Opinions

Christianson v. NDDOT 2020 ND 76
Docket No.: 20190348
Filing Date: 4/6/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Department of Transportation
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: The Department of Transportation’s decision to suspend an individual’s driving privileges was not in accordance with the law when it was based on evidence that was inadmissible at the adjudication hearing.

Joyce v. Joyce 2020 ND 75
Docket No.: 20190224
Filing Date: 4/6/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A district court may require a hearing even when no party requests a hearing.
Courts do not need to take judicial notice of foreign laws on their own initiative.
Courts must take judicial notice of foreign laws once a party has pleaded or presented the foreign law or asked the court to take judicial notice of the foreign law.
For a court to take judicial notice of foreign law, the requesting party must plead or present the foreign law or specifically request the court take judicial notice of the foreign law.
Courts may inform themselves of foreign laws in any manner they deem proper and may call upon counsel to aid in obtaining foreign laws.
A district court’s finding of fact that a contract is a complete, final, and binding agreement is not clearly erroneous when the party arguing for the contract’s invalidity based on a mutual mistake presents no evidence of a mistake.

State v. West 2020 ND 74
Docket No.: 20190311
Filing Date: 4/6/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Probationers consent to reasonable warrantless searches when they submit to a search condition as part of the terms of their probation.
An individual sharing a residence with a probationer forfeits his or her ability to seek suppression of evidence obtained during a reasonable warrantless probationary search when he or she does not object at the time of the search.

North Star Mutual Insurance v. Ackerman, et al. 2020 ND 73
Docket No.: 20190135
Filing Date: 3/25/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Torts (Negligence, Liab., Nuis.)
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Under the concurrent cause doctrine, an insurance policy provides coverage for liability when both a covered risk and an excluded risk contribute to the accident.

Interest of A.P.D.S.P.-G. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2020 ND 72
Docket No.: 20200015
Filing Date: 3/19/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A juvenile court does not have an obligation to ensure a party’s presence. Under N.D.R.Juv.P. 10(a)(3), a parent of a child must be present unless excused by the court.

Matter of Hogen Trust B 2020 ND 71
Docket No.: 20190240
Filing Date: 3/19/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A district court may clarify its own previous order. Due process is an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and meaningful manner and is complied with if the party has an opportunity, but argues other issues. A party that does not raise an issue in the district court cannot argue the issue for the first time on appeal.

Martodam v. Martodam 2020 ND 70
Docket No.: 20180432
Filing Date: 3/19/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Interlocutory orders in an action are merged into the final judgment and may be reviewed on appeal of that judgment. A final judgment supersedes an interim order’s parenting provisions, which are by nature temporary.

A district court must award primary residential responsibility in light of the child’s best interests, considering all the relevant statutory best-interest factors. A court’s decisions on residential responsibility and parenting time present findings of fact, which will not be reversed unless clearly erroneous.

A district court clearly errs in granting parenting time subject to a minor child’s right to decide whether to allow that parenting time.

A decision whether to admit or exclude evidence will not be reversed unless the district court abused its discretion.

The district court has broad discretion in making contempt decisions.

State v. Cook 2020 ND 69
Docket No.: 20190305
Filing Date: 3/19/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: In determining whether the moving party has established a prima facie case of an illegal seizure, a district court may consider evidence already in the record.

A stop may be prolonged only if the officer has reasonable suspicion to justify detaining the individual for inquiries unrelated to the stop.

State v. Eggleston 2020 ND 68
Docket No.: 20190214
Filing Date: 3/19/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Homicide
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: The district court did not err in dismissing the defendant’s motion for an acquittal because there was sufficient evidence for the jury to convict defendant and for the jury to conclude he was not acting in self-defense.

The district court imposed an illegal sentence when it referenced an incorrect life table to compute the defendant’s remaining life expectancy.

Lakeview Excavating, Inc. v. Dickey County, et al. 2020 ND 67
Docket No.: 20190195
Filing Date: 3/19/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Determining when a cause of action accrues is usually 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 contract’s language will govern its interpretation if the language is clear and explicit.