Opinions

Boumont v. Boumont 2005 ND 20
Docket No.: 20040213
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: The Child Support Guidelines' equal-physical-custody provision mandates the appropriate formula for calculating child support in cases where a divorce judgment or court order provides each parent with physical custody of their children exactly 50% of the time, regardless of the actual custodial arrangement subsequently exercised by the parties.

Johnson v. State 2005 ND 19
Docket No.: 20040252
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Under N.D.R.Ct. 3.2(a), an applicant for post-conviction relief has 10 days to respond to a motion for summary disposition made by the State.

State v. Klindtworth 2005 ND 18
Docket No.: 20040223
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Misdemeanor
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: A victim's alarm or fear is an element of disorderly conduct only if the defendant is charged with those parts of the statute that refer to it.
An objective standard is used to determine whether the person's conduct alarms another individual in a disorderly conduct charge. A court may consider past conduct in determining whether it was reasonable that the victim became alarmed by the defendant's conduct identified in the charge.

Christoffersen v. Giese 2005 ND 17
Docket No.: 20040143
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: Neumann, William

State v. Igou 2005 ND 16
Docket No.: 20040093
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: When challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction, the defendant bears the burden of showing that the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, reveals no reasonable inference of guilt.
Authority to notice obvious error on appeal is exercised cautiously and only in exceptional circumstances in which the defendant has suffered a serious injustice.

State v. Fields 2005 ND 15
Docket No.: 20040037
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: Actual drug evidence, rather than indicia of drugs, obtained from a garbage search, is enough to support probable cause for a search warrant.
Nighttime search warrants cannot be issued on a per se basis in drug cases. Facts supporting probable cause to justify the necessity of the nighttime execution must be set forth.

State v. Jackson 2005 ND 14
Docket No.: 20040199
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: The distance an officer follows a vehicle does not abrogate a legally legitimate basis for a traffic stop.

State v. Thill 2005 ND 13
Docket No.: 20040074
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: When the State fails to preserve evidence that is neither clearly exculpatory or inculpatory, a defendant must prove the State acted in bad faith to constitute a denial of due process.
Jurors are presumed to follow the trial court's jury instructions.

City of Bismarck v. Bosch 2005 ND 12
Docket No.: 20040157
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: For a filed document or process to be a necessary part of the approved method for conducting an Intoxilyzer test, the State Toxicologist must expressly include it in the approved method and make it a part of the requirement for fair administration.
Proof that the standard solution used for Intoxilyzer tests has not been used more than 50 times is not part of the approved method.

State v. Nelson 2005 ND 11
Docket No.: 20040084
Filing Date: 1/19/2005
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: The emergency exception to the warrant requirement may apply even when officers are already legitimately inside a residence when an emergency occurs.
Consent to search must be proven by affirmative conduct. Merely taking no action to stop officers from searching is not enough to prove conduct consistent with giving consent.
For probable cause to issue a search warrant, the magistrate must be provided with a factual basis for the affiant's assumptions. Mere speculation and conclusory statements are not enough.
During the execution of a search warrant, the presence of a third party not actually participating in the search does not necessitate suppression of the evidence discovered.