Opinions

State v. Henke 2024 ND 60
Docket No.: 20230302
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: An invited error of a non-structural issue will not be reviewed by this Court under the Invited Error Doctrine.

A sentence is illegal when the sentence is not within statutory limits or the sentence is unable to be served within statutory limits.

A reviewing court must clearly understand the sentencing court’s intent for the sentence and there must be no ambiguity for when probation begins.

Urrabazo v. State 2024 ND 59
Docket No.: 20230317
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

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

Hoever v. Wilder 2024 ND 58
Docket No.: 20230295
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: An appellant’s argument must contain the appellant’s contentions and the reasons for them, with citations to the authorities and parts of the record on which the appellant relies, and citation to the record showing that the issue was preserved for review or a statement of grounds for seeking review of an issue not preserved. A party waives an issue by not providing supporting argument and, without supportive reasoning or citations to relevant authorities, an argument is without merit. The Court will not consider an argument that is not adequately articulated, supported, and briefed, or engage in unassisted searches of the record for evidence to support a litigant’s position.

Interest of J.D. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2024 ND 57
Docket No.: 20240059
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

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

Interest of S.B. 2024 ND 56
Docket No.: 20240043
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Per Curiam

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

State v. Nelson 2024 ND 55
Docket No.: 20230346
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: If a defendant’s crime and revocation of probation occurred after the 2021 amendment to N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-07(6), a district court may resentence the defendant up to the maximum allowed at the time of his original sentence.

State v. Thornton, et al. 2024 ND 54
Docket No.: 20240017
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Original Proceeding - Criminal - Writ of Supervision
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: We exercise our authority to issue supervisory writs rarely and cautiously on a case-by-case basis and only to rectify errors and prevent injustice in extraordinary cases when no adequate alternative remedy exists. Our authority to issue a supervisory writ is discretionary. We generally will not exercise our supervisory jurisdiction where the proper remedy is an appeal.

The plain language of the statute gives the Department the authority to approve the secondary process of the risk assessment and the responsibility to perform that secondary process, and the statutory definition of “risk assessment” is not a rule of procedure subject to being superseded by court rule.

Dahms v. Legacy Plumbing 2024 ND 53
Docket No.: 20230349
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Torts (Negligence, Liab., Nuis.)
Author: Bahr, Douglas Alan

Highlight: Conduct constituting a breach of contract does not create a tort for negligence, unless the defendant’s conduct also establishes a breach of an independent duty that does not arise from the contract.

Speculation is not enough to defeat a motion for summary judgment, and when reasonable persons can reach only one conclusion from the evidence a court may grant summary judgment.

This Court does not review issues which are raised for the first time on appeal.

Whitetail Wave v. XTO Energy, et al. 2024 ND 52
Docket No.: 20230283
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Oil, Gas and Minerals
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A title dispute does not establish a taking. The State may protect its interests in a title dispute and must do “something more” than assert title to complete a taking.

Suspension of royalty payments was lawful under N.D.C.C. § 47-16-39.1 when there is a dispute of title that would affect distribution of royalty payments.

Whitetail Wave v. XTO Energy, et al. 2024 ND 52
Docket No.: 20230283
Filing Date: 4/4/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Oil, Gas and Minerals
Author: Jensen, Jon J.