Opinions

State v. Heintz (consolidated w/ 20230382-20230384)
Docket No.: 20230385
Filing Date: 5/2/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Assault
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Orders for revocation of probation are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4).

State v. Pederson
Docket No.: 20230318
Filing Date: 5/2/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Misc. Felony
Author: Bahr, Douglas Alan

Highlight: Case Highlight : To succeed in a challenge under Brady, the defendant must demonstrate the evidence was favorable to the defendant or plainly exculpatory.

To preserve a sufficiency of the evidence challenge for appeal, the defendant must move for acquittal under N.D.R.Crim.P. 29 unless the district court committed obvious error.

Musland v. Musland
Docket No.: 20230345
Filing Date: 5/2/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Divorce - Property
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: A marital distribution does not need to be equal to be equitable, and while assessing a property division, a district court may consider the importance of preserving the viability of a business operation like a family farm. Liquidation of an ongoing farming operation or business is ordinarily a last resort.

A district court property division granting one party a net estate of $3,224,357 while assigning them virtually no debt, and the other a net estate of $4,961,915 included all of the debt, almost no liquidity, and no retirement funds, was not clearly erroneous.

A district court does not need to consider potential tax implications of a property division when the record failed to support a conclusion that the sale of the property was imminent, failed to indicate the tax liability, or quantified a specific liability to the court.

A party is not entitled to an accrual of rent for the use of marital property during the pendency of divorce proceedings absent agreement or seeking district court intervention during the interim.
Language in a right to first refusal that does not clarify if the right is triggered by a response to "any" offer made to purchase property or if it is triggered by a party's "acceptance" of an offer is ambiguous.

Field v. Field, et al.
Docket No.: 20230405
Filing Date: 5/2/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Child Support
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: Under Rule 30(a), N.D.R.App.P., a party's references to evidence in any document on appeal must cite to items in the record. This Court does not consider documents that are not in the certified record. After an initial custody decision has been made, parenting time modifications are governed by N.D.C.C. § 14-05-22(2) and by standards set forth in caselaw. A parenting plan must include a provision on decision making responsibility under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-30(2)(a), and that responsibility must be allocated in the best interests of the child, N.D.C.C. § 14-09-31(2). A district court's decision on parenting time and decision making responsibility is a finding of fact subject to the clearly erroneous standard of review.

State v. Hartson
Docket No.: 20230243
Filing Date: 5/2/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Homicide
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: Case Highlight: Changing the culpability level of the crime charged is not a modification of a statute. Under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-02-02(4), a lesser degree of culpability is satisfied if the proven degree of culpability is higher.

The district court's failure to submit statutory definition of that term was not obvious error affecting defendant's substantial rights.

It is not clearly established law in North Dakota that, where the State alleges multiple predicate felonies in a felony murder prosecution under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-16-01(1)(c), the district court must include an instruction that the jury must unanimously agree on the predicate felony to convict the defendant of murder.
Not including separate verdict forms for each predicate felony was not obvious error.

There was sufficient evidence to convict the defendant of murder.

Estate of Kish
Docket No.: 20230275
Filing Date: 4/26/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A two-step analysis is required to determine whether an order is appealable. First, for this Court to have appellate jurisdiction, the order being appealed must meet statutory criteria for appealability. Second, for this Court to consider the appeal at this time, the requirements of N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) must have been satisfied.
Decisions have stated that this Court lacks appellate jurisdiction when an appellant fails to obtain N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification when required, but dismissal under Rule 54(b) is not for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
The parties did not request Rule 54(b) certification. The case is remanded under N.D.R.App.P. 35(a)(3)(B) so that the district court may determine in the first instance whether a Rule 54(b) certification is appropriate.

Vacancy in Judgeship No. 8, ECJD
Docket No.: 20240055
Filing Date: 4/23/2024
Case Type: Judicial Administration - Rule - Rule
Author: Not Available

Highlight: Vacancy retained at Fargo

Cichos, et al. v. Dakota Eye Institute, P.C., et al.
Docket No.: 20230212
Filing Date: 4/19/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Malpractice
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: Case Highlight: Rule 54(b), N.D.R.Civ.P., preserves our long-standing policy against piecemeal appeals. When this Court considers the merits in a case involving a N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification, it does so because the resolution of the issue on appeal will always need to be resolved and is separate from the issue left to be adjudicated.
To establish a prima facie case of professional negligence, a plaintiff must produce expert evidence establishing the applicable standard of care, violation of that standard, and a causal relationship between the violation and the harm complained of. To warrant a finding that a person's conduct is the proximate cause of an injury, the injury must be the natural and probable result of the conduct and must have been foreseen or reasonably anticipated by that person as a probable result of the conduct. Mere speculation is not enough.

Schmidt v. Hess Corp., et al.
Docket No.: 20230272
Filing Date: 4/19/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Personal Injury
Author: Crothers, Daniel John

Highlight: Case Highlight: To prove negligence, a plaintiff must establish the existence of a duty, breach of that duty, and an injury proximately caused by the breach of duty.
The employer of an independent contractor who retains control of part of the work owes a duty of care to the independ ent contractor' s employees to exercise the retained control with reasonable
care.
A property owner who hires an independent contractor may be held liable to the independent contractor and its employees for injuries resulting from hazards at the workplace when the property
owner retains control over the work.

State v. Fuglesten
Docket No.: 20230299
Filing Date: 4/19/2024
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - DUI/DUS/APC
Author: Tufte, Jerod E.

Highlight: A criminal judgment entered after a conditional plea is reversed and remanded to allow for withdrawal of the guilty plea because law enforcement illegally entered the home without exigent circumstances. If a misdemeanant is fleeing law enforcement, then exigent circumstances are required to permit law enforcement to enter the misdemeanant's home.