Opinions

State v. Jacobson 2008 ND 73
Docket No.: 20070103
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Assault
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: An appearance of partiality requiring a judge's disqualification does not automatically result from a judge's casual or social acquaintance with a witness.
A disqualified judge whose withdrawal from a case is not mandatory has the option of either withdrawing or disclosing to the parties on the record the basis for his disqualification.
A party seeking to disqualify a judge from a proceeding must file a timely motion.
A party who knows the facts that would form the basis of disqualification prior to entry of a judgment against him waives his right to disqualification of a judge by failing to request disqualification until after the judge enters a judgment adverse to that party.

Bateman v. City of Grand Forks 2008 ND 72
Docket No.: 20070217
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: A court's review of special assessments for local improvements is limited to assuring that local taxing authorities do not act arbitrarily, capriciously, or unreasonably.
Special assessments for local improvements are presumed valid, and the burden is on the party challenging the validity to demonstrate they are invalid.
A special assessment against any property must not exceed the benefit the property receives from the improvement.
A special assessment commission has broad discretion to choose the method used to decide benefits and assess individual properties.

Lynnes v. Lynnes 2008 ND 71
Docket No.: 20070274
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: The district court's valuation of property is a finding of fact which will be reversed on appeal only if it is clearly erroneous. When the district court's valuation is within the range of evidence provided by the parties, the district court's valuation will not be set aside, unless this Court has a definite and firm conviction a mistake has been made.
A relatively insignificant error in valuation of a marital asset will not, standing alone, constitute sufficient grounds for reversal of the judgment.
If substantial amount of debts are excluded from the marital estate, it is not clear that the district court would have reached the same result in allocating the assets and debts had it correctly included the debts as part of the marital estate before allocating the debts between the parties.

State v. Gendron 2008 ND 70
Docket No.: 20070199
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Theft
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Restitution orders will be affirmed unless the district court acted outside the limits set by statute, which is similar to an abuse of discretion standard.
The prosecution has the burden of proving the amount of restitution by a preponderance of the evidence.
Evidentiary imprecision on the amount of damages does not preclude recovery by restitution.

State v. Loomer (Consolidated w/20070236-20070239) 2008 ND 69
Docket No.: 20070235
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: For a not guilty plea, the Rules of Criminal Procedure do not require specific notice of a mandatory minimum sentence.
Unless a defendant was prejudicially misled, neither an error in the citation nor its omission is a ground to dismiss the indictment or information or to reverse a conviction under N.D.R.Crim.P. 7(c)(2).

Wenzel Estate v. Wenzel 2008 ND 68
Docket No.: 20070264
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: A trial court's findings in a partition action will not be reversed on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous.
A trial court's equitable powers in partition actions do not include the power to order one party to buy out the other party's share of jointly owned property.

Oyloe v. ND Department of Human Services 2008 ND 67
Docket No.: 20070251
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Administrative Proceeding
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: A Medicaid-qualifying trust is considered an available asset for Medicaid eligibility purposes.
A resulting trust in favor of the settlor arises not only where an intended trust fails altogether but also where it fails in part, and where the trust fails in part, there is a resulting trust of so much of the property as is not appropriated to the part of the trust that does not fail.
Public policy will not allow the social safety net for persons who are old, poor, and unfortunate to be exploited by those who are affluent.

State v. Hidanovic 2008 ND 66
Docket No.: 20070130
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: In considering whether to grant a new trial on the ground of juror misconduct, a district court must decide whether there was misconduct and, if so, whether the misconduct could have affected the verdict of a hypothetical average juror.
A juror generally may not testify about matters or statements occurring during the course of the jury's deliberations, but may testify regarding the receipt of extraneous prejudicial information or improper outside influence.
If evidence of possible extraneous prejudicial information or outside influence is discovered, the proper procedure is to cease investigation to reduce the possibility of juror taint from extrajudicial pressures and to notify the court so it can conduct appropriate questioning.
The rule excluding juror testimony about statements during deliberations does not preclude evidence to show a juror lied during voir dire.
To prevail on a motion for new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence, a defendant must show the evidence was discovered after trial, the failure to learn about the evidence at the time of trial was not the result of the defendant's lack of diligence, the newly discovered evidence is material to issues at trial, and the weight and quality of the newly discovered evidence would likely result in an acquittal.
In ruling on the relevancy of evidence, a district court has broad discretion to balance the probative value of the evidence against the risk of unfair prejudice.
Determining the admissibility of an out-of-court photographic identification of a defendant involves a two-step inquiry to determine whether the photographic identification procedure was suggestive, and whether the identification was, under the totality of the circumstances, reliable.

State v. Kieper 2008 ND 65
Docket No.: 20070100
Filing Date: 4/17/2007
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: Mere suspicion that criminal activity is taking place, which may warrant further investigation, does not rise to the level of probable cause to support issuance of a search warrant.
Issues not raised before the district court will not be considered for the first time on appeal.

City of Fargo v. Levine 2008 ND 64
Docket No.: 20070098
Filing Date: 4/17/2008
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: The government will be ordered to produce source code for the Intoxilyzer only if the defendant establishes that the code is material and that the code is within the possession, custody, or control of the government.