Opinions

Blue Appaloosa v. NDIC 2022 ND 119
Docket No.: 20210292
Filing Date: 6/8/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Administrative Proceeding
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Larson v. WSI 2022 ND 118
Docket No.: 20210333
Filing Date: 6/8/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: An appellant must satisfy statutory requirements for perfecting an appeal to the district court from an administrative agency decision for the court to have subject matter jurisdiction.

A petitioner for a writ of mandamus must show there is no plain, speedy, and adequate remedy and that they have a clear legal right to performance of the act sought to be compelled by the writ.

Under N.D.C.C. § 65-04-32(2), an employer is required to file a request for reconsideration of a Workforce Safety and Insurance notice of decision within the statutory time limit, and the time requirement is not extended by N.D.R.Civ.P. 6(e).

Larson v. WSI 2022 ND 118
Docket No.: 20210333
Filing Date: 6/8/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Gonzalez v. State 2022 ND 117
Docket No.: 20210289
Filing Date: 5/26/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Highlight: Post-judgment motions following a judgment denying post-conviction relief will be treated as another application for post-conviction relief.

District court orders denying an application for post-conviction relief are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).

A proposed pre-filing order designating a person as a vexatious litigant is not appealable.

Gonzalez v. State 2022 ND 117
Docket No.: 20210289
Filing Date: 5/26/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: VandeWalle, Gerald

Wickham v. State 2022 ND 116
Docket No.: 20210313
Filing Date: 5/26/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A comment on a defendant’s post-arrest silence is an improper comment on the right to remain silent in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.

In considering whether counsel’s failure to object to a Doyle violation establishes a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different in the postconviction relief context, the district court must consider the factors outlined in State v. Wilder, 2018 ND 93, ¶ 9, 909 N.W.2d 684. They include: (1) the use to which the prosecution puts the post arrest silence; (2) who elected to pursue the line of questioning; (3) the quantum of other evidence indicative of guilt; (4) the intensity and frequency of the reference; and (5) the availability to the trial judge of an opportunity to grant a motion for mistrial or to give curative instructions.

A witness’s isolated reference to a defendant’s invocation of his right to counsel, without further elaboration or further mention by the State at any other time during the trial or in closing arguments, does not warrant a new trial for the defendant.

Wickham v. State 2022 ND 116
Docket No.: 20210313
Filing Date: 5/26/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Schaff v. State 2022 ND 115
Docket No.: 20210337
Filing Date: 5/26/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: An order denying post-conviction relief is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).

Schaff v. State 2022 ND 115
Docket No.: 20210337
Filing Date: 5/26/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Atkins v. State 2022 ND 114
Docket No.: 20220006
Filing Date: 5/26/2022
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: An order denying an application for postconviction relief and a pre-filing order under N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 58 concluding the applicant is a vexatious litigant are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4) and (7).