Opinions

State v. Ashby 2017 ND 74
Docket No.: 20160157
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: To justify stopping a moving vehicle for investigation, a law enforcement officer must have a reasonable and articulable suspicion a motorist has violated or is violating the law.
Whether an officer had a reasonable and articulable suspicion is a fact-specific inquiry that is evaluated under an objective standard considering the totality of the circumstances.
Information from an informant whose identity is easily ascertainable has a higher indicia of reliability than information obtained from a purely anonymous informant.

Carroll v. Carroll 2017 ND 73
Docket No.: 20160190
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A district court's decision whether to vacate a judgment or grant a new trial rests entirely within the its discretion.
The district court has broad discretion whether to grant a motion for a continuance, and its decision will not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion.
The State is a statutory real party in interest in certain child support matters.
Child support determinations involve questions of law which are subject to the de novo standard of review, findings of fact which are subject to the clearly erroneous standard of review, and may, in some limited areas, be matters of discretion subject to the abuse of discretion standard of review.

Nandan, LLP, et al. v. City of Fargo (cross-ref. w/20140121) 2017 ND 72
Docket No.: 20160166
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Tax Realted
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Summary judgment generally is an appropriate method for resolving statutory construction issues.
A municipality may use a county drain as part of, or as an outlet for, its storm sewer system.

Estate of Vendsel (consolidated w/20160164) 2017 ND 71
Docket No.: 20160163
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A self-represented litigant is subject to the rules of appellate procedure and has a duty to bring to the court's attention the proper rules of law that apply to a case.
A party claiming a breach of fiduciary duties must specify which fiduciary duty was breached, the breach caused her damages, and must properly plead damages in order to prevail on her claim.

State v. Belgarde 2017 ND 70
Docket No.: 20160364
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Theft
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: The starting point for whether a late alibi notice should be excused under N.D.R.Crim.P. 12.1(d) is some showing of good cause by the defendant to justify an exception.
Where an alibi defense is raised late but before trial, the district court should still consider possible prejudice against the prosecution.

Gaede v. Bertsch 2017 ND 69
Docket No.: 20160073
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Section 23-06-03, N.D.C.C., requires a deceased inmate's county of residence to arrange for and supervise the deceased inmate's burial only if the inmate does not have a surviving spouse or kindred and did not leave sufficient means to pay the funeral expenses.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has authority to deposit a portion of an inmate's earnings in a release aid account.

A. R. Audit Services, Inc. v. Tuttle 2017 ND 68
Docket No.: 20160162
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Debtor/Creditor
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: On review of a summary judgment, if reasonable persons could reach only one conclusion from the facts, issues of fact may become issues of law.

Gagnon v. Gagnon 2017 ND 67
Docket No.: 20160239
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: If the district court finds credible evidence of domestic violence exists, it is the predominate factor to be considered in a primary residential responsibility decision.

Myers v. State (cross-reference w/20150223) 2017 ND 66
Docket No.: 20160256
Filing Date: 3/30/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: An applicant who inexcusably fails to raise all claims in a single postconviction relief proceeding misuses the postconviction relief process by filing a subsequent application raising issues that could have been raised in the earlier proceeding.

Roe v. State 2017 ND 65
Docket No.: 20160179
Filing Date: 3/20/2017
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A victim's recantation does not by itself make her initial allegation of sexual abuse implausible or incredible, because she may have a variety of reasons to testify in apparent conflict with her prior statement.