OPINION WINFREE, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION Jimmy Jack Korkow was convicted of first-degree murder for beating and stabbing his wife to death while the couple's young children were present in the family home. The trial court sentenced Korkow to 99 years in prison with no possibility for discretionary parole until he served 50 years. The court of appeals reversed the 50-year parole restriction as clearly mistaken, and we granted the State of Alaska's petition for hearing on that issue. Because...
OPINION WINFREE, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION In response to a domestic disturbance call, police officers entered a residence without a warrant and pepper sprayed and handcuffed a resident. The family sued for excessive force and unlawful entry. The superior court dismissed the claims on summary judgment, granting qualified immunity for the excessive force claims and holding that the family had not raised a cognizable unlawful entry claim. The superior court later denied the family's Alaska...
OPINION FABE, Chief Justice. I. INTRODUCTION Philip J. is the father of nine children. The superior court terminated Philip's parental rights to his seven oldest children and then to his eighth child. Philip's appeals of the two separate termination orders (Case No. S-14810 and Case No. S-14994) were consolidated for consideration and decision. Philip maintains that the superior court erred in finding that active efforts were made to keep this Indian family together in both termination...
OPINION BOLGER, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION An at-will employee was placed on probation and subsequently terminated for making an inappropriate comment at a work party. The employee sued the employer for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The superior court granted summary judgment on both counts. We affirm the superior court's judgment because the employee was an at-will employee, his termination was not a breach of his employment contract,...
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. A party wishing to cite a memorandum decision in a brief or at oral argument should review Appellate Rule 214(d). MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT * FABE, Chief Justice. I. INTRODUCTION A police officer stopped a driver and asked for identification. After the driver refused to comply a brief altercation ensued — the officer grabbed the driver's wrist, allegedly hurting the driver. At the driver's request, a second officer...
OPINION WINFREE, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION An indigent prisoner appealed two prison disciplinary actions to the superior court. For each appeal the superior court calculated a reduced filing fee pursuant to AS 09.19.010. 1 The prisoner failed to pay the filing fees and his appeals were dismissed. The prisoner contends that he had no means of paying even the reduced filing fees and argues that the fee statute unconstitutionally deprived him of access to the courts. We agree with the...
OPINION CARPENETI, Chief Justice. I. INTRODUCTION A member of the military moved to a new post in Alaska in June 2005. Two months later, he was deployed to Iraq. After 16 months of service in Iraq, he returned to Alaska in December of 2006. Shortly thereafter, he applied for the 2007 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), which is paid in recognition of the applicant's eligibility during 2006. The Department of Revenue denied his application. The service member filed an informal appeal and later a...
OPINION EASTAUGH, Senior Justice. I. INTRODUCTION Tesoro Corporation challenges income taxes assessed against it by the Alaska Department of Revenue (DOR) for 1994 through 1998. DOR calculated Tesoro's Alaska income by applying a three-factor apportionment formula to Tesoro's worldwide income, including that of its non-Alaskan subsidiaries. Tesoro challenged DOR's apportionment in a trial before an administrative law judge, who ruled that Tesoro was a unitary business that could be subject...
This opinion is subject to correction before publication in the PACIFIC REPORTER. Readers are requested to bring errors to the attention of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts, 303 K Street, Anchorage, Alaska 99501, phone (907) 264-0608, fax (907) 264-0878, e-mail corrections@appellate.courts.state.ak.us. OPINION MAASSEN, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION The Alaska State Commission for Human Rights dismissed Gregg Conitz's complaint against his employer, Teck Alaska Incorporated, alleging...
OPINION MAASSEN, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION Garold Charles was in an accident while riding as a passenger in a vehicle belonging to Tara and Anthony Stout. Charles brought negligence claims against the Stouts and Credit Union 1, the lienholder on the Stouts' vehicle. Credit Union 1 moved for summary judgment. Charles opposed the motion, relying on testimony from Tara's deposition and contending in part that he was a third-party beneficiary of an alleged contract between Credit Union 1 and the...
OPINION FABE, Chief Justice. I. INTRODUCTION This appeal arises from a contract dispute between North Pacific Erectors, Inc. and the Alaska Department of Administration. North Pacific and the Department contracted for a renovation and asbestos removal project in the Juneau State Office Building. After work began, North Pacific requested additional payment for the asbestos removal, claiming there was a differing site condition that made the project more labor-intensive than it had expected....
OPINION STOWERS, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION The former Anchorage Municipal Code provided for the creation of special assessment districts for public capital improvements. On June 11, 1996, the Anchorage Municipal Assembly (Assembly) enacted Anchorage Ordinance 96-77(S-I) to broaden "special assessment districts" to include the provision of services and to authorize business improvement districts. In 1997 the Assembly passed Anchorage Ordinance 97-51, which created the Downtown Improvement...
OPINION FABE, Chief Justice. I. INTRODUCTION The Aleut Corporation terminated the employment of its chief executive officer, Troy Johnson. Johnson challenged the termination, and the matter was submitted to binding arbitration as required by the employment contract, which contained a broad arbitration clause providing that "[a]ny and all disputes ... arising out of, relating in any way to or in connection with this Agreement and/or Executive's employment with or termination of employment...
OPINION FABE, Chief Justice. I. INTRODUCTION A woman living in Alaska filed a petition in Alaska to enforce summer visitation with her son, who lives in Tennessee with his father. After the superior court resolved the visitation issue, the father appealed, arguing that the superior court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case or, in the alternative, that the superior court should have voluntarily ceded jurisdiction to Tennessee because Alaska is an inconvenient forum. We conclude that the...
OPINION CARPENETI, Chief Justice. I. INTRODUCTION The unpaid employee of a closely-held corporation sued the corporation and its president for back wages in superior court. The day after the employee filed suit, the corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court discharged the corporation's debts, and the superior court dismissed the corporation, but the superior court allowed trial to proceed against the president on a veil-piercing theory. A jury found that the...
OPINION MAASSEN, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION Fifteen-year-old Kevin Michaud fired a single shot from a revolver belonging to his parents, killing one friend and seriously wounding another. The parents of the two victims sued Kevin, his parents, and their insurance company, United Services Automobile Association (USAA). The Michauds' liability policy provided a $300,000 limit for "Each Occurrence" of "Personal Liability." The superior court ruled that the policy afforded $900,000 of coverage...
OPINION BOLGER, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION Two former police officers brought claims against the Municipality of Anchorage for racial discrimination, alleging a hostile work environment in violation of state law. The officers claimed damages for mental anguish, and the Municipality sought discovery concerning the nature of their mental anguish claims. But the officers refused to comply with these discovery requests, invoking the physician and psychotherapist privilege. The Municipality moved...
OPINION STOWERS, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION The superior court granted a grandfather and grandmother's petition to adopt their grandchild without the consent of the biological father. The superior court found that the father's consent was not required because he failed significantly without justifiable cause to communicate meaningfully with the child for a period of at least one year. On appeal, the father does not challenge the superior court's finding that he failed to communicate...
OPINION STOWERS, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION In the early hours of June 28, 2001, Alaska State Troopers went to Bret Maness's home to take him into custody for psychological evaluation, pursuant to an involuntary commitment order that had been issued by the superior court. When the troopers arrived at his home, Maness threatened to kill the troopers then fled, first in his RV, and later on foot. During the pursuit, Maness was shot by an Anchorage Police Department officer and then arrested....
WINFREE, Justice. I. INTRODUCTION Shareholders of a closely held corporation brought a derivative suit against a shareholder-director and the corporation's former attorneys for fiduciary fraud, fraudulent conveyance, legal malpractice, and civil conspiracy. After an evidentiary hearing, the superior court ruled all the claims were time-barred. We affirm the superior court's dismissal of most claims, but reverse its dismissal of two claims and remand those claims for further proceedings. II....
