Opinions

State v. Schwab 2015 ND 161
Docket No.: 20140467
Filing Date: 7/1/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Criminal judgment for accomplice to gross sexual imposition is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3) and (4).

Gaede v. State 2015 ND 160
Docket No.: 20150026
Filing Date: 7/1/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Order dismissing application for post-conviction relief from murder conviction is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (3).

Curtiss v. State 2015 ND 159
Docket No.: 20150007
Filing Date: 7/1/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Criminal judgment for gross sexual imposition is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Brooks v. Brooks 2015 ND 158
Docket No.: 20150044
Filing Date: 6/18/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: A denial of an evidentiary hearing on a change of custody is reviewed under the de novo standard of review.
A reviewing court needs to know the reasons for the trial court's decision before it can intelligently rule on the issues.

Disciplinary Board v. Lee 2015 ND 157
Docket No.: 20150152
Filing Date: 6/16/2015
Case Type: Discipline - Attorney - Original Proceeding
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Suspension of lawyer ordered.

Peterka v. State 2015 ND 156
Docket No.: 20140425
Filing Date: 6/11/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Multiple prosecutions and punishments are permitted on the basis of the number of pornographic images possessed rather than on the number of computers possessed containing those images.
A district court will be reversed if it does not act because it erroneously concluded the time for consideration had run.

Mattern v. Frank J. Mattern Estate 2015 ND 155
Docket No.: 20140296
Filing Date: 6/11/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: If property claimed as a homestead exceeds the value of the homestead exemption, the homestead must be set off in such form as to exclude the excess, unless the homestead cannot be divided without material harm.
If the homestead cannot be divided without material injury, the family home must be preserved intact as against heirs even though the homestead exceeds the homestead exemption amount.

Wacht v. State 2015 ND 154
Docket No.: 20140418
Filing Date: 6/11/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Claims raised on direct appeal cannot be raised again in a postconviction application.
Summary dismissal of an application for postconviction relief is appropriate if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Baker v. Sabinash, et al. 2015 ND 153
Docket No.: 20140230
Filing Date: 6/11/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Where the State is given a mortgage lien upon real property, and thereafter taxes are levied against said real estate and become due after the mortgage lien is created, the tax lien and the mortgage lien are not of equal rank.
The question of priority of liens against the same real estate held by the State is determined by the time of the creation of the liens, unless otherwise provided by statute, and taxes on the real estate becoming due after the mortgage lien of the State is created are subordinate to the lien of the mortgage.

Estate of Grengs 2015 ND 152
Docket No.: 20140220
Filing Date: 6/11/2015
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Orders in a supervised probate proceeding are not final and appealable before approval of distribution of the estate and discharge of the personal representative.
A provision of a will is ambiguous if it is susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation.
Whether an ambiguity exists in a will is a question of law, but resolution of the ambiguity is a finding of fact.