EN BANC CALENDAR
Before the Minnesota Supreme Court
September 2006
SUMMARY OF ISSUES
Summaries prepared by
the Supreme Court Commissioner’s Office
Tuesday, September 5, 2006, 9:00 a.m., Supreme Court Courtroom,
State Capitol
In re State of Minnesota, Petitioner. State of Minnesota, Respondent vs. Beth Luann Hart, Appellant –
Case No. A05-2066: Charges
against appellant Beth Luann Hart were dismissed by the district court after
the state failed to appear at an evidentiary hearing. After the district court declined to allow
the state to file a new complaint against Hart, the state petitioned the court
of appeals for a writ of mandamus to compel the district court to allow the
filing of the new complaint. The court
of appeals granted the petition for writ of mandamus and vacated the district
court’s order dismissing the original charges against Hart. At issue are:
(1) whether the state gave proper notice to Hart of its intention to
seek a writ of mandamus; and (2) whether the court of appeals had jurisdiction
to vacate the district court’s order dismissing the charges, where the state
did not appeal directly from the order itself.
(On appeal from Mille Lacs County District Court.)
Bob Makor George, as Trustee for the Heirs of Gonkartee Dekpah
II, deceased, Appellant vs. Estate of Dennis Allen Baker, et al., Respondents,
CRST Incorporated, et al., Respondents – Case No. A05-108: Gonkartee Dekpah II, a Liberian immigrant
who had lived in the U.S.
for six years, was a passenger in a taxicab driven by Dennis Allen Baker when
both were killed in a collision with a truck.
A jury found both Baker and the truck driver were negligent and awarded
damages to Dekpah’s heirs of $68,000, but also found that neither Baker’s
negligence nor the negligence of the truck driver was a direct cause of the
accident. At issue on appeal are: (1) whether the matter should be remanded to
the district court for a new trial due to various evidentiary errors; and (2)
whether the district court erred in instructing the jury that, in calculating
any damages awarded to Dekpah, it could consider that males in Liberia have
shorter life expectancies than males in the United States. (On appeal from Hennepin County District
Court.)
Wednesday, September 6, 2006, 9:00 a.m., Supreme Court Courtroom,
State Capitol
In the Matter of the Application for PERA Police and Fire Plan
Line of Duty Disability Benefits of Stephen Brittain – Case No. A04-2407: The Board of Trustees of the Public
Employees Retirement Association appeals from an opinion of the court of
appeals reversing the board’s decision not to award respondent Stephen Brittain
“duty-related” disability benefits. At
issue is whether Brittain’s depression, the result of Brittain’s perception
that his supervisor was hostile toward him, was incurred in or arose out of
“any act of duty.” (On appeal from the Public Employees
Retirement Association Board of Trustees.)
NONORAL: Commandeur LLC, et al.,
Appellants vs. Howard Hartry, Inc., Respondent – Case No. A05-2014: Appellants Commandeur, LLC and ACRO Business
Finance Corporation filed a notice of appeal with the court of appeals on
Tuesday, October 11, 2005, from judgment entered in the district court on
August 10, 2005. The appeal was
dismissed by the court of appeals as untimely because Sunday, October 9, 2005,
was the 60th day after entry of judgment.
At issue is whether Columbus Day, which fell on Monday, October 10, in
2005, and on which the United States Post Office is closed but Minnesota courts are
open, is a “legal holiday” under the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure and the
Minnesota Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure.
(On appeal from Hennepin County District Court.)
Monday, September 11, 2006, 9:00 a.m, Courtroom 300,
Minnesota Judicial Center
Croixdale, Inc., Relator vs. County of Washington, Respondent – Case No. A06-153: Relator Croixdale, Inc., which owns and
operates a senior housing facility in Bayport,
Minnesota, appeals from a
decision of the Minnesota Tax Court denying it a property tax exemption for its
assisted living unit. At issue is
whether Croixdale qualifies as an “institution[] of purely public charity”
which, under Minn. Stat. § 272.02, subd. 7 (2004), is exempt from property
taxes. (On appeal from Minnesota Tax
Court.)
State of Minnesota, Appellant vs. Daniel Leslie Maurstad,
Respondent – Case No. A04-1000:
On appeal from respondent Daniel Leslie Maurstad’s sentence for
controlled substance crime, appellant State of Minnesota presents the following
issues: (1) whether the right to
challenge an error in calculation of a defendant’s criminal history score is
waived, or forfeited under plain error analysis, by failure to object before or
at the time of sentencing; and (2) whether the trial court erred by assigning a
custody status point in calculating Maurstad’s
criminal history score. (On appeal from
Polk County District Court.)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 9:00 a.m., Courtroom 300,
Minnesota Judicial Center
In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against Daniel J.
Moulton, a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 136888 – Case No.
A05-1865: An attorney
discipline matter that presents the issue of what discipline, if any, is
appropriate based upon the facts of the matter.
In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against Peter Mayrand, a
Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 69206 – Case No.
A04-1704: An attorney
discipline matter that presents the issue of what discipline, if any, is
appropriate based upon the facts of the matter.
NONORAL: Otha Eric Townsend, petitioner,
Appellant vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent – Case No. A06-45: On
appeal from the denial of his third petition for postconviction relief
following his conviction of first-degree murder, appellant pro se Otha Eric
Townsend presents the following issues for review: (1) whether the district court erred in
failing to rule on Townsend’s motion to dismiss the indictment against him
because one of the members of the grand jury that indicted him was a potential
witness in the case; (2) whether the indictment adequately informed Townsend of
the charges against him; (3) whether the prosecution committed misconduct in
referring in closing argument to Townsend’s attempt to murder a second person;
(4) whether the district court erred in not requiring the jury, after it
had returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, to reach a
verdict on the second count of murder in the second degree; and (5) whether the
district court erred in denying Townsend’s petition for postconviction relief without
an evidentiary hearing. (On appeal from
Ramsey County District Court.)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006, 6:30 p.m., Room 221,
William Mitchell
College of Law
State of Minnesota, Respondent vs. Daniel Joseph Melde, Appellant
– Case No. A05-1553 and State of Minnesota,
Respondent vs. Alan J. Myers, Appellant – Case No. A05-1604: Each of these cases, consolidated for
argument, presents the question of whether the Minnesota Implied Consent
Advisory, Minn. Stat. § 169A.51, subd. 2 (2004), violates a driver’s procedural
due process rights because it fails to notify the driver that refusal to submit
to chemical testing is a more serious offense than failing the chemical test
itself. (On appeal from Hennepin County
District Court (Melde) and from Cass County District Court (Myers).)