New opinions: Dec. 23
Matter of Knoke 2021 ND 240 Docket No.: 20210081 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: CIVIL COMMIT OF SEXUAL PREDATOR Author: VandeWalle, Gerald W.
Highlight: The district court’s probable cause determination in a civil commitment case becomes moot once the commitment hearing is held.
In proceedings for the civil commitment of a sexually dangerous individual, the district court errs when it fails to make a finding on whether the respondent has serious difficulty controlling his behavior.
State v. Carrillo 2021 ND 239 Docket No.: 20210223 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: DRUGS/CONTRABAND Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair
Highlight: A preliminary hearing is not a trial on the merits, and the State must only produce sufficient evidence to satisfy the court that a crime has been committed and that the accused is probably guilty.
The district court’s role in a preliminary hearing is not a trier of fact, but its function is solely to determine the existence or absence of probable cause.
The State is not required to introduce results of a field test or the state lab at a preliminary hearing, and probable cause can be established through circumstantial evidence and officer testimony. The State need only produce sufficient evidence to warrant a person of reasonable caution to believe a crime has been committed and the accused probably committed the crime.
Estate of Smith 2021 ND 238 Docket No.: 20210114 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: PROBATE - WILLS - TRUSTS Author: Jensen, Jon J.
Highlight: In a proceeding initiated as informal probate, extensive litigation can convert the proceedings into formal probate.
In a formal probate proceeding, once a final judgment is entered approving a final distribution and accounting, a party may not file a petition to approve an amended final accounting.
While this Court disapproves of a district court’s wholesale adoption of a party’s proposed findings of fact, those findings of fact will not be overturned on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous.
A district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney's fees to be paid by the personal representatives personally when it found the personal representatives’ motions were frivolous and for an improper purpose.
Highlight: When the Court remands for redetermination of an issue without specifying the procedure to be followed, the district court may decide the issue based on the evidence already before it or may take additional evidence.
Under the “alter ego” approach to piercing the corporate veil, there must be such a unity of interest and ownership between the corporation and its equitable owner that the separate personalities of the corporation and the shareholder do not in reality exist, and there must be an inequitable result if the acts in question are treated as those of the corporation alone. This approach analyzes whether a corporation is merely an instrumentality or alter ego of its owner, and requires examination of the Hilzendager-Jablonsky factors, including the “injustice, inequity or fundamental unfairness” element.
Cavare v. Kjelgren 2021 ND 236 Docket No.: 20200128 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: OTHER (Civil) Author: Jensen, Jon J.
Highlight: In an appeal from a bench trial, the district court’s findings of fact are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard and its conclusions of law are fully reviewable.
A district court’s choice between two permissible views of the weight of the evidence is not clearly erroneous.
A district court’s decision to deny a motion for relief from a judgment will not be reversed on appeal unless the court abused its discretion in ruling there were not sufficient grounds for relief from the judgment.
Relief from a judgment on grounds of fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct is extraordinary relief that should only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
State v. Roberts 2021 ND 235 Docket No.: 20210161 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: DRUGS/CONTRABAND Author: Jensen, Jon J.
Highlight: Corroboration of an accomplice’s testimony is required under N.D.C.C. § 29-21-14. The corroboration need not establish a prima facie case, but must tend to connect the defendant with the crime.
Any error based on the district court’s failure to give a jury instruction regarding the corroboration required for an accomplice’s testimony was harmless.
Heggem v. Heggem 2021 ND 234 Docket No.: 20210212 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: CHILD CUST & SUPPORT (Div.\Other) Author: Per Curiam
Highlight: An order denying a motion to modify primary residential responsibility is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).
Hehr v. Hehr 2021 ND 233 Docket No.: 20210176 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: DIVORCE/PROPERTY DIV./ALIMONY Author: Per Curiam
Highlight: A district court’s distribution of marital property in a divorce proceeding is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).
Bridges v. State 2021 ND 232 Docket No.: 20210118 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: POST-CONVICTION RELIEF Author: Crothers, Daniel John
Highlight: A petitioner must file an application for postconviction relief within two years of the date the conviction becomes final. However, a court may consider an application for relief after the two years have elapsed if the applicant establishes that he or she suffered from a mental disease that precluded a timely application for relief.
Visser v. Visser, et al. 2021 ND 231 Docket No.: 20210151 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: CHILD CUST & SUPPORT (Div.\Other) Author: Per Curiam
Highlight: A district court order denying a motion to modify primary residential responsibility is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2).
State v. Olsen 2021 ND 230 Docket No.: 20210127 Filing Date: 12/23/2021 Case Type: SEXUAL OFFENSE Author: Per Curiam
Highlight: A criminal judgment entered after a jury found the defendant guilty of gross sexual imposition is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3) and (7).
Highlight: District courts consider the whole statute to determine the intent of the legislature, deriving that intent by comparing every section and subsection as a part of that whole, and by considering other statutes on the same subject matter.
Under N.D.C.C. § 15.1-15-02, a “probationary teacher” is an individual teaching for less than two years in a particular school district.
Highlight: When summary judgments are reviewed, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the opposing party, giving that party the benefit of all favorable inference which can reasonably be drawn from the record.
The language of a contract governs its interpretation if the language is unambiguous.
Summary judgment is proper against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to the party’s case and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial.
The party asserting an avoidance or affirmative defense has the responsibility to set forth specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial on that defense to preclude summary judgment.
