Opinions

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.

Kelsh v. Jaeger 2002 ND 53
Docket No.: 20020060
Filing Date: 3/28/2002
Case Type: Original Proceeding - Civil - Writ of Prohibition
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: The Legislature can truncate senate terms when reasonably necessary to accomplish a constitutional mandate or directive.
It is an impermissible delegation of legislative power for the Legislature to place in one person the unfettered discretion to stop an election.
When reapportionment results in a substantial constituency change, the constitutional requirement that a senator be elected from a district may justify truncating an incumbent senator's term to give the electorate an opportunity to elect a senator from that district.

Froistad v. State 2002 ND 52
Docket No.: 20010111
Filing Date: 3/18/2002
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: A defendant's oral statement may be treated as a motion to withdraw a guilty plea.
When accepting a factual basis for a guilty plea, a district court may consider information beyond what is presented at the plea hearing, including information in a presentence report.
A district court is not required to inquire about the specific type of medications, the dosages, and the effect the medications might have on a defendant's faculties before it accepts a guilty plea, as long as it finds the plea is voluntary.
A telephone conference at which the district court informs the parties of a ruling is not a critical stage of a trial requiring the defendant's presence.