OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. Relator Toni Dykhoff fell and dislocated her left patella while attending a required training session at the general office of her employer, Xcel Energy. Dykhoff filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits. The compensation judge held a hearing, found that Dykhoff's injury did not arise out of and in the course of her employment, and denied Dykhoff's claim. Dykhoff appealed to the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA), which reversed the...
OPINION WRIGHT, Justice. The question presented by this case is whether the motor vehicle exemption, Minn.Stat. 550.37, subd. 12a (2012), applies to the forfeiture of a motor vehicle used in the commission of a designated driving-while-impaired (DWI) offense, pursuant to Minn.Stat. 169A.63 (2012). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Hennepin County on behalf of respondent vehicle and held that the motor vehicle exemption does not apply when a motor vehicle is forfeited...
OPINION STRAS, Justice. In a consolidated appeal, appellant Christopher Dineaa Bahtuoh challenges his conviction of first-degree felony murder while committing a drive-by shooting for the benefit of a gang. In his direct appeal, Bahtuoh argues that the record contains insufficient evidence to support his conviction. In his postconviction appeal, Bahtuoh argues that the district court misstated the law when it instructed the jury on accomplice liability, that trial counsel coerced him into...
OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. The issue in this case is whether a party may take a deposition to preserve trial testimony of an unavailable, out-of-state witness, even though the deposition would occur after a discovery deadline in a scheduling order. Respondent TC/American Monorail, Inc., brought this civil action to recover payment for industrial equipment that it fabricated for appellant Custom Conveyor Corporation. Custom Conveyor counterclaimed for breach of contract. Following a jury...
ORDER Based upon all the files, records, and proceedings herein, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the decision of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals filed and served on April 16, 2013, be, and the same is, affirmed without opinion. See Hoff v. Kempton, 317 N.W.2d 361 , 366 (Minn.1982) (explaining that "[s]ummary affirmances have no precedential value because they do not commit the court to any particular point of view, doing no more than establishing the law of the case). BY THE COURT: /...
OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. John Miles was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Tyrone Harrell. We affirmed Miles's conviction on direct appeal. State v. Miles (Miles I), 585 N.W.2d 368 (Minn.1998). This case comes to us on appeal from the postconviction court's denial of Miles's fourth petition for postconviction relief. Because we conclude that the postconviction court did not abuse its discretion in denying Miles relief, we affirm. Our opinion in...
OPINION WRIGHT, Justice. In this zoning dispute, appellant Wapiti Park Campgrounds, Inc., owned by appellant Lorraine White, Trustee for the Lorraine M. White Trust, operates a campground on land in respondent City of Elk River. After Wapiti Park began operating the campground, the City enacted a series of zoning ordinances regulating use of the land — first rendering campgrounds a non-permitted use, then allowing campgrounds as a conditional use subject to a conditional-use permit, and...
OPINION WRIGHT, Justice. The principal dispute in this case is whether a subcontractor gave proper notice of a payment-bond claim under Minn. Stat. 574.31, subd. 2(a) (2012). Appellant Safety Signs, LLC, was a subcontractor on a public project. Safety Signs brought suit against general contractor Niles-Wiese Construction Company and respondent-surety Westfield Insurance Company, seeking to recover money owed under the subcontract. It is undisputed that Niles-Wiese defaulted. But Westfield...
OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. Hennepin County District Court issued a domestic abuse no-contact order (DANCO) that prohibited respondent George Cornelius Watkins from having contact with his girlfriend. After Watkins allegedly contacted his girlfriend on two separate occasions, the State charged him pursuant to Minn.Stat. 629.75, subd. 2(d)(1) (2012), with felony violations of the DANCO. A Hennepin County jury found Watkins guilty as charged. The district court entered judgment of conviction,...
OPINION PER CURIAM. The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (Director) filed a petition for disciplinary action against respondent Rebekah Mariya Nett. The petition alleged that Nett violated Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 3.1, 1 4.4(a), 2 8.2(a), 3 8.4(d), 4 and 8.4(g) 5 by engaging in a pattern of bad faith litigation, including making false and harassing statements toward judges and others involved in litigation against her clients. Nett answered the petition, but...
OPINION STRAS, Justice. The legal questions presented by this case relate to the operation of Minnesota's minimum-compensation statute, Minn.Stat. 117.187 (2012), which provides a mechanism for compensating property owners who "must relocate" following the condemnation of their real property. Appellant George W. Cameron, IV, who had his commercial property taken by respondent County of Dakota ("the County"), argues that the district court erred when it failed to award him sufficient damages...
OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. This case presents the question of whether a subcontract between two private businesses is subject to the requirements of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn.Stat. 13.01-.90 (2012). Appellant Johnson Controls, Inc., contracted with Independent School District 2142 (the District) to provide design services. After Johnson subcontracted with appellant Architectural Resources, Inc., respondent Marshall Helmberger submitted a request to Johnson under...
OPINION ANDERSON, Justice. A grand jury indicted appellant Jose Miguel Chavarria-Cruz with first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang arising out of the shooting death of Carlos Hernandez Perez. Following a jury trial, Chavarria-Cruz was found not guilty of the first-degree murder offense but guilty of the lesser-included offense of second-degree intentional murder for the benefit of a gang. The district court convicted Chavarria-Cruz on the second-degree murder offense and...
OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. In this case, we address whether Minn. Stat. 609.344, subd. 1( l )(i) (2012) (clergy-sexual-conduct statute), violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. A Ramsey County jury found respondent/cross-appellant Christopher Wenthe guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, in violation of Minn.Stat. 609.344, subd. 1( l )(i), based on a sexual relationship between Wenthe, a Roman Catholic priest, and a parishioner. The court of...
OPINION STRAS, Justice. Following a jury trial, the district court convicted appellant Brian Keith Hooper of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced him to three concurrent sentences of life imprisonment with the possibility of release. We affirmed Hooper's convictions on direct appeal and the denial of his first two petitions for postconviction relief. See Hooper v. State ( Hooper II ), 680 N.W.2d 89 (Minn.2004); State v. Hooper ( Hooper I ), 620 N.W.2d 31 (Minn. 2000). The...
OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. The question presented in this case is whether the police violated the Fourth Amendment rights of appellant Wesley Eugene Brooks when they took blood and urine samples from him without a search warrant. Because we conclude that Brooks consented to the searches at issue, and thus that a warrant was unnecessary, we affirm. This case arises out of three separate driving incidents that took place during a 6-month period from July 31, 2009, to January 25, 2010. The...
ORDER G. BARRY ANDERSON, Associate Justice. Based upon all the files, records, and proceedings herein, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the decision of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals filed and served on December 3, 2012, be, and the same is, affirmed without opinion. See Hoff v. Kempton, 317 N.W.2d 361 , 366 (Minn. 1982) (explaining that "[s]ummary affirmances have no precedential value because they do not commit the court to any particular point of view," doing no more than...
ORDER G. BARRY ANDERSON, Associate Justice. Based upon all the files, records, and proceedings herein, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the decision of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals filed and served on December 3, 2012, be, and the same is, affirmed without opinion. See Hoff v. Kempton, 317 N.W.2d 361 , 366 (Minn. 1982) (explaining that "[s]ummary affirmances have no precedential value because they do not commit the court to any particular point of view," doing no more than...
OPINION ANDERSON, Justice. Respondent Tsige Abebaw Dereje was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the fifth degree, Minn. Stat. 609.3451, subd. 1(1) (2012), stemming from an incident in which he groped the victim, S.J., while she was a passenger in his taxi. Dereje and the prosecutor agreed to conduct a trial on stipulated facts pursuant to Minn. R. Crim. P. 26.01, subd. 3, and Dereje waived all trial rights. The parties jointly submitted the complaint and police reports containing both...
OPINION STRAS, Justice. Following a jury trial, the district court convicted appellant Demetrius Devell Dobbins, Sr., of the first-degree premeditated murder of Quintin Roderick Lavender. See Minn.Stat. 609.185(a)(1) (2012). We affirmed Dobbins's conviction on direct appeal. State v. Dobbins ( Dobbins I ), 725 N.W.2d 492 (Minn.2006). Dobbins later filed a petition for postconviction relief. The postconviction court summarily denied Dobbins's petition, but we reversed and remanded to...
