Opinions

Tharaldson Ethanol Plant I, LLC, et al. v. VEI Global, Inc. 2014 ND 94
Docket No.: 20130325
Filing Date: 5/6/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Foreclosure
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: Certification under N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) should rarely be granted and is reserved for cases involving unusual circumstances in which failure to allow an immediate appeal would create a demonstrated prejudice or hardship.
Potential mootness is a just reason for delay in N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) analysis.

Frith v. WSI, et al. 2014 ND 93
Docket No.: 20130240
Filing Date: 5/2/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: A district court does not consider additional evidence on an appeal from an administrative agency decision and may only remand to the agency for the agency to consider the evidence.

Kost v. Kraft (cross-reference w/ 20100159) 2014 ND 92
Docket No.: 20130232
Filing Date: 5/2/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: There is no right to a jury trial in an equitable proceeding absent express constitutional or statutory authorization.

State v. Scheett 2014 ND 91
Docket No.: 20130363
Filing Date: 5/1/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Officer safety is a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.

Norberg v. Norberg 2014 ND 90
Docket No.: 20130149
Filing Date: 4/29/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: A vested child support obligation cannot be retroactively modified, and a court modifies a child support order when it forgives past-due child support obligations.
In child support cases, an obligor is not entitled to credit for social security benefits paid to the children when the children receive the benefits as a result of the obligee's disability.

Interest of Thill 2014 ND 89
Docket No.: 20130291
Filing Date: 4/29/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Individual
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: To deny a petition for discharge from treatment as a sexually dangerous individual, the State must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the committed individual remains a sexually dangerous individual and has serious difficulty controlling his or her behavior.
In reviewing a district court's order denying a petition for discharge from treatment as a sexually dangerous individual, an appellate court gives great deference to the district court's credibility determinations of expert witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony.

In re S.B., et al. 2014 ND 87
Docket No.: 20130321
Filing Date: 4/29/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: When a parent decides to restrict visitation with a grandparent, that decision is presumed to be in the child's best interests.
Grandparents do not have the same right as a noncustodial parent to visitation.

State v. Juntunen 2014 ND 86
Docket No.: 20130324
Filing Date: 4/29/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Sandstrom, Dale V.

Highlight: A decision cannot be properly reviewed on appeal if the district court does not provide an adequate explanation of the basis for its decision.

Gasic v. Bosworth, et al. 2014 ND 85
Docket No.: 20130281
Filing Date: 4/29/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Landlord/Tenant
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: The right to appeal is jurisdictional, and the appealability of a judgment may be considered even when neither party has questioned appealability.
Only judgments and decrees which constitute a final judgment of the rights of the parties and certain orders enumerated by statute are appealable.

Murphy v. State 2014 ND 84
Docket No.: 20130419
Filing Date: 4/29/2014
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: An application for postconviction relief, with a few exceptions, must be filed within two years of the date the conviction becomes final.