OPINION BOLGER , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION The Lieutenant Governor declined to certify a proposed ballot initiative that would ban commercial set net fishing in nonsubsistence areas, reasoning that the initiative was a constitutionally prohibited appropriation of public assets. But the superior court approved the initiative, concluding that set netters were not a distinct commercial user group and that the legislature and Board of Fisheries would retain discretion to allocate the salmon...
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited for any proposition of law or as an example of the proper resolution of any issue. MEMORANDUM OPINION ANDJUDGMENT * 1. Simone B. 1 appeals the superior court's termination of her parental rights to her son Elliot J. 2 We have carefully reviewed the record and considered Simone's arguments on appeal. After applying the applicable...
OPINION FABE , Chief Justice . I. INTRODUCTION Dolores Hunter, the personal representative of the estate of Benjamin G. Francis, appeals from a series of orders following a jury verdict in a wrongful death, products liability, and fraud action against Philip Morris USA Inc. resulting from Francis's death from lung cancer. Following the verdict, Hunter moved for a new trial on the basis of evidentiary rulings at trial and on the basis that the verdict was against the weight of the...
STOWERS , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION This appeal arises out of a custody dispute between Susan M. and Paul H. 1 It involves (1) Susan's motion to sanction Paul for wrongfully denying her visitation and (2) her motion to enjoin Paul from relocating to California with the children after the 2013-14 school year, a move the superior court previously approved. The superior court denied both motions, and Susan appeals. We affirm but strongly caution that a parent's unilateral suspension of the...
OPINION BOLGER , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION A cardiac patient who underwent open heart surgery sued the anesthesiologist and medical providers involved in the surgery. The superior court dismissed the patient's claims on summary judgment, concluding that the patient had offered no admissible evidence that the defendants breached the standard of care or caused the patient any injury. On appeal the patient relies on his expert witness's testimony that certain surgical procedures were...
OPINION BOLGER , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION The Anchorage Police Department identified Joshua Richardson as a suspect in a shoplifting incident at Best Buy. When the police went to Richardson's home to make an arrest, Richardson hid in the crawlspace and allegedly incurred injuries from a police canine. The misdemeanor theft charges against Richardson were dismissed shortly after his arrest. About two years after these events, Richardson filed two civil suits against the Anchorage...
OPINION FABE , Chief Justice . I. INTRODUCTION A criminal defendant on trial for two murders sought to admit a recording of a phone call to the police, placed by a young woman who had since died. On the recording, the young woman told a police officer that one of the victims had told her that both victims were conspiring to attack and rob the defendant. In support of his motion to admit the recording, the defendant argued that the recording was critical to his defense, which centered on...
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. A party wishing to cite such a decision in a brief or at oral argument should review Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d). MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT * I. INTRODUCTION Jay W. 1 appeals 2 the superior court's termination of his parental rights to his two Indian children. 3 First, he argues that the superior court erred in finding that the children were in need of aid due to abandonment. Second, he argues that the superior...
OPINION WINFREE , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION Using three photographs taken from a neighboring subdivision's marketing materials — including one portraying the subdivision's stylized entrance sign — a realtor group listed adjacent property for sale on a multiple listing service website. The listing also contained a property appraisal stating that (1) based on plat-related information, existing legal access to the property might compromise the neighboring subdivision's gated community...
OPINION FABE , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION In a negligence suit, the defendants moved for summary judgment. The plaintiff did not oppose the motion or otherwise respond by the required response date. On the same day that the superior court granted the defendant's unopposed motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff filed an untimely motion for an extension of time to file her opposition. The superior court denied the plaintiff's late-filed motion to extend the time to oppose summary...
OPINION FABE , Chief Justice . I. INTRODUCTION A 21-year-old intoxicated Hooper Bay resident committed suicide while he was detained in a holding cell by the City of Hooper Bay. His mother filed a wrongful death action against the City, alleging that the City's negligence led to her son's death. She sought damages in her individual capacity and on behalf of her son's estate and her son's minor children. The case proceeded to a jury trial and the jury returned a $1,078,233 judgment...
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. A party wishing to cite such a decision in a brief or at oral argument should review Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d). MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT * I. INTRODUCTION A mother challenges the trial court's decision terminating her parental rights to three children. Because the evidence supports the court's findings and the court correctly applied relevant law, we affirm the termination of her parental rights. II. BACKGROUND...
OPINION MAASSEN , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION This case arises from a dispute over whether the owner of a wood chipper may be held jointly and severally liable, along with two property owners, for damages caused to their property by the chipper's leak of diesel fuel. The chipper's owner had leased it to another person, who abandoned it. The property owners claim they were only severally liable, if at all, for a portion of the damages and that the chipper's owner was liable for the rest. A...
OPINION STOWERS , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION Dakota K. 1 appeals a 30-day involuntary psychiatric commitment. Although his appeal is moot, Dakota argues the collateral consequences exception to the mootness doctrine applies. Under that exception we have presumed collateral consequences from a respondent's first involuntary commitment. In this case the parties dispute whether the State or the respondent has the burden to prove the existence of prior involuntary commitments. We hold that...
OPINION STOWERS , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION This is an appeal of the superior court's de novo valuation of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) for tax assessment years 2007, 2008, and 2009. In February 2014 we issued a decision affirming the superior court's de novo valuation of TAPS for the 2006 assessment year. 1 The parties introduced considerably more evidence during trial for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 years, but the operative facts remained substantially the same and the...
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. A party wishing to cite such a decision in a brief or at oral argument should review Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d). MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT * I. INTRODUCTION Laura and Jeremy Novak divorced in 2014. They have one son; Laura was awarded primary physical custody. Both are employed, but Jeremy earns a substantially larger income. Laura was awarded the family home and temporary spousal support. Jeremy was ordered to pay...
OPINION FABE , Chief Justice . I. INTRODUCTION A bidder for mineral leases failed to turn in a required form that would have demonstrated that he was a citizen older than 18 and thus qualified to bid. The Director of the Department of Natural Resources' Division of Mining, Land & Water later allowed the bidder to remedy the omission, but on appeal the Department's Commissioner determined that the bidder's omission was not immaterial or due to excusable inadvertence and reversed the...
OPINION PER CURIAM . I. INTRODUCTION A father appeals 1 the termination of his parental rights to his daughter. He claims the trial court violated his due process rights when it allowed the termination trial to conclude in his absence without first asking him directly if he wished to testify. The father alternatively requests a remand so he can develop a record to support an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We affirm the trial court's decision. 2 II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS A....
OPINION MAASSEN , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION An insolvent subcontractor failed to pay its sub-subcontractor for work performed, and the sub-subcontractor sought payment directly from the general contractor through a demand for arbitration. The general contractor declined to participate. The arbitrator awarded damages to the sub-subcontractor, who filed an action to confirm the award in superior court. The sub-subcontractor also brought a negligence claim, contending that the general...
OPINION STOWERS , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her two youngest children; the children are now teenagers and testified that they did not want her rights to be terminated. The trial court decided that the children were in need of aid because of mental injury and that termination was in the children's best interests. The mother argues that the Office of Children's Services (OCS) did not meet its burden of proving mental injury and...
