Justia North Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Jeremy Maines appeals from the district court’s amended criminal judgments and finding he is a habitual offender. In April 2017, Maines was charged with robbery and theft of property. The State later charged Maines with four counts of terrorizing. The district court found Maines was a habitual offender because prior convictions in Washington state were felonies that occurred while he was an adult. The court sentenced Maines to 20 years with 8 years suspended for 5 years for the robbery charge. Maines was sentenced to 5 years on each count of the terrorizing charges, to run concurrently with each other and the previous sentence. On appeal, Maines argued the district court abused its discretion by sentencing him as a habitual offender. Specifically, he claimed his prior convictions were misdemeanors under North Dakota law and did not apply under the habitual offender statute. The North Dakota Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed the district court. View "North Dakota v. Maines" on Justia Law

Chad Legare appealed a criminal judgment entered after his guilty plea to attempted murder. Prior to his guilty plea, Legare moved for an order allowing him to present an affirmative defense of justification or excuse. The court denied the motion, stating it would not allow a special jury instruction regarding defense of others when no evidence or anticipated evidence showed there was imminent danger to the woman Legare argued he was defending. Legare pleaded guilty to attempted murder under an Alford plea. Legare argued to the North Dakota Supreme Court his Sixth Amendment right to present a defense was violated and the trial court erred by not allowing him to present his defense of justification or excuse. Legare requested the conviction be vacated and the order denying his motion in limine reversed. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s order. View "North Dakota v. Legare" on Justia Law

A district court certified a question of law to the North Dakota Supreme Court on whether a married person under the age of eighteen was considered a “child” under the Juvenile Court Act. G.C.H. was charged with five crimes which allegedly occurred when G.C.H. was sixteen and seventeen years old. G.C.H. was married when the alleged crimes occurred and still was married. G.C.H. moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to his age, claiming the proper jurisdiction was in juvenile court. The district court denied the motion, finding G.C.H. was not a child under North Dakota law because he was married. The North Dakota Supreme Court has discretion to hear certified questions of law by the district court and may refuse to consider a certified question if it is frivolous, interlocutory in nature, or not dispositive of the issues before the district court. Here, neither a negative nor affirmative answer would be dispositive of the case. "If G.C.H. is a child under N.D.C.C. 27-20-02(4), the juvenile court still would need to determine whether he was delinquent. If G.C.H. is not a child under N.D.C.C. 27-20-02(4), a jury still would need to determine if G.C.H. is guilty of the alleged crimes. Therefore, the certified question is not determinative of the proceedings. We decline to answer the certified question." Notwithstanding the Supreme Court's declination to answering the certified question, it concluded this case justified exercising supervisory jurisdiction. The district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over G.C.H. because was a “child” under N.D.C.C. 27-20-02(4)(b). The Supreme Court exercised its supervisory jurisdiction and reversed and remanded with directions to vacate the judgment and dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. View "North Dakota v. G.C.H." on Justia Law

Lawrence Didier appeals from an order denying his petition for discharge from civil commitment as a sexually dangerous individual. On appeal, Didier argues the district court’s factual basis was insufficient to legally conclude he met the substantive due process requirement of the inability to control his behavior. Didier also argues he did not receive a fair hearing that comports with procedural due process. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "Matter of Didier" on Justia Law

J.B. appealed an order denying his petition for discharge from commitment as a sexually dangerous individual. J.B. argued the district court erred in determining he remains a sexually dangerous individual because the State failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he had serious difficulty controlling his behavior. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded clear and convincing evidence supported the court’s finding J.B. had serious difficulty controlling his behavior, and affirmed. View "Interest of J.B." on Justia Law

The State appealed an order granting Derek Grzadzieleski’s motion to suppress hospital records disclosing that his blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit after an all-terrain vehicle accident. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded the State had no statutory right to appeal the order and the Supreme Court declined to exercise our supervisory authority. It therefore dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. View "North Dakota v. Grzadzieleski" on Justia Law

K.V.'s parents, A.V. and E.D., appealed a juvenile court order K.V. committed the delinquent acts of criminal trespass, fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, and reckless driving. They argued N.D.C.C. 12.1-22-03(3)(b) was void for vagueness and insufficient evidence supported finding K.V. committed criminal trespass, fled or attempted to elude a police officer, and drove recklessly. After review, the North Dakota Supreme Court determined that because the constitutional argument was not raised in the juvenile court and K.V. did not argue obvious error, the argument was forfeited. With regard to the trespassing charge, the Supreme Court determined an element of the offense was not proven, making the juvenile court’s finding K.V. committed criminal trespass is not supported by the evidence. That finding of delinquency was reversed. The juvenile court’s finding K.V. committed the delinquent acts of fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer and reckless driving were supported by the evidence and, therefore, not clearly erroneous. The Court therefore affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for entry of an appropriate order consistent with the Supreme Court's opinion. View "Interest of K.V." on Justia Law

Michelle Vetter appealed an order deferring imposition of sentence entered after a jury convicted her of child abuse. On appeal, Vetter asked the North Dakota Supreme Court to take judicial notice of filings from her divorce case against the complainant. She also argued the definition of “bodily injury” in N.D.C.C. 12.1-01-04 was unconstitutionally vague. In addition, she argued the evidence at trial was insufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "North Dakota v. Vetter" on Justia Law

Jared Taylor appealed a domestic violence protection order prohibiting him from coming within 300 feet of Brianne Clarke for two years. Taylor argued the district court erred in finding he committed domestic violence, failed to make a specific finding about the threat made to Clarke, and failed to find that Clarke was in actual or imminent fear of harm. Concluding the district court’s findings were sufficient to support the issuance of a protection order, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "Clarke v. Taylor" on Justia Law

Glen Baltrusch appeals from a criminal judgment entered after a jury found him guilty of four counts of disobedience of a judicial order. Gary, Milo, and Glen Baltrusch were sons of Delores Baltrusch. Gary was the trustee of the Delores Baltrusch Irrevocable Trust. The Trust owned a house in the City of Harvey, North Dakota. Delores was allowed to reside in the home as long as she is able. Glen also resided in the home with Delores. Gary and Milo were concerned that Glen was taking advantage of their elderly mother, and in July 2017 they asked him to vacate the property. He refused to do so. In response to Glen's refusal to leave the property, Gary, as trustee, brought an action under N.D.C.C. ch. 47-32 to evict Glen from the premises. A final judgment was entered ordering Glen to vacate the property no later than October 20, 2017. On April 11, 2018, a special writ of execution was issued ordering the sheriff to remove Glen from the property. A sheriff’s return of service indicated the special writ of execution was served on April 11, 2018, and the sheriff testified that Glen left the premises with the sheriff when the writ was served. Because the evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdicts and the district court did not commit obvious error in failing to dismiss counts two through four on double jeopardy grounds, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "North Dakota v. Baltrusch" on Justia Law