OPINION PAGE , Justice . In 2012, the governing board of respondent Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital in Marshall, Minnesota, announced a plan to repeal the hospital's medical staff bylaws and replace them with revised bylaws. Avera Marshall's Medical Staff, its Chief of Staff, and Chief of Staff-elect eventually commenced an action seeking, as relevant here, a declaration that the Medical Staff has standing to sue Avera Marshall and that the medical staff bylaws...
OPINION PAGE , Justice . Appellant American Family Mutual Insurance Company (American Family) insured property managed by respondent Cedar Bluff Townhome Condominium Association (Cedar Bluff). The insurance policy covered 20 multi-unit residential buildings. Cedar Bluff filed a claim with American Family for hail damage to the siding on each of the 20 buildings. A dispute arose as to whether the policy language providing for the replacement of "damaged property with other property... [o]f...
OPINION GILDEA , Chief Justice . Following a jury trial, the district court convicted Danny Ortega, Jr. of aiding and abetting first-degree premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of release. We affirmed Ortega's conviction on direct appeal. State v. Ortega ( Ortega I ), 798 N.W.2d 59 (Minn.2011). Ortega subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief, alleging that Eric Bermea, who testified as an eyewitness at the trial, provided false...
OPINION WRIGHT, Justice. This dispute over the rescission of a life insurance policy presents two questions of statutory interpretation: (1) whether Minn.Stat. 61A.11 (2012) requires subjective intent to deceive on the part of the insured in order to rescind a life insurance policy issued without a prior medical examination, and (2) whether Minn.Stat. 144.298, subd. 2 (2012), creates a private right of action for the under-disclosure of medical records. With respect to the first question,...
OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. Appellant Dylan Micheal Kelley was found guilty by a Benton County jury and convicted as an accomplice to first-degree aggravated robbery and third-degree assault. 1 Kelley appealed his first-degree aggravated robbery conviction to the court of appeals, requesting a new trial based on an unobjected-to jury instruction on accomplice liability. He claimed the court of appeals could grant the requested relief under Minn. R.Crim. P. 31.02 because the jury instruction...
OPINION ANDERSON, Justice. An arbitrator issued an award against appellants Sining Mao, Western Digital Corporation, and Western Digital Technologies, Inc., in an amount exceeding $500 million. The award was vacated in part by the district court and then reinstated by the court of appeals. Mao and the Western Digital entities now separately seek review of the reinstatement decision. Mao and Western Digital argue that the arbitrator's punitive sanctions, which precluded any evidence or defense...
OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. Appellant Mahdi Hassan Ali ("Mahdi") 1 was convicted of one count of first-degree premeditated murder and two counts of first-degree felony murder for shooting and killing three men during a robbery of the Seward Market in Minneapolis on January 6, 2010. 2 We consolidated Mahdi's direct appeal and his postconviction appeal. On appeal, Mahdi raises a series of arguments. First, he challenges the postconviction court's denial of postconviction relief. Second,...
OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. Appellant Eddie Matthew Mosley was indicted by a Hennepin County grand jury on three counts of first-degree premeditated murder, three counts of first-degree felony murder (burglary of an occupied dwelling), and three counts of first-degree felony murder (burglary while possessing a firearm), arising out of the shooting deaths of DeLois Brown, James Bolden, and Clover Bolden. Following a bench trial, Mosley was convicted of three counts of first-degree premeditated...
OPINION STRAS, Justice. The appellant, Lincoln Lamar Caldwell, challenged his conviction of first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang in his third petition for postconviction relief, in which he alleged that three witnesses presented false testimony at his trial. The postconviction court summarily denied the petition. On appeal, Caldwell argues that the court abused its discretion when it failed to grant him an evidentiary hearing in connection with his petition. Because...
OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. The question presented in this case is whether court approval is required before a guardian who has the power to consent to necessary medical treatment for a ward under Minn.Stat. 524.5-313(c)(4)(i) (2012), may consent to remove the ward from life-sustaining treatment when all the interested parties agree that such removal is in the ward's best interests. The district court held that a guardian who possesses the medical-consent power under Minn.Stat. 524.5-...
OPINION GILDEA, Chief Justice. The question presented in this case is whether Minn. Stat. 260C.301, subd. 1(b)(4) (2012), which provides that parents who previously have had their parental rights to children involuntarily terminated are presumed to be palpably unfit to parent other children, violates the equal protection provisions of the United States and Minnesota Constitutions. The juvenile court and the court of appeals found that the statute does not violate either constitutional...
OPINION ANDERSON, Justice. This case presents the questions of whether, for purposes of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10, of the Minnesota Constitution, the movement of a package from a conveyor belt to the floor at an airport mail facility for purposes of a dog sniff constitutes a seizure; whether a dog sniff of such a package constitutes a search; and whether, if these actions constituted a seizure or a search, the seizure or search was...
OPINION WRIGHT, Justice. This negligence dispute presents two questions of statutory interpretation. We first consider whether the reallocation-of-damages provision in Minn.Stat. 604.02, subd. 2 (2012), applies to parties who are severally liable pursuant to Minn.Stat. 604.02, subd. 1 (2012). If the reallocation provision applies to severally liable parties, the second question is whether damages must be reduced to a judgment to be subject to reallocation under Minn. Stat. 604.02, subd....
OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. This appeal involves an eviction action brought by appellant Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth (HRA) against respondent Brian Lee, a tenant living in federally subsidized housing, after he failed to pay late fees assessed by the HRA under his lease. Lee argued that the late fees were invalid and unenforceable under Minn.Stat. 504B.177 (2010), which generally places a limitation, or cap, on late fees for residential housing tenants at eight percent of...
OPINION PAGE, Justice. Respondent Darrell Schmitz commenced an action against his former employer, appellant United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel), alleging, among other things, retaliatory-discharge and threat-to-discharge claims under the Workers' Compensation Act (WCA), Minn.Stat. 176.001-.862 (2012). After various proceedings below, we granted U.S. Steel's petition for review on two issues. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the court of appeals and hold that: (1)...
OPINION ANDERSON, Justice. Appellant Erica Rohde was convicted of fifth-degree drug possession, Minn.Stat. 152.025, subd. 2(a)(1) (2012), and possession of drug paraphernalia, Minn.Stat. 152.092 (2012), based on evidence that police officers found while performing an inventory search during the course of impounding Rohde's car. The district court denied Rohde's motion to suppress the evidence as the product of an unconstitutional search. The court of appeals affirmed. State v. Rohde,...
OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. This case presents the issue of whether the exclusionary rule adopted by the United States Supreme Court to deter future Fourth Amendment violations is applicable to civil forfeiture actions brought under Minn.Stat. 609.531-.5319 (2012). Appellant Daniel Garcia-Mendoza was stopped by police officers on suspicion that he did not have a valid driver's license, and was issued a traffic citation. During an inventory search of respondent 2003 Chevy Tahoe, 225 grams of...
OPINION PAGE, Justice. Relator Sharyn Hartwig was a certified nursing assistant employed by respondent Traverse Care Center (Traverse) when she sustained various work-related injuries between September 4, 2005, and May 5, 2010. Hartwig has been permanently and totally disabled since May 5, 2010, and has been receiving workers' compensation benefits since that date. Hartwig began receiving a retirement annuity from the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) on August 1, 2012. See...
OPINION PAGE, Justice. Relator Gary Ekdahl, who was injured while working for respondent Independent School District #213 (the School District), sought and was awarded permanent total disability benefits. The School District, relying on Minn.Stat. 176.101, subd. 4 (2012), requested an offset of its disability-benefit payment by the amount of government-service pension benefits Ekdahl was receiving, arguing that the statute authorizes an offset for "any old age and survivor insurance...
OPINION PAGE, Justice. This case presents the issue of whether a defendant who has waived his right to a jury trial must renew that waiver when the State subsequently amends the complaint to add a new charge. Appellant Antoine Rumel Little was found guilty of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, in violation of Minn.Stat. 609.342, subd. 1(e)(i) (2012), one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, in violation of Minn.Stat. 609.344, subd. 1(b) (2012), and one count of...
