Opinions

WSI v. Jones, et al. 2025 ND 74
Docket No.: 20240283
Filing Date: 4/10/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Title 65, N.D.C.C., does not specify where Workforce Safety and Insurance may appeal an administrative decision. Under N.D.C.C. § 28-32-42(3)(a), when no jurisdiction is designated by another law, appeals from administrative orders may be taken (1) to the district court of the county in which the hearing or part thereof was held, or (2) if there was no formal hearing, an appeal may be taken to the district court of Burleigh County.

State v. Ali 2025 ND 73
Docket No.: 20240281
Filing Date: 4/10/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: Bahr, Douglas Alan

Highlight: This Court cannot discern a guilty plea is conditional when the judgment does not show the plea was conditional, the record does not show an order accepting the conditional plea, and there is no transcript showing the guilty plea was conditional or that the district court consented to the entry of a conditional guilty plea.

Bauer v. Job Service, et al. 2025 ND 72
Docket No.: 20250003
Filing Date: 4/10/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Unemployment/Job Service
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court judgment affirming a Job Service of North Dakota decision is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(5).

State v. Krebs 2025 ND 71
Docket No.: 20240355
Filing Date: 4/10/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: The State's appeal from a district court's judgment of acquittal entered after the court granted the defendant's renewed N.D.R.Crim.P. 29 motion is dismissed.

The court's ruling that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the defendant's conviction is a true judgment of acquittal from which the State is not permitted to appeal.

The Court exercises its authority to issue supervisory writs rarely and cautiously, and only to rectify errors and prevent injustice in extraordinary cases when no adequate alternative exists.

The fact that the State may be unable to appeal the district court's ruling does not necessarily create extraordinary circumstances justifying supervisory jurisdiction.

State v. Lyons 2025 ND 70
Docket No.: 20240326
Filing Date: 4/10/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court order denying a N.D.R.Crim.P. 35 motion to correct an illegal sentence is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4) and (7).

Shively v. Shively 2025 ND 69
Docket No.: 20240284
Filing Date: 4/10/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A district court's judgment is reversed and remanded for reconsideration and a reasoned explanation of the district court's award of primary residential responsibility and parenting time, and distribution of property.

A district court's findings of fact must be stated with sufficient specificity to enable a reviewing court to understand the factual basis for its decisions.

In cases where a party has requested equal parental responsibility, and particularly where the court finds the parties are able to effectively communicate with each other, the district court must consider equal residential responsibility
and articulate its reasoning sufficiently for appellate review.

A district court's failure to explain the absence of extended summer parenting time is error, requiring remand for reconsideration and a reasoned explanation of the court's decision.

While the marital home need not be irrevocably set aside to an heir, we have also explained that inherited property should be set aside to the heir where fairly possible.

Kinden v. Kinden, et al. 2025 ND 68
Docket No.: 20240226
Filing Date: 4/10/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A district court's order and judgment awarding primary residential responsibility is affirmed.

Section 14-09-06.6, N.D.C.C., governs modifications of primary residential responsibility. When a party moves to modify a judgment awarding joint residential responsibility, N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.6 does not apply. The district court must instead make an original determination regarding primary residential responsibility.

We will not retry a primary residential responsibility case or substitute our judgment for a district court's initial primary residential responsibility decision merely because we might have reached a different result. A choice between two permissible views of the weight of the evidence is not clearly erroneous, and our deferential review is especially applicable for a difficult primary residential responsibility decision involving two fit parents.

Vacancy in Judgeship No. 1, NCJD 2025 ND 67
Docket No.: 20250044
Filing Date: 3/28/2025
Case Type: Judicial Administration - Vacancy - Vacancy
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: Judgeship retained at Minot

Williamson v. State 2025 ND 66
Docket No.: 20240155
Filing Date: 3/28/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: An affirmative defense is waived if it is not pleaded. A waived defense is not grounds for dismissal of an application for postconviction relief.

Defendants who inexcusably fail to raise all of their claims in a single postconviction proceeding misuse the postconviction process by initiating a subsequent application raising issues that could have been raised in the earlier proceeding. When the State has pleaded the defense of misuse of process, and a misuse of process has occurred, dismissal of an application for postconviction relief will be affirmed even if dismissal was ordered on other erroneous grounds.

There is no constitutional right to counsel for postconviction proceedings. Absent a constitutional rule guaranteeing effective postconviction counsel, statutory law controls. Under N.D.C.C. § 29-32.1-09(2), ineffective assistance of postconviction counsel claims are prohibited, and the court is not required to wait for the State to file a motion before dismissing such claims.

State v. Littleghost 2025 ND 65
Docket No.: 20240186
Filing Date: 3/28/2025
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: A court's acceptance of a guilty plea must be accompanied by a factual basis under N.D.R.Crim.P. 11(b)(3).

A court must find that the factual basis satisfies all elements of the crime charged.

A factual basis may be established by statements from the defendant or the attorneys, from a presentence report, or by whatever other means is appropriate, from the court's record.

A court must state what it relies on for a factual basis. Statements made in violation of Miranda must be incriminating.