Justia North Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Sean Spillum was convicted by jury of possession of certain materials prohibited. Spillum was under criminal investigation for uploading suspected child pornography to a cloud storage service. Officers interviewed Spillum on three separate occasions regarding electronic devices that were seized from Spillum’s home and the explicit material discovered on the devices. A day before his third interview, a warrant had been issued for Spillum’s arrest. Officers did not notify Spillum of the existence of the arrest warrant before or during the interview. At the beginning of the interview, the officers told Spillum he was not under arrest. Spillum was informed he was not required to speak with law enforcement or answer their questions. The officers offered to assist Spillum obtain an attorney at his request. Spillum did not request an attorney, and he answered the officers’ questions. At the end of the interview, officers informed Spillum he was not permitted to leave and placed him under arrest. Spillum argued on appeal that the State failed to establish the offense was committed within Ward County, North Dakota. Spillum also argued the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress because he was subject to a custodial interrogation and entitled to Miranda warnings after an arrest warrant had been issued. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed Spillum's conviction. View "North Dakota v. Spillum" on Justia Law

Byron Whetsel appealed an order denying his petition for post-conviction relief. Because the district court summarily dismissed Whetsel’s application subsequent to the State filing a response to the application without allowing Whetsel an opportunity to reply to the State’s assertions, and in the absence of a pending motion by the State, the North Dakota Supreme Court reversed and remanded. View "Whetsel v. North Dakota" on Justia Law

Cody Atkins appealed district court orders denying his application for post-conviction relief and his motion to reconsider. Atkins pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition in 2015. The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed Atkins’s criminal judgment, and upon review of his motion for post-conviction relief, found he did not timely appeal the trial court's order denying relief. Furthermore, the Court found Atkins' motion to reconsider was another application for post-conviction relief, and the district court did not err in denying that request either. View "Atkins v. North Dakota" on Justia Law

James Watson appealed the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to continuous sexual abuse of a child. Watson argued the district court failed to properly analyze his understanding of the terms of the plea agreement, and the court did not make factual findings or legal conclusions to support its decision. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed Watson's conviction. View "North Dakota v. Watson" on Justia Law

Shalee Youngbird appealed an amended judgment to include restitution. Youngbird pled guilty to theft of property, reckless endangerment, and duty in accident involving death or personal injury. At the change of plea hearing, Youngbird pled guilty and the State presented the factual basis for Youngbird’s guilty plea. Youngbird agreed to this factual basis and the State provided a sentencing recommendation, which included restitution. The district court then sentenced Youngbird, informing the parties on the record that restitution would be left open for 90 days. Two months later, the State moved to amend the criminal judgment, requesting the court amend it to include restitution. Neither party requested a hearing on the motion, nor was a restitution hearing held. An order amending judgment to include restitution was filed, and a subsequent order amending judgment to include restitution, attributing the restitution to two of the counts, was filed a month later. Youngbird argued the district court lost jurisdiction to order restitution, erred in ordering restitution and erred in the amount of restitution, and erred by failing to hold a hearing on restitution. The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed the amended criminal judgment and remanded for a hearing on restitution. View "North Dakota v. Youngbird" on Justia Law

Megan Evanson appealed criminal judgments imposed in two consolidated cases. Evanson and her husband were involved in the theft of a catalytic converter from a truck and several tools from two different individuals. In the first case, Evanson was charged with criminal trespass, a class B misdemeanor, criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor, and theft, a class A misdemeanor. In the second case, Evanson was charged with burglary, a class C felony, and theft, a class C felony. Evanson entered not guilty pleas in both cases. Evanson changed her pleas to guilty on February 21, 2020, and was sentenced in both cases that same day. At the sentencing hearing, the State read Evanson’s criminal history to the district court and Evanson made no objection. In the first case, Evanson was sentenced to 19 days with 19 days’ credit for time served. In the second case, Evanson was sentenced to 11 months in custody with all but 19 days suspended, with 18 months of supervised probation, credit for 19 days previously served, and fines to be paid by September 30, 2020. Evanson filed her notice of appeal on February 28, 2020, arguing the district court improperly considered her prior convictions at sentencing without knowing whether the convictions were counseled. Evanson claimed her criminal history should not have been considered as a factor in sentencing because the State did not inform the court whether her prior convictions were uncounseled and without proper waiver. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgments. View "North Dakota v. Evanson" on Justia Law

Steven Aune was convicted by jury of manslaughter. On May 1, 2019, Aune’s adult twin daughters were both living at his home. One of the daughters had been living with Aune for some time, but the other daughter, S.A., had only been staying with Aune for about one week prior to her death. Aune and S.A. had an argument, and Aune picked up a rifle during the argument, which fired and struck S.A. Aune did not call 911 or attempt to render any aid to S.A., but he allowed the other daughter to use his pickup to take S.A. to the nearest hospital. S.A. died as a result of the gunshot wound. On appeal, Aune argued the jury’s verdict was inconsistent and the district court relied on an impermissible sentencing factor, rendering his sentence illegal. Aune argued his conviction should have been reversed or, in the alternative, that his sentence should have been reversed. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "North Dakota v. Aune" on Justia Law

Laron Young appealed summary judgment entered in favor of Burleigh Morton Detention Center (“BMDC”). Young was an inmate at BMDC. Reliance Telephone of Grand Forks, Inc. (“Reliance”) contracted with BMDC to operate its inmate telephone system. Every call that was not listed as “private” within the Reliance system was automatically recorded. It was undisputed that the telephone number for Young’s attorney was not on the list of private numbers and various calls between himself and his attorney were recorded. Young sued BMDC and Reliance arguing his Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated and that BMDC had not complied with N.D.C.C. 12- 44.1-14(1), which required correctional facilities to ensure inmates have confidential access to their attorneys. The district court dismissed the claims against Reliance for lack of jurisdiction, and granted summary judgment in favor of BMDC, concluding Young had not alleged facts to support a finding that he was prejudiced by the recordings and therefore his right to counsel was not violated. The court also concluded Young had not alleged facts to support a finding that BMDC violated N.D.C.C. 12-44.1-14(1). The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed, that to the extent relief might be available for Young’s claim, he did not allege facts to support a finding that BMDC knowingly intruded into the communications he had with his attorney or that prejudice or a substantial threat of prejudice existed. Therefore, the district court did not err when it granted BMDC summary judgment on Young’s Sixth Amendment claim. With respect to Young's statutory claim, the Court found the plain language of the statute did not require correctional facilities to affirmatively identify an inmate's attorney's telephone number as Young argued. Rather, by its own language, N.D.C.C. 12-44.1-14 was “subject to reasonable . . . correctional facility administration requirements.” The Court thus concluded BMDC’s policy allowing inmates or their attorneys to register attorney telephone numbers as confidential numbers not to be monitored did not constitute a violation of N.D.C.C. 12- 44.1-14(1). View "Young v. Burleigh Morton Detention Center, et al." on Justia Law

Garett Casatelli appealed a corrected criminal judgment after he entered a conditional guilty plea to actual physical control of a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater. After review of the trial court record, the North Dakota Supreme Court concluded Casatelli was not seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment or N.D. Const. art. I, sec. 8, and the district court did not err in denying his motion to suppress evidence. View "North Dakota v. Casatelli" on Justia Law

Trevor Bolme appealed after entering a conditional guilty plea to possession of methamphetamine and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Bolme argued the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress because law enforcement lacked reasonable suspicion to initiate a traffic stop based on a cracked windshield, and lacked probable cause to search his vehicle based on the odor of marijuana. After review, the North Dakota Supreme Court concluded law enforcement had reasonable and articulable suspicion to stop and probable cause to conduct the search. Therefore, the Court affirmed the criminal judgment of the district court. View "North Dakota v. Bolme" on Justia Law