Opinions

Meier v. Meier 2014 ND 127
Docket No.: 20130353
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A motion for relief from judgment must be made within a reasonable time.

Hale, et al. v. Ward County, et al. (cross-ref. w/20110171) 2014 ND 126
Docket No.: 20130348
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: A private person may maintain an action for a public nuisance if the public nuisance is specially injurious to that person or that person's property, but not otherwise.
A public nuisance is specially injurious to a private person if the person suffers harm of a kind different from that suffered by other members of the public exercising a right subject to the interference and common to the general public.

Chisholm v. State 2014 ND 125
Docket No.: 20130406
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A district court may summarily deny a meritless application for post-conviction relief if the claims in the application are facially invalid.
An applicant for post-conviction relief must be given notice and an opportunity to present evidence supporting his application before the court dismisses his application relying on matters outside the application.

State v. Daniels 2014 ND 124
Docket No.: 20130339
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: The scope of consent is measured objectively by what a reasonable person would have understood by the exchange between the police and the suspect.
To sustain a finding of consent, the State must show affirmative conduct by the person alleged to have consented that is consistent with the giving of consent, rather than merely showing that the person took no affirmative actions to stop the police from searching.

Tank v. Citation Oil & Gas Corp., et al. 2014 ND 123
Docket No.: 20130375
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Oil, Gas and Minerals
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A Pugh clause in an oil and gas lease severs a lease where less than all of the leasehold is included in a single unit and allows the lease to expire on a portion of the leased property if certain conditions are met.
Undeveloped land is is land that does not have a completed well capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities.

Devine v. Hennessee 2014 ND 122
Docket No.: 20130347
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: To properly determine an obligor's child support obligation, income must be sufficiently documented through the use of tax returns, current wage statements, and other information to fully apprise the court of all gross income.
Because a proper finding of income is essential to determine the correct amount of child support under the child support guidelines, the trial court must clearly set forth how it arrived at the amount of income and the level of support.

Keltner v. Levi 2014 ND 121
Docket No.: 20130380
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Department of Transportation
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: District court judgment affirming a Department of Transportation hearing officer's decision suspending driving privileges is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).

Hinojosa v. State 2014 ND 120
Docket No.: 20130378
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Appeal from denial of petition for post-conviction relief summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

McCoy v. N.D. Dep't of Transportation 2014 ND 119
Docket No.: 20130300
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Department of Transportation
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: A law enforcement officer's administration of a breath test to determine alcohol consumption is a search.
Consent is one recognized exception to the warrant requirement. To be effective, consent must be voluntarily given under the totality of the circumstances and must not be coerced by explicit or implicit means or by implied threat or covert force.
Absent authority and a reasoned analysis to support it, the mere assertion of a statute's unconstitutionality is insufficient to adequately raise a constitutional question.
A party pursuing a constitutional claim must make a strong case supported by both fact and law or forego the claim.

Interest of J.M. (CONFIDENTIAL)(cross-ref. w/20050383, 20100398, 20120253) 2014 ND 118
Docket No.: 20140006
Filing Date: 6/24/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Individual
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Order denying request for discharge from civil commitment as a sexually dangerous individual is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).