Opinions

McDowell v. McDowell 2001 ND 176
Docket No.: 20010056
Filing Date: 11/2/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Spousal support determinations must be made in light of the income and needs of the disadvantaged spouse and of the supporting spouse's needs and ability to pay.
A parent's health problems are relevant in a custody decision if those problems might adversely affect the parent's ability to care for the child.
A court errs as a matter of law when it fails to comply with the requirements of the child support guidelines in determining an obligor's child support obligation.

City of Fargo v. Ellison 2001 ND 175
Docket No.: 20010131
Filing Date: 11/2/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Misdemeanor
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Police should not be placed in a worse position then they occupied before the illegal search occurred.
A defendant's age and identity obtained through an illegal search should not be suppressed if it can be established independent from the illegal search.

Voge v. Schnaidt 2001 ND 174
Docket No.: 20010024
Filing Date: 11/2/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Torts (Negligence, Liab., Nuis.)
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: An action for damages for an injury received in a collision of two boats on Lake Sakakawea is governed by the three-year statute of limitations in federal law, rather than the six-year limitation in state law.

State v. Lynch 2001 ND 173
Docket No.: 20010037
Filing Date: 11/2/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: The introduction of the state toxicologist's list of approved designations medically qualified to draw blood is a foundational requirement for the introduction of blood test results.

Farmers Elevator, Inc. of Grace City v. Custom Processors, Inc. 2001 ND 172
Docket No.: 20010059
Filing Date: 11/2/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Judgment in a contract action summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Bell v. State 2001 ND 171
Docket No.: 20010139
Filing Date: 11/2/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Denial of post-conviction relief is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(6) and (7).

Klein v. ND Workers Comp. Bureau, et al. 2001 ND 170
Docket No.: 20010019
Filing Date: 10/18/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Maring, Mary

Highlight: The time period to file a claim for worker's compensation benefits begins on the first day a reasonable person, not learned in medicine, knew or should have known that the injury was work related.

Schmidt v. Ward Co. S.S.B., et al. (CONSOLIDATED W/2001114) 2001 ND 169
Docket No.: 20010113
Filing Date: 10/16/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Administrative Proceeding
Author: Neumann, William

Highlight: A conservatorship is a legal device similar to a trust under the law for determining medicaid eligibility.
An applicant for medicaid benefits must prove eligibility, and in determining medicaid eligibility, an asset is actually available even if the applicant must initiate legal proceedings to access the asset.
In determining food stamp eligibility, resources which are not accessible to the household during the period of excepted food stamp certification are excluded from the household's resources.

Dakota Partners v. Glopak, Inc., et al. 2001 ND 168
Docket No.: 20010092
Filing Date: 10/16/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Contracts
Author: Sandstrom, Dale

Highlight: A contract provision prohibiting "offset" is not a waiver of the defense of fraud in the procurement of the contract.

Twogood v. Wentz, et al. 2001 ND 167
Docket No.: 20010106
Filing Date: 10/16/2001
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Personal Injury
Author: Kapsner, Carol

Highlight: Satisfaction of a cost judgment after an execution has been issued does not bar an appeal to reverse a summary judgment on the merits.
For a landlord to be liable for injury caused by a tenant's dog, the landlord must have had control of the property and knowledge of the vicious tendencies of a tenant's dog.