Opinions

Estate of Bergman (Consolidated w/20030357) 2004 ND 196
Docket No.: 20030356
Filing Date: 10/20/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Assets conveyed by an institutionalized spouse to a community spouse before the institutionalized spouse's death and traceable to the community spouse's estate are subject to a claim for Medicaid benefits provided to the institutionalized spouse.
Transfers by a surviving community spouse before death, which are made for less than a reasonably equivalent value and which render the community spouse's estate insolvent, may be voided under N.D.C.C. ch. 13-02.1.

Staley v. Staley 2004 ND 195
Docket No.: 20040047
Filing Date: 10/20/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Rehabilitative spousal support is appropriate when it is possible to restore an economically disadvantaged spouse to independent economic status, or to equalize the burden of divorce by increasing the disadvantaged spouse's earning capacity.

Long v. Jaszczak (Consolidated with 20040089) 2004 ND 194
Docket No.: 20040088
Filing Date: 10/18/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Malpractice
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: For purposes of the statute of limitations, an action commences when the summons, with the intent it shall be served, is delivered to the sheriff or officer of the county where the defendant resides.
A primary physician, ordering a diagnostic procedure to further a patient's care, has a legal duty to obtain the patient's informed consent.
Generally, in cases of informed consent, materiality of risk and causation are questions for the trier of fact.
Expert testimony is not required to prove whether a reasonable patient would attach significance to a particular risk.
A hospital does not owe a legal duty to obtain its patients' informed consent, it is a physician's responsibility.

State v. Murchison 2004 ND 193
Docket No.: 20030328
Filing Date: 10/15/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Assault
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: The preliminary hearing is a critical stage of the proceedings at which the defendant has a constitutional right to representation by counsel.
A defendant has the burden of establishing he is indigent and qualifies for appointment of counsel.
In deciding whether to grant a motion for recusal, the trial judge must determine whether a reasonable person could, on the basis of all the facts, reasonably question the judge's impartiality. Recusal is not required in response to spurious or vague charges of partiality.
A trial judge is allowed the widest range of discretion in fixing a criminal sentence and appellate review is generally confined to whether the court acted within the statutory sentencing limits or substantially relied upon an impermissible factor in determining the severity of the sentence.

Riemers v. Grand Forks Herald, et al. 2004 ND 192
Docket No.: 20040069
Filing Date: 10/15/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Torts (Negligence, Liab., Nuis.)
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: Privilege is based upon the sound public policy that some communications are so socially important that the full and unrestricted exchange of information requires some latitude for mistake. A privileged communication does not enjoy absolute immunity, however.
To prevent abuse, the privilege is a qualified privilege. A qualified privilege is abused if statements are made with actual malice, without reasonable grounds for believing them to be true, and on a subject matter irrelevant to the common interest or duty.

Heckelsmiller v. State (Cross-Ref. w/20030179) 2004 ND 191
Docket No.: 20040111
Filing Date: 10/12/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Ineffective assistance of counsel exists where trial counsel, after calling witnesses to the stand and discovering that they have not complied with a defense-requested sequestration order, makes no offer of proof as to the substance of these witnesses' critical testimony, thus denying defendant a meaningful appeal on the issue of whether these witnesses should have been allowed to testify.

Estate of Gross v. ND Dept. of Human Services 2004 ND 190
Docket No.: 20040071
Filing Date: 10/12/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Administrative Proceeding
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: The monthly payments from a nonassignable annuity are a holder's interest in a contractual right to receive money payments and are an available asset under medicaid law.
There is a presumption that a holder's interest in a contractual right to receive money payments is saleable without working an undue hardship, and the presumption may be rebutted by evidence demonstrating the contractual right to receive money payments is not saleable without working an undue hardship.

Schmidt, et al. v. Wittinger 2004 ND 189
Docket No.: 20040051
Filing Date: 10/12/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: A trial court can order a partition of real property if a partition in kind cannot be made without great prejudice to the owners.
For the partition in kind of real property, great prejudice exists when the value of the share of each in case of a partition would be materially less than the share of the money equivalent that each could probably obtain from the whole.
A joint tenant must account to cotenants for receiving more than a proportionate share of the rents and profits.
A cotenant's failure to participate in the federal conservation reserve program is not a legal breach entitling the joint tenants to compensatory damages.

Riemers v. Omdahl, et al. 2004 ND 188
Docket No.: 20040099
Filing Date: 10/12/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Malpractice
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: In a legal malpractice action, the statute of limitations begins to run when the plaintiff knows, or with reasonable diligence should know, of the injury, its cause, and the defendant's possible negligence.
In a legal malpractice action, the continuous representation rule tolls the statute of limitations or defers accrual of the cause of action while the attorney continues to represent the client and the representation relates to the same transaction or subject matter as the allegedly negligent acts.

State v. Charette 2004 ND 187
Docket No.: 20040001
Filing Date: 10/12/2004
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Homicide
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Circumstantial evidence can, without more, be sufficient to warrant a conviction, assuming the circumstantial evidence is of such probative force to enable the trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The existence of conflicting evidence does not prohibit a jury from finding a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The decision to admit or exclude demonstrative evidence is subject to abuse-of-discretion review.
A trial court does not abuse its discretion when it refuses to allow defendant to try on clothing evidence found at a murder scene when defendant has gained weight since the date of the murder.
Rule 16, N.D.R.Crim.P., specifically addresses discovery of formal, recorded statements, and the State does not violate this rule if it fails to disclose a witness's informal, pre-trial statements.