may be waived if the record reflects a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver. A defendant’s failure to object or acquiescence to a trial closure without a knowing, intelligent, voluntary waiver will be reviewed on appeal as a forfeited error subject only to obvious error review.

A district court may conduct proceedings in chambers in some circumstances, including temporary use of a courtroom as if in chambers. But it is the type of proceeding and not the location of the proceeding that determines the need for the Waller analysis. Jury selection, including proceedings relating to juror questionnaires and challenges for cause, are part of the criminal trial and generally must be held in open court consistent with the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.

A court’s closure of trial proceedings without having obtained a knowing, intelligent, voluntary waiver and without having considered the Waller factors is obvious error.

A speculative risk to a witness’s counseling relationship with the victim is insufficient standing alone to satisfy the Waller requirement for an overriding interest.

State v. Martinez 2021 ND 42
Docket No.: 20190407
Filing Date: 3/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A district court should not automatically approve public trial waivers without considering the broader interests in open courts and public trials by conducting pre-closure Waller analysis. A defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial may be waived if the record reflects a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver. A defendant’s failure to object or acquiescence to a trial closure without a knowing, intelligent, voluntary waiver will be reviewed on appeal as a forfeited error subject only to obvious error review.

A district court may conduct proceedings in chambers in some circumstances, including temporary use of a courtroom as if in chambers. But it is the type of proceeding and not the location of the proceeding that determines the need for the Waller analysis. Jury selection, including proceedings relating to juror questionnaires and challenges for cause, are part of the criminal trial and generally must be held in open court consistent with the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.

A court’s closure of trial proceedings without having obtained a knowing, intelligent, voluntary waiver and without having considered the Waller factors is obvious error.

A speculative risk to a witness’s counseling relationship with the victim is insufficient standing alone to satisfy the Waller requirement for an overriding interest.