Supreme Court Opinions


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PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED OPINIONS

Please visit the Minnesota State Law Library's Appellate Opinions Archive for previously published Supreme Court Opinions.

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OPINIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT

FILED Wednesday, March 13, 2024

NOTICE - MEDIA RELEASE TIME IS 10:00 A.M.



A22-0200        State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Dale Edward Lehman, Jr., Appellant.
                         Court of Appeals.
             We need not decide whether Minn. Stat. § 152.137, subd. 2(b) (2022), requires the defendant to know the victim is a child because the circumstantial evidence here, which includes the defendant’s contact with the child’s host family and his weekly contact with the child, is inconsistent with any rational hypothesis except that of guilt.
             Affirmed.  Justice Anne K. McKeig.
             Took no part, Justice Karl C. Procaccini.



A22-0749        Robert John Kaiser, Respondent, vs. State of Minnesota, Appellant.
                         Court of Appeals.
             1. The test articulated in Larrison v. United States, 24 F.2d 82 (7th Cir. 1928), applies when the State mistakenly presented false expert testimony about a medical fact that its own expert later admitted could not have been true.
             2. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it granted the respondent a new trial on the grounds of false testimony because the respondent met his burden under the Larrison test.                
             Affirmed.  Justice Gordon L. Moore, III.
            Took no part, Justice Karl C. Procaccini.

 

ORDERS


A23-0301        In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against Eduardo E. Drake, a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 0249154.
                         Supreme Court.
            Suspended.  Justice Margaret H. Chutich.


A23-0397        In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against Daniel M. Gallatin, a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 0387456.
                         Supreme Court.
             Publicly reprimanded.  Justice Margaret H. Chutich.
             Dissenting, Justices Anne K. McKeig, Paul C. Thissen, and Gordon L. Moore, III.

 

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER

ADM10-8008             Rules for Admission to the Bar.
                                    Supreme Court.
            Order Regarding Minnesota Board of Law Examiners’ Comprehensive Competency Study Report and Recommendations.

 

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ORDERS ON PETITIONS FOR FURTHER REVIEW

FILED Wednesday, February 28, 2024


(Petitioner indicated in Italic Type)

Granted
 
1.         Deborah Jane Clapp vs. Rochelle Cox, in her official capacity as Interim    Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, et al. – A23-0360
 
Issues Granted: (1) Did the court of appeals err by holding that merely alleging that a governmental entity will utilize public funds to implement the terms of a collective bargaining agreement meets the requirements of a specific and unlawful disbursement of public funds for purposes of the taxpayer-standing doctrine, as required under McKee v. Likins, 261 N.W.2d 566 (Minn. 1977) and its progeny?  (2) Did the court of appeals err in concluding that there is no requirement for ripeness because the respondent sought declaratory judgment related to a contract to which respondent is not even a party?
 
2.         State of Minnesota vs. Korwin Lucio Balsley – A23-0133
 
            Issue Granted: Does Balsley’s 2017 conviction for assault in the second degree qualify as a “previously committed” predatory crime for the purposes of enhancing Balsley’s sentence under the engrained-offender statute, Minn. Stat. § 609.3455, subd. 3a(a)(2), when the conviction was out of sequence from the current conviction – a delayed report case where the charged offense allegedly occurred in 2015? 
 
 
Granted/Stayed
 
3.         Benda for Common-sense, a Minnesota Non-Profit Corporation, et al. vs. Denise Anderson, Director of Rice County Property and Tax Elections, Minnesota  Secretary of State Steve Simon – A23-0302
 
Issue: Whether a petitioner under Minn. Stat. § 204B.44(a)(4) (2022) must serve all candidates running for office at the commencement of the action?
 
            Stayed Pending Final Disposition in Rued v. Commissioner of Human Services,     No. A22-1420.
 
 
4.         State of Minnesota vs. Jeremiah John Dahl – A22-1255
 
Issue: Because decades of well-established precedent instructs that venue is an element of the charged offense the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, where a defendant opts for a court trial and the district court does not find the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the charged crime occurred in the county in which the case was tried, must the defendant’s conviction be reversed?
 
Cross-Review Issue: Whether venue is an essential element of every offense, such that the state must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the charged offense was committed in the county where the case is being tried?
 
            Both Petitions Stayed Pending Final Disposition in State v. Paulson, A22-0632.
 
 
5.         Thomas Patrick Ness vs. Commissioner of Public Safety – A23-0831
 
Issue: Whether law enforcement’s failure to follow statutory requirements while informing petitioner that “refusing to submit to that search warrant is a crime,” as required by Minn. Stat. § 171.177, subd. 1, should have resulted in rescission of the revocation as the officer did not follow the statute and did not direct either a blood or a urine test before revoking petitioner’s driving privileges.
 
 
            Stayed Pending Final Disposition in Nash v. Commissioner of Public Safety, No.   A22-1238.
 
 
Denied
 
6.      In the Matter of: Ellen Sue Laas Ewald, et al. vs. Nina Laas Ewald Nedrebo – A23-0331
7.      In re Joseph Rued, In re the Marriage of Catrina M Rued vs. Joseph D Rued and In the Matter of Joseph Daryll Rued on behalf of minor child vs.
         Catrina Marie Rued on behalf of minor child – A23-1754
8.      Raymond Kvalvog vs. Christopher Nellermoe – A23-1781
9.      State of Minnesota vs. Daniel James Lewison – A22-1807
10.    State of Minnesota vs. Jack Guy – A22-1555
11.    State of Minnesota vs. Juan Eduardo Rodriguez Morales – A22-0350
12.    State of Minnesota vs. Keevin Lashawn Hinton – A22-1772
13.    State of Minnesota vs. Rolmando Walker – A22-1734
14.    State of Minnesota vs. Samuel James Lyons – A22-1744
15.    State of Minnesota vs. Stacey Kay Johnson –A22-1752
16.    State of Minnesota vs. Terry Allen Stewart – A23-0188