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1301 - 1350 of 12382 results

State v. Reddog 2021 ND 180
Docket No.: 20210055
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Theft
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Criminal conviction for robbery with a firearm, destructive device, or other dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit felonious restraint is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

State v. Urrabazo 2021 ND 179
Docket No.: 20210142
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A criminal judgment for delivery of a controlled substance is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

State v. Urrabazo 2021 ND 179
Docket No.: 20210142
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Per Curiam

Interest of D.H.H. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2021 ND 178
Docket No.: 20210238
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

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

Interest of D.H.H. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2021 ND 178
Docket No.: 20210238
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

Brickle-Hicks v. State 2021 ND 177
Docket No.: 20210073
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

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

State v. Clemens 2021 ND 176
Docket No.: 20210136
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Theft
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court order awarding restitution is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

State v. Clemens 2021 ND 176
Docket No.: 20210136
Filing Date: 10/14/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Theft
Author: Per Curiam

State v. Marsolek 2021 ND 175
Docket No.: 20210041
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A traffic stop has not been unlawfully prolonged if the officer has reasonable suspicion to believe further criminal activity is afoot.

State v. Demerais 2021 ND 174
Docket No.: 20210012
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Assault
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Criminal conviction for aggravated assault summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

Ineffective assistance of counsel claims generally should not be brought on direct appeal, because post-conviction relief proceedings provide a more appropriate forum to develop the evidentiary record necessary for such claims.

Thomas v. State 2021 ND 173
Docket No.: 20210056
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Expert testimony is admissible whenever specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact.

Expert testimony is admissible to address questions of fact, not law.

City of Jamestown v. Nygaard 2021 ND 172
Docket No.: 20210049
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: “When the wording of a statute is clear and free of all ambiguity, the letter of it is not to be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing its spirit.” N.D.C.C. § 1-02-05.

The plain language of N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(1)(f) does not require advice of criminal penalties to drivers before they can be charged with refusing a chemical breath test.

Continental Resources v. Armstrong, et al. 2021 ND 171
Docket No.: 20210060
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Oil, Gas and Minerals
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: An argument is without merit if the party does not provide supportive reasoning or citations to relevant authorities.

When ambiguity exists in an instrument conveying oil and gas interests, the parties’ intent is a question of fact requiring factual findings based on extrinsic evidence.

When the operator of an oil and gas well has relied to its detriment a division order signed by an underpaid royalty owner, the underpaid owner is estopped from recovering from the operator. The estoppel rule does not apply when the underpayments are not made according to a signed division order.

RTS Shearing v. BNI Coal 2021 ND 170
Docket No.: 20200340
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Parties to a contract may incorporate contractual terms by reference to a separate, noncontemporaneous document, including a separate agreement to which they are not parties, and including a separate document which is unsigned.

Although whether one agreement has incorporated another has factual components, whether material has been incorporated presents a question of law.

Galvanizers, et al. v. Kautzman, et al. 2021 ND 169
Docket No.: 20210042
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: The district court must make sufficient findings of fact and conclusions of law after a bench trial to allow review of its decision on appeal.

Whether property held in the name of an individual belongs to the partnership is a question of fact.

Carpenter v. State 2021 ND 168
Docket No.: 20210104
Filing Date: 9/30/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

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

Sims v. Sims 2021 ND 167
Docket No.: 20210039
Filing Date: 9/16/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court order entering a domestic violence protection order is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

WSI v. Badger Roustabouts 2021 ND 166
Docket No.: 20210022
Filing Date: 9/16/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: An individual who performs services for another for remuneration is presumed to be an employee of the person for which the services are performed, unless it is proven that the individual is an independent contractor under the common-law test.

Whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee is a mixed question of fact and law.

To be entitled to an award attorney’s fees under N.D.C.C. § 28-32-50, a non-agency party must meet a two-part test: 1) the non-administrative agency party must prevail, and 2) the agency must have acted without substantial justification.

Fleck v. State 2021 ND 165
Docket No.: 20210089
Filing Date: 9/16/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

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

Matter of Muscha 2021 ND 164
Docket No.: 20210071
Filing Date: 9/16/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Individual
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A district court must specify facts on which its conclusions are based that a sexually dangerous individual continues to have serious difficulty controlling his behavior. Both past conduct and present conduct are relevant to determine whether an individual continues to have serious difficulty controlling his behavior. The conduct need not be sexual in nature.

Evidence of negative and inappropriate behaviors, including incidents demonstrating more than mere horseplay, may be sufficient to demonstrate serious difficulty controlling behavior.

Interest of K.B. (CONFIDENTIAL) (CONSOLIDATED W/20210110) 2021 ND 163
Docket No.: 20210109
Filing Date: 6/24/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: In addition to state law requirements for parental termination, the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1912, must be met in cases involving an Indian child as defined by the Act.

Because children are entitled to permanency and because ICWA presents an opportunity for collateral attack of a state court judgment if its requirements are not met, we will not strain to infer findings from a vague reference to the requirement. The juvenile court must make detailed findings sufficient to satisfy ICWA. A qualified expert witness’s expressed preference to deny termination of parental rights does not preclude the court from making findings sufficient to satisfy ICWA and ordering termination.

Manning v. Jaeger, et al. 2021 ND 162
Docket No.: 20200332
Filing Date: 9/2/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: To intervene as a matter of right, a person must establish on timely motion that 1) the person has a cognizable interest in the subject matter of the litigation, 2) the interest may be impaired as a result of the litigation, and 3) the interest is not adequately represented by an existing party to the litigation.

Exercise of supervisory jurisdiction is purely discretionary and decided on a case-by-case basis, considering the unique circumstances of each case.

State v. Johnson 2021 ND 161
Docket No.: 20200252
Filing Date: 9/2/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A conviction rests upon insufficient evidence only when no rational fact finder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution and giving the prosecution the benefit of all inferences reasonably to be drawn in its favor.

To convict for terrorizing, the State must prove that the defendant intended to cause another person to fear for his or another person’s safety or acted with reckless disregard of the risk of causing such fear and that the defendant made a threat to commit a crime of violence or act dangerous to human life.

Hartman, et al. v. Grager 2021 ND 160
Docket No.: 20200205
Filing Date: 9/2/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: Before a court may set aside a transaction on the ground of mental incapacity, the party attacking the validity of the transaction has the burden to prove the grantor, at the time of the transaction, was so weak mentally as not to be able to comprehend and understand the nature and effect of the transaction.

An agreement for the sale of real property must show who the contracting parties are, intelligently identify the subject matter involved, express the consideration, and disclose the terms and conditions upon which the contract is entered into. All things that in law or usage are considered as incidental to a contract or as necessary to carry it into effect are implied therefrom, unless some of them are mentioned expressly therein.

A valid inter vivos gift requires: (1) an intention by the donor to then and there give the property to the donee, coupled with an actual or constructive (2) delivery of the property to the donee, and (3) acceptance of the property by the donee.

In an action for specific performance, a purchaser may recover damages from a seller for delay in conveying real property. The detriment caused by the wrongful occupation of real property is deemed to be the value of the use of the property for the time of occupation, which can be shown by either identifying the fruits of the illegal possession, or through fair rental value of the property.

Estate of Finch 2021 ND 159
Docket No.: 20210029
Filing Date: 8/26/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A decision on a petition to remove a personal representative rests within the district court’s sound discretion.

A district court’s decision whether to award attorney’s fees incurred by a personal representative to be paid from the estate will not be reversed absent a clear abuse of discretion.

Schulz v. Helmers 2021 ND 158
Docket No.: 20210025
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Contract damages for breaching a duty to maintain buildings in a lease are measured by the lesser of the cost to repair and the diminution in value of the property when avoiding windfalls or economic waste.

Interest of T.L.E. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2021 ND 157
Docket No.: 20210190
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Mental Health
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court’s orders for hospitalization and involuntary treatment with medication are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Interest of T.L.E. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2021 ND 157
Docket No.: 20210190
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Mental Health
Author: Per Curiam

Interest of G.J.E.P. (CONFIDENTIAL) (consolidated with 20210189) 2021 ND 156
Docket No.: 20210188
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

Interest of G.J.E.P. (CONFIDENTIAL) (consolidated with 20210189) 2021 ND 156
Docket No.: 20210188
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

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

Pinkney v. State 2021 ND 155
Docket No.: 20200249
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Whether to grant a motion for a continuance rests within the district court’s discretion.

Post-conviction relief is not a device for investigating possible claims, but a means for vindicating actual claims.

State v. Lyman 2021 ND 154
Docket No.: 20200321
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: The district court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted blood test results into evidence over the Defendant’s foundational objections that the State failed to prove scrupulous compliance with the approved method for collecting and submitting a blood specimen.

Dubois v. State 2021 ND 153
Docket No.: 20210019
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Counsel’s failure to raise a novel or groundbreaking legal claim does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.

A district court is the best credibility evaluator in cases of conflicting testimony, and we will not second-guess the district court’s credibility determinations.

The procedures in Rule 11, N.D.R.Crim.P., does not apply to admissions on probation revocation.

Section 12.1-32-07(6), N.D.C.C., unambiguously restrains a district court’s authority in probation revocation cases to imposition of the sentence initially imposed but suspended.

State v. Gefroh, 458 N.W.2d 479, 483-84 (N.D. 1990) and State v. Lindgren, 483 N.W.2d 777, 779 (N.D. 1992) are overruled.

State v. Boger 2021 ND 152
Docket No.: 20200297
Filing Date: 8/19/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A mistake of fact may support reasonable suspicion for a traffic stop if the mistake was objectively reasonable.

When reviewing a district court’s decision on a motion to suppress, we defer to the court’s findings of fact and resolve conflicts in testimony in favor of affirmance.

Lerfald v. Lerfald 2021 ND 150
Docket No.: 20210008
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A party moving to modify parenting time must establish that a material change of circumstances has occurred since entry of the prior parenting time order and that modification is in the child’s best interests.

Klundt v. Benjamin, et al. 2021 ND 149
Docket No.: 20210048
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: In proceedings relating to a motion to modify primary residential responsibility, a prima facie case warranting an evidentiary hearing consists of factual allegations sufficient to support a finding of a material change in circumstances and that a change is necessary to serve the best interests of the child.

To establish a prima facie case that modification of primary residential responsibility is necessary to serve the best interests of the child requires more than the improved circumstances of the moving party.

Isxaaq v. State (consolidated w/ 20210067 & 20210068) 2021 ND 148
Docket No.: 20210066
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: Whether an applicant for post-conviction relief adequately understands English without an interpreter is a finding of fact that will be affirmed on appeal if not clearly erroneous. An applicant cannot establish prejudice on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim alleging their attorney did not properly advise them on the immigration consequences of pleading guilty if the applicant offers only self-serving, subjective testimony that, with competent advice, they would have rejected a plea and proceeded to trial. An applicant must offer some evidence contemporaneous with the entry of the guilty plea to substantiate that the applicant would have gone to trial if he had known the deportation consequences of pleading guilty.

Bahmiller v. WSI, et. al. 2021 ND 147
Docket No.: 20210033
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A workers’ compensation claimant is not entitled to receive benefits if the claimant fails to file a written claim for benefits within the specified time under N.D.C.C. § 65-05-01.

To have a compensable injury, a claimant must know or have reason to know the significance, or seriousness, of their condition and that the injury is work-related.

Zepeda, et al. v. Cool, et al. 2021 ND 146
Docket No.: 20200193
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Personal Injury
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: Before dismissing an action for failure to prosecute under N.D.R.Civ.P. 41(b), a district court must consider several competing factors including a court’s need to manage its docket, the public interest in expeditious resolution of litigation, and the risk of prejudice to adverse parties from delay. The court must balance these factors against the great reluctance to impose the harsh remedy of dismissal based upon our policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits.

A district court’s decision to dismiss a claim for failure to prosecute will not be overturned absent an abuse of discretion.

While North Dakota law does not formally recognize motions to reconsider, motions for reconsideration may be treated as motions to alter or amend a judgment under N.D.R.Civ.P. 59(j), or motions for relief from a judgment under N.D.R.Civ.P. 60(b).

City of Fargo v. Roehrich 2021 ND 145
Docket No.: 20210023
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Misdemeanor
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Whether a law is unconstitutional is a question of law, which is fully reviewable on appeal.

Municipal harassment ordinance is not unconstitutionally vague on its face or as applied to defendant.

Bilger v. Bilger 2021 ND 144
Docket No.: 20210072
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Arguments not raised before the district court cannot be raised for the first time on appeal.

Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a servicemember may apply for a stay of the action if the requirements of military duty affects the servicemember’s ability to appear.

Bearce v. Yellowstone Energy Development 2021 ND 143
Docket No.: 20210010
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Where you have a closely held company, the law imposes a fiduciary duty upon the governors and majority shareholders to act in good faith, and affords remedies to minority shareholders if those in control act fraudulently, illegally, or in a manner unfairly prejudicial toward any shareholder.

The date a person acquires interest in a company is a question of fact reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard.

Matter of Emelia Hirsch Trust 2021 ND 142
Docket No.: 20210144
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: An order denying a motion to vacate an order reforming a trust is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(1), (4), and (7).

Matter of Emelia Hirsch Trust 2021 ND 142
Docket No.: 20210144
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: Per Curiam

State v. Cochran 2021 ND 141
Docket No.: 20200355
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: Law enforcement may not search an individual’s home without a warrant unless the search falls within one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement. Under the common-area, co-occupant consent exception, a co-occupant of a shared residence may consent to searches of the common areas of the residence.

This Court will not set aside a district court’s decision simply because the court may have applied an incorrect reason if the result is the same under the correct law and reasoning.

Dwyer v. Sell, et al. 2021 ND 139
Docket No.: 20200188
Filing Date: 8/5/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: General rules of interpretation of written instruments apply to the construction of trust documents.

When a trust agreement is unambiguous, the settlor’s intent is ascertained from the language of the agreement itself.

Under N.D.C.C. § 47-05-17, the right of access to land to hunt game animals or game birds may not be severed from the surface estate.

In the Matter of the Adoption of M.E. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2021 ND 138
Docket No.: 20210172
Filing Date: 7/29/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: An order terminating parental rights in connection with a petition for adoption is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.AppP. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

In the Matter of the Adoption of M.E. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2021 ND 138
Docket No.: 20210172
Filing Date: 7/29/2021
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

State v. Schmidt, et al. 2021 ND 137
Docket No.: 20210156
Filing Date: 7/22/2021
Case Type: Original Proceeding - Criminal - Writ of Supervision
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Rule 32(c)(2), N.D.R.Crim.P., does not provide the district court with authority to order that defense counsel be allowed to be present for a psycho-sexual evaluation. The district court has no authority under section 12.1-01-04(26), N.D.C.C., to order the Department of Human Services to allow defense counsel to be present during such an evaluation. A defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel is satisfied when defense counsel is given notice and an opportunity to consult with the defendant prior to the evaluation.

State v. Schmidt, et al. 2021 ND 137
Docket No.: 20210156
Filing Date: 7/22/2021
Case Type: Original Proceeding - Criminal - Writ of Supervision
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

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