Opinions

Dodge v. State 2020 ND 100
Docket No.: 20190286
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Whether a defendant is competent to plead guilty is a finding of fact.
When a district court is presented with conflicting expert evidence, we resolve evidentiary conflicts in favor of affirmance.
A defendant claiming he or she was incompetent to plead guilty raising ineffective assistance of counsel must demonstrate by a reasonable probability, sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome, that he or she was not competent to plead guilty.

New Freedom Center v. Job Service, et al. 2020 ND 99
Docket No.: 20190405
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Unemployment/Job Service
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Judgment affirming Job Service North Dakota's allowance of unemployment benefits is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(5) and (7).

Brossart, et al. v. Janke, et al. 2020 ND 98
Docket No.: 20190236
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Under N.D.C.C. § 28-20.1-03(2), the clerk of district court is required to mail notice of the filing of a foreign judgment to the judgment debtor.
Under N.D.C.C. § 28-20.1-03(3), a judgment creditor may not execute on a foreign judgment without first adequately complying with the notice procedures provided in N.D.C.C. § 28-20.1-03(2).
Under N.D.R.Civ.P. 33(a)(3), a judgment creditor is allowed to serve interrogatories on each judgment debtor who is jointly or severally liable for the judgment.
Under N.D.R.Civ.P. 33(a)(3), subparts to the primary question are not separate interrogatories.
Upon a finding that a claim for relief was frivolous, the district court must award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.

State v. Kolstad 2020 ND 97
Docket No.: 20190228
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: The State may appeal from an order quashing an information or indictment.
The loss of evidence in the State’s custody may amount to a due process violation when (1) the State fails to collect evidence in the first instance; (2) the State fails to preserve evidence once it has been collected; and (3) the State suppresses evidence which has been collected and preserved.
When apprised of a discovery violation, the district court should impose the least severe sanction to rectify the prejudice.
Dismissal of an action for discovery violations is one of the most severe sanctions available to a court. Dismissal should be used sparingly and only in extreme situations and should not be used if an alternative, less drastic sanction is available and just as effective.

Rath v. Rath 2020 ND 96
Docket No.: 20190330
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: District court orders denying a motion for contempt and a request to reconsider are affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1 (a)(1) and (4).

State v. Helmenstein 2020 ND 95
Docket No.: 20190336
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Homicide
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Amended criminal judgment is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).

Constitutional issues raised for the first time on appeal will not be considered.

State v. Darji 2020 ND 94
Docket No.: 20190303
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A criminal judgment entered after a jury verdict is affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

C & K Consulting v. Ward County Board of Commissioners (consol w/ 20190313- 2020 ND 93
Docket No.: 20190312
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Administrative Proceeding
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: The district court abused its discretion when it denied granting relief from a judgment dismissing a case as a sanction when the dismissal was based on a misapplication of the law.

Schwindt v. Sorel 2020 ND 92
Docket No.: 20190245
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Department of Transportation
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: Other factors may cause a horizontal gaze nystagmus test to be unreliable, including physiological causes for nystagmus, but those factors go to the weight of the evidence and not its admissibility.

Whether a driver refused to take a chemical test is a question of fact.

Kastet v. NDDOT 2020 ND 91
Docket No.: 20200003
Filing Date: 5/7/2020
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Department of Transportation
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: A district court judgment reversing an administrative law judge’s order suspending driving privileges is reversed and remanded.