Opinions

Western National Mutual Ins. Co. v. UND 2002 ND 63
Docket No.: 20010118
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Insurance
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: N.D.C.C. 26.1-32-01 and 26.1-32-03 codify the efficient proximate cause doctrine for determining insurance coverage for property damage where an excluded peril and a covered peril contribute to the damage.
An insurer may not contractually exclude coverage when a covered peril is the efficient proximate cause of damage even though an excluded peril may have contributed to the damage.
An insured may be entitled to prejudgment interest under N.D.C.C. 32-02-04 when an insurer denies a claim based on an exclusion from coverage, regardless of whether the insured has determined the exact amount of the loss if the amount was ascertainable under a proper construction of the contract.
Under N.D.C.C. 32-23-08, an insured is entitled to attorney fees incurred in an insurer's declaratory judgment action in which the court determines there is insurance coverage.

State v. Knowels (cross-ref. w/20030093) 2002 ND 62
Docket No.: 20010147
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Failure to register as a sex offender is not a strict liability offense but, instead, includes the culpable mental state of "willfully."
A crime is completed when all of its essential elements are present and complete.

Olson, et al. v. Bismarck Parks and Recreation District 2002 ND 61
Docket No.: 20010249
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Personal Injury
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: The recreational use immunity statutes do not violate the state equal protection clause when applied to winter sledders injured on a hill owned, operated, and maintained by a public landowner.

Anderson, et al. v. Heinze 2002 ND 60
Docket No.: 20010127
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Real Property
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: No counterclaim can be interposed in an eviction action, except as a setoff to a demand for damages or for rents and profits.
In an eviction action, the defendant may show the character of the possessory rights claimed by the parties, but the right to possession of the real estate is the only fact that can be litigated unless either damages or rent is claimed.

Klagues, et al. v. Maintenance Engineering 2002 ND 59
Docket No.: 20010213
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: The class-action "joint and common interest" generally exists if one class member's failure to collect would increase the recovery of the remaining members, or if the defendant's total liability does not depend on how the recovery of the claim is distributed among the class members. A joint and common interest is not the same as a common question of law or fact.
The class-action "incompatible standards" generally occur when the party opposing the class certification would be unable to comply with one judgment without violating the terms of another judgment.
If claims or defenses of members of the proposed class are based on unique facts or individual relationships with the opposing party, class-action certification is inappropriate.

Wolfe v. Wolfe 2002 ND 58
Docket No.: 20010276
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Other
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Permanent disorderly conduct restraining order is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

State v. Vincent (Cross-Ref. w/19980185) 2002 ND 57
Docket No.: 20010218
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Conviction of gross sexual imposition is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(5) and (7).

State v. Radcliffe 2002 ND 56
Docket No.: 20010254
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Judgment of conviction for gross sexual imposition is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

BTA Oil Producers, et al. v. MDU Resources Group, et al. 2002 ND 55
Docket No.: 20010122
Filing Date: 4/16/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: When an impoverishment results from a valid contractual arrangement made by a party, the result is not contrary to equity and there has been no unjust enrichment.
Unjust enrichment applies only in the absence of a contract between the parties, and there can be no implied-in-law contract where there is an express contract between the parties relative to the same subject matter.
Affidavits containing conclusory statements unsupported by specific facts are insufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact precluding summary judgment.
When a party opposing summary judgment fails to invoke N.D.R.Civ.P. 56(f), the possibility that further discovery will yield favorable evidence raising an issue of material fact is not a ground to deny the motion.
Whether an agreement is a contract for sale governed by the Uniform Commercial Code is not decided by the labels used by the parties to characterize the transaction, but by the substance of the transaction and intent of the parties.
The filing of a motion to intervene, accompanied by a proper pleading, begins an action for purposes of the statute of limitations.

Petition to Change Resident Chambers from Watford City to Minot 2002 ND 54
Docket No.: 20020048
Filing Date: 4/8/2002
Case Type: Judicial Administration - Rule - Rule
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Judgeship transferred from Watford City to Minot.