Justia North Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Levi Conry was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to a motor vehicle. Conry entered into a plea agreement with the State and pleaded guilty. As part of the agreement Conry received a deferred imposition of sentence on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to a motor vehicle. The district court accepted the plea agreement and imposed conditions on Conry according to the terms of the plea agreement. The order deferring imposition of sentence stated: “The Court reserves jurisdiction to determine restitution within 90 days.” The State subsequently submitted a statement seeking $11,352.93 in restitution. Conry requested a hearing after which the district court entered an order denying the restitution claim in its entirety. The court found the terms of the plea agreement allowed the court to order no restitution. The State appealed that order. Finding that the State had no statutory right to appeal a restitution order in a criminal case, the North Dakota Supreme Court determined it lacked jurisdiction over the State's appeal and dismissed it. View "North Dakota v. Conry" on Justia Law

Amy Vaagen appealed an order revoking her unsupervised probation and imposing a period of confinement. In 2018, Vaagen pleaded guilty to preventing arrest, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The district court deferred imposition of Vaagen’s sentence. The court also ordered Vaagen to submit to random drug urinalysis testing once a week for the duration of her probation. The urinalysis testing condition was orally announced during sentencing but was not included in the original order. In 2019, the district court sua sponte issued an amended order deferring imposition of sentence. The amended order contained the urinalysis condition. Months later, the State petitioned to revoke Vaagen's probation based on alleged violations of the urinalysis testing condition. After a third petition, the court revoked Vaagen’s unsupervised probation. On December 18, 2019, the court sentenced Vaagen to a period of confinement. She appealed, arguing the district court improperly amended the order under which her probation was revoked. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the revocation. View "North Dakota v. Vaagen" on Justia Law

Derek Wisham appeals from an order denying his application for post-conviction relief. In 2014, Wisham was charged with gross sexual imposition and assault. On December 21, 2015, Wisham pled guilty to a charge of sexual imposition, a class B felony, and assault, a class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to ten years of incarceration with all but four years suspended for two years on the sexual imposition charge and one year straight time on the assault charge, with credit for time served on both counts. The State moved for summary judgment on Wisham's application for relief; Wisham failed to timely respond to the State's request. The North Dakota Supreme Court, therefore, affirmed dismissal of his application. View "Wisham v. North Dakota" on Justia Law

Marcus Polk was convicted by jury of aggravated assault. He appealed. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded sufficient evidence of serious bodily injury supported Polk’s conviction for aggravated assault. Furthermore, the Court concluded the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded testimony from three Fargo police officers. View "North Dakota v. Polk" on Justia Law

Joan Gates appealed a district court order denying her motion for summary judgment filed in her criminal case. In 2013, a jury found Gates guilty of misapplication of entrusted property, a class B felony, for her actions while she was personal representative of the Estate of Lela Gates. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded Gates’ appellate brief failed to provide the Court with a reasonable opportunity to address any alleged errors made by the district court. Therefore, the appeal was dismissed. View "North Dakota v. Gates" on Justia Law

Ashley Hunter appealed an order denying his application for post- conviction relief. Hunter was charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson. After a nine-day jury trial, he was found guilty of all charges. On appeal, he argued the district court abused its discretion in determining res judicata barred his claim of judicial bias, and that he did not receive a Miranda warning. Hunter also argued the district court erred in denying his claims for ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hunter v. North Dakota" on Justia Law

Kimberly Long appealed following her conditional guilty plea to refusal to submit to a chemical test, a class B misdemeanor. Long argued N.D.C.C. 39-08-01(1)(f) was ambiguous, and the legislative history required a driver to be informed of their right to refuse to take a test to determine their blood alcohol content. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded N.D.C.C. 39-08-01(1)(f) was not ambiguous and did not require a driver to be informed of a right to refuse to submit to a chemical test to determine their blood alcohol content, therefore affirming judgment. View "North Dakota v. Long" on Justia Law

Christopher Devine appealed after conditionally pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide (a class A felony), and two counts of criminal vehicular injury (class C felonies). Devine argued the district court was required to suppress the results of the chemical blood test because he was provided with an incomplete implied consent advisory. After review of the trial court record, the North Dakota Supreme Court concluded the exclusionary rule previously codified within N.D.C.C. 39-20-01(3)(b) did not apply to a test obtained pursuant to N.D.C.C. 39-20-01.1. View "North Dakota v. Devine" on Justia Law

Kenton Onstad, individually in his capacity as a resident and elector of North Dakota District 4 and as chair of the District 4 Democratic-NPL Party, petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel Secretary of State Alvin Jaeger to remove Terry Jones from the general election ballot as a candidate for the House of Representatives from District 4. Onstad argued Jones was constitutionally ineligible to hold the office of representative from District 4 because he will not have been a North Dakota resident for one year immediately prior to the November general election. Considering all of the facts and circumstances, the North Dakota Supreme Court found Jones would have been a North Dakota resident for more than one year at the time of the November 3, 2020 general election. Therefore, Jones satisfied the constitutional residency requirement for election to the office of state legislator and it was not error to place his name on the ballot. The Court denied Onstad’s petition for a writ of mandamus. View "Onstad v. Jaeger, et al." on Justia Law

Kylie Oversen, individually and as chairwoman of the Democratic-Non-Partisan League Party of North Dakota, and Jason Anderson, as a candidate nominated by the Democratic-Non-Partisan League Party of North Dakota for the statewide elective office of North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, petitioned the North Dakota Supreme Court to exercise its original jurisdiction and issue a writ of mandamus to direct Secretary of State Alvin Jaeger to accept and certify Anderson for inclusion on the November 3, 2020 general election ballot for the office of insurance commissioner. Oversen and Anderson argued there was a vacancy on the ballot for that position and Jaeger was required to place Anderson’s name on the ballot as the nominated and endorsed Democratic-NPL party candidate for the office under N.D.C.C. 16.1-11-18(4). After review, the Supreme Court concluded Jaeger correctly applied North Dakota law by refusing to include Anderson on the general election ballot. Therefore, the Court denied the petition. View "Oversen, et al. v. Jaeger" on Justia Law