Opinions

Zutz, et al. v. Kamrowski, et al. 2010 ND 155
Docket No.: 20090392
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Torts (Negligence, Liab., Nuis.)
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Under Minnesota law, a county attorney's statutory duties include providing advice to county commissioners, and an absolute privilege attaches to allegedly defamatory statements made in a contract investigator's report to a county attorney on matters involved in a county commission's request for advice.

Matter of A.M.W. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2010 ND 154
Docket No.: 20100013
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: A party seeking termination of the parent-child relationship in the context of an adoption must prove the elements necessary to support termination by clear and convincing evidence.
Abandonment of a child is a question of fact, which will not be reversed on appeal unless it is clearly erroneous.

Kortum, et al. v. Johnson, et al. (Cross-Ref w/20070186) 2010 ND 153
Docket No.: 20090275
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Corporations
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Issues which are beyond the scope of a remand in a prior appeal will not be addressed in a subsequent appeal after remand.
Under the law of the case doctrine, a party cannot on a second appeal relitigate issues which were resolved by the Court in a first appeal or which would have been resolved had they been property presented in the first appeal.

State v. Hammer 2010 ND 152
Docket No.: 20100025
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: A bank customer does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in bank records, and the Fourth Amendment does not apply when the government obtains the customer's records from the bank by subpoena.
Before administrative proceedings are initiated, Workforce Safety & Insurance may obtain bank records as part of an investigation through an administrative subpoena duces tecum.
An administrative proceeding for the forfeiture of disability and medical benefits is civil in nature, and subsequent criminal prosecution for workers compensation fraud is not double jeopardy.

Huber v. Farmer's Union Service Ass'n, et al. 2010 ND 151
Docket No.: 20090388
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: A provision of a contract must in and of itself be inherently illegal to be unlawful for purposes of N.D.C.C. 9-08-01.
The doctrines of frustration of purpose and impossibility of performance do not apply if either the frustration or the impossibility is caused by a party to the contract.
Prejudgment interest may be awarded where party fails to avail itself of procedures for depositing disputed funds with the court.

Richter v. N.D. Dep't of Transportation 2010 ND 150
Docket No.: 20100026
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Department of Transportation
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: A stop or seizure occurs under the Fourth Amendment when a law enforcement officer has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen, and the mere approach and questioning of a person in a parked vehicle may not constitute a stop or seizure.
Criteria for evaluating whether a stop or seizure has occurred include the threatening presence of several law enforcement officers, a display of a weapon by an officer, some physical touching of the citizen, or the use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer's request is compelled.
To the extent prior precedent holds a Fourth Amendment stop or seizure occurs whenever a law enforcement officer taps on a window of a parked motor vehicle, that precedent is overruled.
Specifications of error in an administrative appeal must identify what matters are truly at issue with sufficient specificity to fairly apprise the agency, other parties, and the court of the particular errors claimed.

S.H.B. v. T.A.H. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2010 ND 149
Docket No.: 20090267
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: To establish abandonment under N.D.C.C. 27-20-02(1)(a), a petitioner seeking termination of a parent's parental rights must show that the parent intended to abandon the child.
If a party fails to properly raise an issue or argument in the trial court, the party is precluded from raising that issue or argument on appeal.

Pembina Co. Water Resource Brd. v. Cavalier Co. Water Resource Brd. 2010 ND 148
Docket No.: 20100037
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Original Proceeding - Civil - Writ of Mandamus
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: A petitioner for a writ of mandamus must demonstrate that there is no other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law.

Interest of R.S. (CONFIDENTIAL) 2010 ND 147
Docket No.: 20100036
Filing Date: 8/17/2010
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Juvenile Law
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Under N.D.C.C. 27-20-02(8)(a), "deprived child" means "a child who . . . [i]s without proper parental care or control, subsistence, education as required by law, or other care or control necessary for the child's physical, mental, or emotional health, or morals, and the deprivation is not due primarily to the lack of financial means of the child's parents, guardian, or other custodian."

Petition to Change Judgeship No. 4 Chambers from New Rockford to Lisbon 2010 ND 145
Docket No.: 20100174
Filing Date: 8/3/2010
Case Type: Judicial Administration - Rule - Rule
Author: Per Curiam