Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Spencer Norton appealed a district court’s criminal judgment entered following a jury verdict finding him guilty of terrorizing. In November 2017, Norton was detained after being charged with arson. While detained, Norton communicated with his girlfriend through phone conversations and video visits. Norton was aware that both the video visits and the phone conversations were being recorded by law enforcement. During the phone conversations and the video visits, Norton made multiple threatening statements directed toward law enforcement and other individuals associated with his arson case. Norton also made threats that referenced the family members of law enforcement. Norton was charged with terrorizing as the result of his threats. Norton contended the offense of terrorizing required threats directed toward identified individuals and the evidence was insufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "North Dakota v. Norton" on Justia Law

Nicholas Blaskowski appealed after a jury found him guilty of driving under the influence under N.D.C.C. 39-08- 01(1)(a). Blaskowski argued the district court erred in admitting the results of his chemical breath test into evidence because the State failed to establish the chemical breath test was fairly administered under N.D.C.C. 39-20- 07 because the State did not offer proof the device used to perform the chemical breath test was installed by a field inspector prior to its use. The North Dakota Supreme Court determined the approved method for conducting the chemical test at issue in this case required the device be installed by a field inspector. Absent evidence of installation of the device by a field inspector, or expert testimony establishing the test was fairly administered, the test result was not admissible. Therefore, the district court abused its discretion when it admitted the test result. View "North Dakota v. Blaskowski" on Justia Law

Dustin Hendrickson appealed after he conditionally pled guilty to driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence. Hendrickson argued the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress because officers did not have reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigative stop. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed.. View "North Dakota v. Hendrickson" on Justia Law

Lekemia D’Andre Caster appealed from a district court order summarily denying his application for post-conviction relief. On May 6, 2015, Caster pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect or abuse and was sentenced to eighteen months’ probation. The State filed a petition for revocation in June 2016. On August 1, 2016, Caster applied for indigent defense services but was denied due to his income. The letter notifying Caster of this denial was returned undeliverable on August 12, 2016. A revocation hearing held on September 13, 2016, resulted in Caster’s probation being revoked and he received an eighteen month prison sentence. Caster appealed the revocation judgment which was summarily affirmed by the North Dakota Supreme Court. On October 8, 2018, Caster filed an application for post-conviction relief alleging newly discovered evidence and an unlawful sentence, which was denied. The Supreme Court concluded the post-conviction relief court failed to explain its reasoning in its order. The matter was remanded for further proceedings. View "Caster v. North Dakota" on Justia Law

Dennis Shipton appealed district court orders summarily dismissing his petition for a writ of error coram nobis and his motion to reconsider. In April 1993, Shipton pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Pursuant to N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 19, the case files were destroyed in 2007. Shipton filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis on October 22, 2018, alleging violations of the Fifth Amendment and ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel’s failure to seek dismissal on the grounds of double jeopardy. Shipton did not allege newly discovered evidence. In its order, the district court noted that North Dakota did not recognize a writ of error coram nobis and instead treated the petition as one for post-conviction relief. After applying those standards, the court summarily dismissed Shipton’s petition as untimely and frivolous. Shipton filed a motion to reconsider, arguing that the State prejudiced him by prematurely destroying records from his cases. The court denied Shipton’s motion. Finding no reversible error, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "North Dakota v. Shipton" on Justia Law

Chase Swanson appealed a district court’s judgment finding him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. The jury instructions allowed Swanson to be convicted of a conspiracy to “knowingly” cause the death of another human being. He argued conspiracy to “knowingly” cause the death of another human being is a non-cognizable offense because it did not require the actor to have had an intent to cause the death. The North Dakota Supreme Court concurred with this argument and reversed the judgment of conviction on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. The matter was remanded for a new trial on that charge. View "North Dakota v. Swanson" on Justia Law

Dametrian Welch appealed a district court order and amended criminal judgment. In the original judgment, count one incorrectly stated that Welch pled guilty to murder. Although Welch was originally charged with murder, under the plea agreement, the State amended the charge to “Criminal Facilitation to Murder” in exchange for Welch’s guilty plea to both criminal facilitation to murder and conspiracy to commit burglary. Welch requested the court correct its clerical error in the original judgment by amending the title of the offense in count one from “murder” to “criminal facilitation” and listing the facilitation statute, N.D.C.C. 12.1-06-02, instead of the murder statute. The State agreed that the facilitation statute could be added but should not replace the murder statute because the charge was facilitation of murder. The State argued the district court did not abuse its discretion in describing the offense of conviction as “Criminal Facilitation to Murder.” Finding no reason to disturb the district court’s order, the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. View "North Dakota v. Welch" on Justia Law

James Burden appealed district court orders summarily dismissing his application for post-conviction relief and denying his motion for relief from that dismissal. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded the district court applied the wrong standard in dismissing Burden’s application on the pleadings and that he was not given the required time to respond to a dismissal by summary judgment. The Court therefore reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Burden v. North Dakota" on Justia Law

Michael Wills appealed after he conditionally pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. Wills argued the district court erred in denying his motion because the arresting deputy did not have a reasonable suspicion to believe further criminal activity justified detaining and searching the vehicle after the stop ended. The North Dakota Supreme Court found the deputy needed renewed articulable suspicion to continue detention of the vehicle and passengers; the record did not support the continued seizure and search of the vehicle after the deputy ended the traffic stop. The Court therefore reversed judgment and remanded to permit Wills to withdraw his guilty plea. View "North Dakota v. Wills" on Justia Law

Spencer Norton appealed a judgment entered after the district court denied his motion to dismiss and accepted his conditional guilty plea to the charge of failure to register as an offender against children. The North Dakota Supreme Court concluded N.D.C.C. 12.1-32-15(3) imposed a statutory duty on Norton to register, and affirmed. View "North Dakota v. Norton" on Justia Law