Opinions

Interest of O.F. 2024 ND 140
Docket No.: 20240136
Filing Date: 7/18/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A district court order terminating parental rights is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

Section 27-20.3-20(1)(c)(2), N.D.C.C., does not require 660 nights to have passed since placement of a child into care to satisfy the statute. The plain language of the statute requires the child be in care for at least 450 nights of the previous 660 nights.

State v. Adams 2024 ND 139
Docket No.: 20230328
Filing Date: 7/18/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: The subsections in N.D.C.C. § 12.1-18-01(1) are alternative means of committing kidnapping and are not separate offenses.

When a defendant is charged and sentenced under an incorrect offense level, it is necessary to reverse and remand for resentencing.

Fahey, et al. v. Cook, et al. 2024 ND 138
Docket No.: 20230267
Filing Date: 7/5/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Malpractice
Author: Bahr, Douglas Alan

Highlight: A party resisting a summary judgment motion may not simply rely upon the pleadings or upon unsupported, conclusory allegations. Issues of fact become issues of law when a reasonable person could reach only one conclusion from the facts.

The elements of a legal malpractice action against an attorney for professional negligence are: 1) the existence of an attorney-client relationship, 2) a duty by the attorney to the client, 3) a breach of that duty by the attorney, and 4) damages to the client proximately caused by the breach of that duty.

The party asserting collateral estoppel bars relitigation of an issue in a new proceeding has the burden of establishing the doctrine applies. A legal malpractice action generally does not litigate the same issues as the underlying civil case in which the malpractice allegedly occurred.

Statutes are construed as a whole, harmonized to give meaning to related provisions, and interpreted to give effect to all of their provisions. When a uniform statute is interpreted, we construe it to effectuate its general purpose to make the law uniform in the states which enacted it.

Dorchester Minerals v. Hess Bakken Investments II 2024 ND 137
Docket No.: 20230326
Filing Date: 7/5/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Oil, Gas and Minerals
Author: Bahr, Douglas Alan

Highlight: A six-year statute of limitations applies to an unleased mineral interest owner's statutory claim for eighteen percent interest on unpaid royalties.

Even if the discovery rule applied, summary judgment is appropriate when the uncontroverted facts establish that a reasonable person would have been placed on notice of a potential claim.

For deciding who is entitled to statutory attorney's fees and costs, a prevailing party is the one who successfully prosecutes the action or successfully defends against it, prevailing on the merits of the main issue.

Watts v. State 2024 ND 136
Docket No.: 20240011
Filing Date: 7/5/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court order denying an application for postconviction relief is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

East Central Water District v. City of Grand Forks, et al. 2024 ND 135
Docket No.: 20230389
Filing Date: 7/5/2024
Case Type: Certified Question - Civil - Civil
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: The language "invalid and unenforceable" in N.D.C.C. § 6-09.4-22(2) means an agreement made without the public lending authority as a party is void ab initio.

State v. Lane 2024 ND 134
Docket No.: 20230401
Filing Date: 7/5/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Assault
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A criminal judgment entered after a jury found the defendant guilty of aggravated assault is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).

Belyeu v. State 2024 ND 133
Docket No.: 20230390
Filing Date: 7/5/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A petition for postconviction relief seeking to withdraw the petitioner's guilty pleas is reviewed under N.D.R.Crim.P. 11(d), and the district court considers whether relief is necessary to correct a manifest injustice.

A petitioner seeking to withdraw his guilty plea alleging ineffective assistance of counsel must surmount the two-prong test set out by Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).

To satisfy the first prong under Strickland, a petitioner must show his counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. To satisfy the second prong, a petitioner must establish there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. The applicant must also show the district court that the decision to not plead guilty would have been "rational under the circumstances."

Postconviction relief is available under N.D.C.C. § 29-32.1-01(1)(e) when "[e]vidence, not previously presented and heard, exists requiring vacation of the conviction or sentence in the interest of justice."

A petition alleging newly discovered evidence following a guilty plea filed within the two-year statute of limitations is reviewed using analysis similar to a motion for new trial under N.D.R.Crim.P. 33(b).

Interest of H.J.J.N. 2024 ND 132
Docket No.: 20240060
Filing Date: 4/18/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: Litigants in civil nonjury cases have a right to have their attorneys make a final argument. A court errs by entering judgment prior to the closing of the briefing period.
In parental-termination cases, the court has discretion, which can be exercised only after considering the evidence and arguments.

Equinor Energy v. State 2024 ND 131
Docket No.: 20230225
Filing Date: 7/5/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Tax Related
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: The North Dakota Tax Commissioner's longstanding interpretation of section 57-39.204.5(1), N.D.C.C., is not arbitrary or unjust and does not contradict the plain and ordinary meaning of that statute.

Oil and gas separators merely sort the "well stream" into its three component parts: water, oil, and gas, and are not exempt from sales tax under section 57-39.2-04.5(1), N.D.C.C.