OPINION ANDERSON , Justice . The question presented by this case is whether the district court abused its discretion when it excluded evidence of an Alford plea entered during a previous criminal proceeding regarding the same course of conduct from being considered in a subsequent civil trial. The civil jury found respondent Ralph Liebsch not liable for sexual assault and battery against appellant Jane Doe 136. The court of appeals affirmed. Because we conclude that the district court...
OPINION PER CURIAM . The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (the Director) filed a petition for disciplinary action against respondent Christopher Robert Walsh, alleging, among other things, that Walsh engaged in dilatory behavior; failed to communicate with clients; acted in bad faith; made a false statement to opposing counsel; and chronically violated court orders and court rules, resulting in lost claims. The referee concluded that Walsh's conduct violated the...
OPINION GILDEA , Chief Justice . This case comes to us on appeal from the denial of Rene Julian McKenzie's petition for postconviction relief. McKenzie filed a petition for postconviction relief based on two third-party affidavits, alleging that a witness had recanted his trial testimony. The postconviction court granted an evidentiary hearing to determine the credibility of the alleged recantation. At the hearing, the assistant county attorney informed the trial witness who allegedly...
OPINION WRIGHT , Justice . The two cases before us in this consolidated appeal involve a dispute over the obligation of an insurer to pay no-fault medical-expense or income-loss benefits after the same expenses or losses were recovered in a tort action. We consider two questions: (1) whether the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act (No-Fault Act), Minn.Stat. 65B.41-.71 (2014), bars an insured from recovering no-fault benefits for medical expenses already recovered as damages in a...
OPINION DIETZEN , Justice . This case presents the issue of whether the district court abused its discretion when, 6 years after his conviction, it ordered appellant Kenneth Andersen to pay restitution under Minn.Stat. 611A.04-.045 (2014). In June 2008 Andersen was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, Minn.Stat. 609.185(a)(1) (2014), for the killing of Chad Swedberg. At the sentencing hearing, the court sentenced Andersen to life in prison without the possibility of...
OPINION GILDEA , Chief Justice . This case presents the question of whether we should adopt a rebuttable presumption of contamination for controlled substances that the St. Paul Police Crime Lab ("Crime Lab") handled and that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension ("BCA") later tested. The State charged appellant Richard Ellis Hill with aiding and abetting first-degree sale of a mixture of a controlled substance of ten grams or more, in violation of Minn.Stat. 155.021, subd. 1(1) (...
OPINION STRAS , Justice . This case requires us to determine whether the therapist-client privilege, which prohibits therapists from disclosing information or opinions in court that they acquired from their clients in a professional capacity, contains an exception for threatening statements. The district court concluded that the privilege does not apply to "statements of imminent threat of harm." The court of appeals reversed, holding that the statute codifying the privilege, Minn.Stat....
OPINION GILDEA , Chief Justice . The questions presented in this case concern the interpretation and application of the 2-year statute of limitations in Minn.Stat. 541.051, subd. 1(a) (2014), which applies to actions "arising out of the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property." Appellant 328 Barry Avenue, LLC (328 LLC) used respondent Nolan Properties Group, LLC (NPG) as the general contractor for the construction of a building. The building had problems with...
OPINION LILLEHAUG , Justice . This case requires us to interpret and reconcile two clauses in a property insurance policy: a standard mortgage clause and a vacancy clause. Appellant West Bend Mutual Insurance Company ("West Bend") issued a policy of insurance on a building. Commerce Bank was named in the policy as mortgagee. After the building was vandalized, Commerce Bank made a claim on the policy, but West Bend denied the claim under the vacancy clause. The court of appeals ruled that...
OPINION DIETZEN , Justice . Appellant Stowman Law Firm, P.A. (Stowman), which represented a client pursuant to a contingent-fee agreement, voluntarily withdrew from the representation of the client when efforts to settle the case failed. The client retained substitute counsel who then successfully settled the case. Stowman brought an action to recover in quantum meruit the value of the services provided prior to the withdrawal. Following a bench trial, the district court found that Stowman...
Considered and decided by the court without oral argument. OPINION DIETZEN , Justice . Appellant Darryl Colbert was found guilty by a Hennepin County jury of the first-degree murder of Robert Mitchell in December 2003, and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release. We affirmed Colbert's conviction on direct appeal. State v. Colbert ( Colbert I ), 716 N.W.2d 647 , 649 (Minn.2006). In July 2014, Colbert filed his sixth postconviction petition under Minn.Stat....
OPINION STRAS , Justice . Appellant Michael Wayne appeals the postconviction court's denial of a request that he formally styled as a "Motion for Correction of Sentence" under Minn. R.Crim. P. 27.03, subd. 9. Because the postconviction court did not err in treating Wayne's request as a petition for postconviction relief and Wayne filed his request after the 2-year postconviction statute of limitations had expired, we affirm. I. In 1987, following a jury trial, the district court...
OPINION PER CURIAM . This proceeding arises from a formal complaint filed by the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards (the Board) against the Honorable Alan F. Pendleton, Judge of the District Court for the Tenth Judicial District, alleging violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct and the Minnesota Constitution. Following a hearing, a three-member panel (the panel) that we appointed found that Judge Pendleton failed to reside within his judicial district from January 15, 2014, through...
OPINION STRAS , Justice . Appellant Integrity Advance, LLC ("Integrity"), a Delaware company, made short-term, high-interest payday loans to Minnesota residents over the Internet. The Minnesota Attorney General sued Integrity, alleging that it had violated Minnesota's payday-lending law in a variety of ways. Integrity argued in response that, because it signed and executed the loans in Delaware, the application of Minnesota law to its loans violated the extraterritoriality principle of...
OPINION GILDEA , Chief Justice . The question presented in this appeal is whether the district court erred when it sentenced appellant to an upward departure from the presumptive sentence for his first-degree assault conviction. Because we conclude that the court did not err in imposing a 240-month sentence, we affirm. This case arises from an assault that occurred as the victim, A.C., attempted to enter her car. A.C.'s car was parked in a Minneapolis parking ramp. Physical evidence,...
OPINION STRAS , Justice . Appellant Edbert Williams was convicted in 1997 of first-degree premeditated murder for the stabbing death of Genelda Campeau and attempted first-degree murder for the stabbing of Campeau's granddaughter, S.C. Williams filed the present postconviction petition, his second, in 2013, claiming that both his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective. The district court denied the petition without holding an evidentiary hearing. Because Williams's claims are...
OPINION ANDERSON , Justice . This dispute presents the question of whether a prior disability that does not affect an employee's ability to secure employment may be considered when determining whether the employee is eligible for permanent-total-disability benefits under Minn.Stat. 176.101, subd. 5(2) (2014). The Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) concluded that, when determining eligibility for permanent-total-disability benefits, any disability may contribute to the employee'...
OPINION ANDERSON , Justice . A personal representative/trustee filed a complaint alleging legal malpractice against an attorney and his law firm relating to a power of attorney drafted by the attorney's legal assistant. The district court granted the attorney's motion to dismiss, holding that the personal representative/trustee failed to provide a satisfactory expert disclosure on each element of a prima facie case of legal malpractice, in violation of Minn.Stat. 544.42, subd. 4(a) (...
OPINION LILLEHAUG , Justice . Shortly after being placed on probation, appellant Miranda Lynn Jones was cited for consumption of alcohol by a minor and disorderly conduct. Her conduct violated the terms of Jones's probation and the State moved to have it revoked. In addition, the State cited Jones for misdemeanor contempt of court under Minn. Stat. 588.20, subd. 2(4) (2014). The probationer moved to dismiss the criminal contempt charge, arguing that the statute charged does not cover...
OPINION LILLEHAUG , Justice . Kemen Lavatos Taylor, II, was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder related to the shooting of three teenagers. On direct appeal, he alleges eight errors committed by the trial court. We affirm the convictions. I. On October 4, 2012, a grand jury indicted Taylor on two counts of murder related to the shooting death of Rayjon Gomez: first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree murder while...
