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Court of Appeals Opinions

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IMPORTANT NOTICE

Appellate Courts will begin transmitting all notices, orders, and opinions electronically.

Beginning no later than July 1, 2011, the appellate courts will send notices, orders, opinions, and correspondence related to pending cases to attorneys in those cases by e-mail rather than postal mail.  All attorneys with pending appellate cases who have not already registered an e-mail address should do so immediately.  Unrepresented parties with pending appellate cases may also participate in this e-notification system by registering an e-mail address.  Please visit the Clerk of Appellate Courts page for instructions on how to register your e-mail address.
 

Opinion Policies

Minnesota Court of Appeals opinions are issued weekly and are available to the public at 10 a.m. CST/CDT every Monday.

On Wednesday of every week, the Court of Appeals will mail a notice that informs counsel, pro se parties, and court personnel associated with a case that an opinion will be released the following Monday.  Opinions are available online or by visiting the Clerk of Appellate Courts, 305 Minnesota Judicial Center, 25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, after the Monday release time.  Copies of the opinions are mailed to involved parties on Mondays.

In certain time-sensitive cases, the Court of Appeals may issue opinions on a business day other than Monday.  In these instances, involved parties will be contacted just prior to the special release.

Please visit the Minnesota State Law Library's Appellate Opinions Archive for previously released Court of Appeals Opinions.

NOTE: If you are having trouble accessing the tabs on your mobile device, you may view all Opinions on a single page.

Published OpinionsBy statute, the Court of Appeals issues a published opinion only in the most important and complex cases. Published opinions include an extensive analysis of the facts and law. They will be considered and used by courts faced with similar issues in the future, and they are published in books found in most law libraries.

DECISIONS OF THE COURT OF APPEALS
FILED Monday, May 22, 2017



A16-1620        Anna M. Nelson, Personal Representative of Estate of Rick Paul Nelson a/k/a Richard Paul Dziubak, petitioner, 
                         Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.
                         Ramsey County District Court, Hon. Leonardo Castro.
           The right to seek compensation under the Minnesota Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act (MIERA), Minn. Stat. §§ 611.362-.368 (2016), does not survive an exonerated person’s death unless there is a pending order issued under Minn. Stat. § 590.11 (2014) or a pending claim under MIERA.
           Affirmed.  Judge Renee L. Worke.


A16-1229        Justin Alan Kokosh, Appellant, vs. $4657.00 U.S. Currency, et al.,  Respondents.
                         Washington County District Court, Hon. B. William Ekstrum.
            Service of a demand for judicial determination of administrative forfeiture under Minn. Stat. § 609.5314, subd. 3 (2016), requires that a complaint be served on the opposing party in accordance with Minnesota Rule of Civil Procedure 4 and electronic service is not effective absent consent by the opposing party.
            Affirmed.  Judge Peter M. Reyes, Jr.
 

Unpublished OpinionsUnpublished opinions are issued in cases that are less complicated, that involve legal issues that have already been decided in published opinions, or that will affect only the parties to that particular case. These opinions are usually shorter, do not contain extensive discussion of the facts, and are not generally relied on by other courts to the same degree as published opinions.

UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS
FILED Monday, May 22, 2017

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2014)



1.         A16-1119
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Chad Timothy Anderson, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Renee L. Worke.
            Dakota County District Court, Hon. Jerome Abrams.

2.         A16-1335
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Abdulaziz Mohamed Abukar, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Heidi S. Schellhas.
            Anoka County District Court, Hon. Douglas B. Meslow.

3.         A16-1273
            In re the Marriage of:  Larry A. Letsinger, petitioner, Appellant, vs. Lori A. Letsinger,
            Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge Heidi S. Schellhas.
            Wright County District Court, Hon. Catherine McPherson.

4.         A16-1404
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Bielmar Alverez-Agular aka Beilmar
            Alvarez-Aguilar, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Francis J. Connolly
            Freeborn County District Court, Hon. Steven Schwab.

5.         A16-1291
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Jacob Lee Kivela-Sandnas, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Francis J. Connolly.
            St. Louis County District Court, Hon. James B. Florey.

6.         A16-0394
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Lynette Marie Robbins, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Michelle A. Larkin.
            Lyon County District Court, Hon. Michelle A. Dietrich.

7.         A16-0969
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Jason Alexander Lott, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Larry B. Stauber, Jr.
            Dakota County District Court, Hon. Christopher J. Lehmann.

8.         A16-1939
            Rasminde, LLC, Respondent, vs. Hutchinson Properties, LLC, Appellant, Citizens Bank
            & Trust Co., Hutchinson, MN, Defendant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Louis Dovre Bjorkman.
            McLeod County District Court, Hon. Terrence E. Conkel.

9.         A16-1849
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Eric Steven Morgan, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Michael L. Kirk.
            Cass County District Court, Hon. Jana M. Austad.
           
10.       A16-1544
            Paula Polinsky, petitioner, Respondent, vs. Charles M. Bolton, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Lucinda E. Jesson.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Richard A. Trachy and Hon. Ivy S. Bernhardson.

11.       A16-1505
            K&S Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing, LLC, Respondent, vs. Jeremiah J. Kramer
            a/k/a Jeremy Kramer, Appellant, XYZ Corporation, et al., Defendants.
            Affirmed.  Judge Diane B. Bratvold.
            Rice County District Court, Hon. Christine A. Long.

12.       A16-1151
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Landis Sherel Tate, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Diane B. Bratvold.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Nicole A. Engisch.

13.       A17-0035, A17-0036
            In the Matter of the Welfare of the Children of:  N.M. a/k/a N.S. and M.T., Parents.
            Affirmed.  Judge Thomas J. Kalitowski.*
            Lyon County District Court, Hon. Michelle A. Dietrich.

14.       A16-0536
            In re the Marriage of:  Pamela J. Atkinson n/k/a Pamela J. Kraker, petitioner, Appellant,
            vs. Thomas E. Atkinson, Respondent.
            Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.  Judge Edward Toussaint, Jr.*
            Stearns County District Court, Hon. Frank J. Kundrat.

15.       A16-0516
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Adolfo Gutirrez Avila, Appellant.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Edward Toussaint, Jr.*
            Lyon County District Court, Hon. Leland Bush.

 
* Retired judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, serving by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10.
 
Order OpinionsCases that involve a few simple issues may be decided by order opinions, which include little discussion of the facts of the case and a brief analysis of the laws that are involved.

RECENT ORDER OPINIONS
May 22, 2017



NO ORDER OPINIONS FILED
 

NO SPECIAL RELEASE OPINIONS FILED

Opinion SetsOpinion sets contain all published, unpublished, and order opinions. The sets are compressed into files that must be unpacked before opening them.

Opinion Sets For Opinions
Filed Monday, May 22, 2017

Opinion Set in a Zipped Word Document Format

  1. Click the above link.
  2. Save the unzipped file to your computer.
  3. Choose the "Open" option on the Download Complete screen.
  4. Extract the files to a location of your choice.
  5. Open the extracted file.

Opinion Set in a Zipped Rich Text Format

  1. Click the above link.
  2. Save the unzipped file to your computer.
  3. Choose the "Open" option on the Download Complete screen.
  4. Extract the files to a location of your choice.
  5. Open the extracted file.