Opinions

Zander v. Workforce Safety and Insurance 2003 ND 194
Docket No.: 20030129
Filing Date: 12/19/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Clear and convincing evidence means evidence which leads to a firm belief or conviction that the allegations are true.

Benson v. Workforce Safety and Insurance 2003 ND 193
Docket No.: 20030155
Filing Date: 12/19/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: If an appellant fails to serve the notice of appeal from an administrative order to the district court as required by the Administrative Agencies Practice Act, the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and the appeal must be dismissed.

State v. Parizek 2003 ND 192
Docket No.: 20030125
Filing Date: 12/19/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Conviction of possession of drug paraphernalia is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4).

State v. Sabinash (Consolidated w/20030220) 2003 ND 191
Docket No.: 20030219
Filing Date: 12/19/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Conviction of drug offenses and an order denying motion to suppress summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

Judicial Vacancy in District Judgeship No. 4, East Central Judicial Dt 2003 ND 190
Docket No.: 20030333
Filing Date: 12/19/2003
Case Type: Judicial Administration - Rule - Rule
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Judgeship retained at Fargo.

Judicial Vacancy in District Judgeship No. 1, Northeast Central Judicial Dt. 2003 ND 189
Docket No.: 20030326
Filing Date: 12/19/2003
Case Type: Judicial Administration - Rule - Rule
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Judgeship retained at Grand Forks.

Paul v. Workforce Safety and Insurance (cross-ref. w/20010290) 2003 ND 188
Docket No.: 20030199
Filing Date: 12/2/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: The vocational rehabilitation statutes are designed to return an injured employee to substantial gainful employment as quickly and with as little retraining as possible.
Workforce Safety and Insurance's decision to terminate rehabilitation benefits must be based upon evidence that jobs exist which provide the applicant a reasonable opportunity for employment and not on a burden-shifting presumption that such jobs exist.

State v. Dodson 2003 ND 187
Docket No.: 20030042
Filing Date: 12/2/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Drugs/Contraband
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: There must be a nexus between the place to be searched and the contraband sought to establish probable cause to issue a search warrant.
State courts apply the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule in a manner that is consistent with United States Supreme Court precedent when evaluating whether evidence should be excluded due to a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Under the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule, exclusion of evidence is not the proper remedy when an officer has acted upon objectively reasonable reliance that a warrant was properly issued by a neutral and detached magistrate.

Christianson v. Christianson 2003 ND 186
Docket No.: 20030123
Filing Date: 12/2/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: No North Dakota statute or case law provides for the imputation of income in spousal support cases.
Equalization of income is not a goal or a measure of spousal support although it is a factor which may be considered.

Fish v. Dockter 2003 ND 185
Docket No.: 20030080
Filing Date: 12/2/2003
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Personal Injury
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: To be defamatory, a statement must be false, but there is no liability for defamatory statements that are privileged.
There is a qualified privilege for communications made, without malice, to an interested person by one who is also interested so as to afford a reasonable ground for supposing the motive for the communication innocent.
There is an absolute privilege for communications made incident to and during administrative proceedings.