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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, December 9, 2019



A18-2105        State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Jason Elliot Peterson, Appellant.
                        Rice County District Court, Hon. Christine Long.
            Minnesota Statutes § 609.749, subd. 2(4) (2016), which criminalizes stalking by telephone, violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution because it is facially overbroad, proscribes a substantial amount of protected speech, and cannot be remedied by narrowing its construction or severing language.
            Reversed.  Judge Diane B. Bratvold.


A18-2094        In the Matter of the reissuance of an NPDES/SDS Permit to United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel) for its 
A18-2095        Minntac facility and response to Contested Case Hearing requests filed by U.S. Steel and the Minnesota Center
A18-2159        for Environmental Advocacy ("MCEA") And In the matter of the Application for Variance from Water Quality
A18-2163        Standards in the proposed NPDES/SDS permit, MPCA's Preliminary Determination to Deny the Variance Request and U.S.
                         Steel's Contested Case Hearing request on the Variance denial.    
                        Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
            1.   We accord deference to the conclusion of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) that the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) does not govern discharges of pollutants to groundwater because the relevant statutory language is ambiguous and because (a) the MPCA is responsible for administering and enforcing the CWA, (b) the subject matter of the statute falls within the MPCA’s areas of expertise, and (c) the MPCA’s interpretation is reasonable under the circumstances of this case.  
            2.   Under the plain language of the administrative rules comprising the state’s water-quality standards, the standards for class 1 waters provided in Minn. R. 7050.0221 (2017) do not apply to groundwater because groundwater has not been classified as a class 1 water.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Jeanne M. Cochran
 
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, December 9, 2019

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2018)


1.         A18-1939
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Dale Dwayne Greer, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Chief Judge Edward J. Cleary.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Jeannice M. Reding.
 
2.         A19-0251
            Ann M. Firkus, Appellant, vs. Dana J. Harms, MD, Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge Kevin G. Ross.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Kevin S. Burke.

3.         A18-1872
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. David Alexander Schill, Jr., Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Kevin G. Ross.
            Polk County District Court, Hon. Jeffrey Scott Remick.

4.         A19-1227
            In the Matter of the Civil Commitment of: Isaiah Swedeen.
            Affirmed.  Judge Francis J. Connolly.
            Commitment Appeal Panel.
 
5.         A18-1813
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Jazmyne Amanda-May Shinabarger, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Matthew E. Johnson.
            Steele County District Court, Hon. Karen R Duncan.

6.         A19-0380
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Myron Lynn Williams, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Michelle A. Larkin.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Martha A. Holton Dimick.

7.         A19-0857
            In re the Matter of the Welfare of the Child of: R. V. M., Parent.
            Affirmed.  Judge Louise Dovre Bjorkman.
            Clay County District Court, Hon. Michael D. Fritz.

8.         A19-0649
            Laureen Dvorak, et al., Appellants, vs. City of Madison, Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge John R. Rodenberg.
            Lac Qui Parle County District Court, Hon. Dwayne Knutsen.

9.         A18-1935
            Thumper Pond Resort, LLC d/b/a Thumper Pond Resort, Appellant, vs. Badger Midwest
            Holdings, LLC, Respondent, Integrity Mutual Insurance Company, intervenor,
            Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge John R. Rodenberg.
            Otter Tail County District Court, Hon. Waldemar B. Senyk.

10.       A19-0703
            Hayley Elizabeth Kytta, Appellant, vs. Corey Strecker, Respondent.
            Affirmed in part and reversed in part.  Judge Carol A. Hooten.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Kevin S. Burke.

11.       A19-0519
            In the Matter of the Welfare of: S. R. L., Child.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Carol A. Hooten.
            Houston County District Court, Hon. Mary C. Leahy.
 
12.       A19-0289
            Lyle Batton, et al., Appellants, vs. Terry Hawk, et al., Respondents.
            Affirmed in part and remanded.  Judge Carol A. Hooten.
            Pennington County District Court, Hon. Kurt J. Marben.

13.       A19-0035
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Andre Lamar Beasley, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Carol A. Hooten.
            Beltrami County District Court, Hon. Paul Benshoof.

14.       A19-0606
            Donald Hall, Appellant, vs. City of Plainview, Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge Denise D. Reilly.
            Wabasha County District Court, Hon. Carmaine Sturino and Hon. Christopher A. Neisen.

15.       A19-0479
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Tom Jr. Trass, Appellant.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Tracy M. Smith.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Tamara G. Garcia.

16.       A19-0225
            In re Welfare of Child of: S. B., Parent.
            Affirmed.  Judge James B. Florey.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Angela Willms.

17.       A19-0475
            Cannon Falls Mall Inc., Respondent, vs. State of Minnesota, by and through its
            Commissioner of Transportation, Appellant.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Randall J. Slieter.
            Goodhue County District Court, Hon. Douglas Bayley.

18.       A19-0051
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Alfonso Quiroz, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Michael L. Kirk.*
            Clay County District Court, Hon. Amber B Gustafson.
 
 
* 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
December 9, 2019



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, December 9, 2019

Opinion Set in a Zipped Word Document Format

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  4. Extract the files to a location of your choice.
  5. Open the extracted file.

Opinion Set in a Zipped Rich Text Format

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  4. Extract the files to a location of your choice.
  5. Open the extracted file.