Opinions

Swanson, et al. v. Swanson, et al. 2011 ND 74
Docket No.: 20090289
Filing Date: 4/12/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: Every person who has actual notice of circumstances sufficient to put a prudent person on inquiry and who omits to make such inquiry with reasonable diligence is deemed to have constructive notice of all facts such inquiry would have disclosed had it been properly pursued.
The information sufficient to put a prudent person on inquiry may consist of a statement made by the claimant of the adverse ownership right. The information need not be so full or detailed as to communicate a complete description of the adverse interest if it creates a reasonable belief a conflict right exists as a fact.
To comply with the requirement for a reasonably diligent inquiry, a prospective purchaser with actual notice of circumstances sufficient to put a prudent person on inquiry must, at the very least, conduct a record search. If a purchaser fails to make a reasonably diligent inquiry, the purchaser cannot claim the protection of a good-faith purchaser status.

Matter of J.G. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2011 ND 73
Docket No.: 20100366
Filing Date: 4/12/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Individual
Author: Per Curiam

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

State v. Trowbridge 2011 ND 72
Docket No.: 20100363
Filing Date: 4/12/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Order granting motion to reduce sentence summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4).

Disciplinary Board v. Rozan 2011 ND 71
Docket No.: 20110031
Filing Date: 4/6/2011
Case Type: Discipline - Attorney - Original Proceeding
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Discipline ordered for lawyer.

Thompson, et al. v. Schmitz, et al. (cross-reference w/20080191) 2011 ND 70
Docket No.: 20100248
Filing Date: 3/28/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: An award of attorney's fees and pre-judgment interest is permitted under the Business Corporations Act when a district court finds an officer or director of a corporation violates fiduciary duties or finds a party to have acted arbitrarily, vexatiously, or otherwise not in good faith.
The district court may award expert witness fees, including fees for experts who do not testify, under the Business Corporations Act.

Kost v. Kraft 2011 ND 69
Docket No.: 20100159
Filing Date: 3/25/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: The receipt and acceptance of leased goods need not be exclusively referable to an alleged oral lease agreement, and conduct consistent with an oral agreement is sufficient to take a claimed oral lease agreement out of the statute of frauds even though the conduct is not inconsistent with some other plausible arrangement between the parties.
A party moving for summary judgment must show there are no genuine issues of material fact and the case is appropriate for judgment as a matter of law.

Loper v. Adams 2011 ND 68
Docket No.: 20100101
Filing Date: 3/25/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Personal Injury
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: The district court has discretion in determining appropriate sanctions for a party's failure to timely supplement interrogatories by disclosing the identity of an expert witness and the substance of the expert's testimony.
A party moving for enlargement of time under N.D.R.Civ.P. 6(b)(2) after the original deadline has passed has the burden to demonstrate that his failure to timely comply was the result of excusable neglect, and the district court has broad discretion in determining whether to allow additional time.
The determination whether certain conduct is a superseding, intervening cause is a question of fact.

Klug et al. v. City of Minot 2011 ND 67
Docket No.: 20100217
Filing Date: 3/25/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A home rule city may enact ordinances that supersede state laws regulating police pension plans.
A member of a defined benefit plan does not have a claim to particular assets that are part of the general asset pool and is not entitled to a share of the surplus assets.

State v. Norman (cross-ref. 20020172) 2011 ND 66
Docket No.: 20100296
Filing Date: 3/25/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Homicide
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Appeal from a trial court order denying the State's motion requiring DNA sample summarily dismissed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(1) and (a)(7).

Grand Forks Homes, Inc., et al. v. State of North Dakota 2011 ND 65
Docket No.: 20100198
Filing Date: 3/22/2011
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Administrative Proceeding
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: The State Board of Equalization has no authority under state law to reclassify locally assessed property as exempt from taxation.
Timely filing of an appeal from a decision of a board of county commissioners is mandatory to invoke a district court's appellate subject matter jurisdiction over the appeal.