The defendant, Michael C. Evans, was tried and convicted of various counts of burglary, theft, and criminal mischief, stemming from a series of burglaries committed near Sterling and Soldotna in the summer of 2006. The question presented in this appeal is whether a mistrial should have been declared when, in the middle of Evans's trial, the... ... ... State tardily disclosed information concerning exculpatory statements given by one of Evans's co-defendants, Joshua Kartchner... Based on the...  

In two separate cases, Charles Lee Davis was convicted for violating the state's commercial motor vehicle regulations by operating a commercial motor vehicle without a valid medical examiner's certificate (Case No. A-10405) and by operating a commercial motor vehicle that had been placed out of service for safety violations (Case No. A-10521).1 These cases were consolidated for consideration and decision... In both cases, Davis contends that the State lacks the authority to enforce, or to adopt...  

Cynthia R. Wightman, a teacher in Galena, was accused of fourth-degree assault under AS 11.41.230(a)(3) ("recklessly plac[ing] another person in fear of imminent physical injury") based on an incident where she held a student down with her knee on his back and tickled him for somewhere between four and thirty seconds. The student testified that he was hurt and "a little" scared by Wightman's conduct. The... ... ... student added that, because of the pressure of Wightman's knee,...  

I. INTRODUCTION... We are called upon today to decide whether the State of Alaska has the authority to require private parties who construct wharves into adjacent navigable waters to enter into leases. The answer to this question depends on whether the common law right to construct a wharf in front of one's property, which was recognized in territorial days, has given way to the right of the state to require a lease on behalf of all Alaskans for the exclusive use of state-owned land... We...  

I. INTRODUCTION... James and Erlinda Partridge obtained a final decree of divorce in June 2008. James appeals the trial court's property division which allocated cash and income-expending assets to him and the marriage's most significant cash-producing asset to Erlinda. He argues that the trial court's allocation violates AS 25.24.160(a)(4), which requires that property divisions "fairly allocate the economic effect of divorce." James also claims the trial court erred by...  

I. INTRODUCTION... Coleen Mueller appeals a jury verdict absolving Lottie Buscemi and Geraldine Estabrook (collectively, "Buscemi"), owners of a commercial building and adjacent parking lot, of tort liability. Mueller slipped and was injured while attempting to enter her car in the rear parking lot of Buscemi's property. Mueller claims the trial... ... ... court erred by: (1) excluding evidence that the insurer's investigation concluded that the building's exterior lights were not...  

The police detained Marteshia Clark as a passenger in a reportedly stolen vehicle. The police searched the vehicle, finding packets of cocaine in a metal cigarette case left on the backseat. Clark challenges the superior court's conclusion that the search was justified as a consent search and a search incident to arrest. We conclude that the... ... ... police were authorized to open the cigarette case based both on the vehicle owner's consent to a general search and on the circumstances...  

Shawn W. Rogers appeals his conviction for manslaughter.1 He argues that there is a fatal variance between the theory of causation that the State presented to the... ... ... grand jury and the theory of causation that the trial jury apparently adopted (as suggested by the jury's questions to the court, and by the jury's verdict on a proposed aggravating factor). The State's theory of this case (both at grand jury and at trial) was that Rogers committed first-degree murder by pulling a handgun...  

Rolando Hernández-Zamora appeals his convictions under the Anchorage Municipal Code for one count of assaulting his girlfriend and one count of failing to appear.1... ... ... Hernández-Zamora first contends that the trial judge committed error by denying Hernández-Zamora's motion to sever the trial of the assault count from the trial of the failure to appear count... Hernández-Zamora made his motion for severance on the morning that his trial began. The trial judge denied...  

I. INTRODUCTION... The sole question in this case is whether state procurement officials are entitled to absolute immunity or qualified immunity for common law claims arising from the bid evaluation process. In this case, a disappointed bidder sued the procurement officials individually after the administrative hearing officer in the bid protest proceeding found serious improprieties in the bid evaluation process. The officials moved for dismissal on the ground that they were absolutely immune....  

I. INTRODUCTION... A probate master appointed a temporary limited conservator for Robert Farmer. The conservatorship was reviewed the following year; the probate master held a hearing, found that Robert was incapacitated to the extent he was unable to effectively manage his financial affairs, and recommended that his daughter be appointed partial limited conservator. The superior court considered the matter de novo and ultimately... ... ... adopted the probate master's findings and...  

In October of 1999, Charles L. Goldsbury entered into a plea bargain with the State in which he agreed to plead no contest to three counts of sexual abuse of a... ... ... minor.1 The State agreed to dismiss several other charges and agreed that Goldsbury would receive a sentence of 8 years or less to serve, with no limit on the jail time that could be suspended... Four and a half months later, at the time scheduled for sentencing, Goldsbury attempted to withdraw from the plea agreement.2...  

I. INTRODUCTION... Janice and Jalal Husseini are in the midst of a divorce proceeding. In February 2008 the trial court bifurcated the parties' divorce over Janice's objection, granting the divorce but reserving all issues of equitable distribution of property. Before the full trial on property issues, the court issued an interim order allowing Janice thirty days to refinance the parties' marital home in her name if she wanted to keep it. When she was unable to do so, the court issued an order...  

Stanley Mute filed an application for post-conviction relief, asking the superior court to apply the case of Crawford v. Washington,1 to certain hearsay admitted at his 1996 trial. Superior Court Judge Leonard Devaney held that Mute's application... ... ... was barred because he had filed two previous applications for post-conviction relief. In the alternative, Judge Devaney held that Crawford should not be applied retroactively under the terms of the post-conviction relief statute, AS...  

David Ripley was convicted of three counts of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. These convictions were based on three separate sales of cocaine by Ripley to informant Dominique Jean that were electronically monitored and recorded by police. Ripley was separately convicted of two counts of perjury and one count of solicitation of witness tampering. These convictions were based on threats... ... ... that Ripley made to Jean — through his friend, Marshall Harris...  

David Sun Do Hesch moved to dismiss his assault and kidnapping charges when a planned defense witness, Turhan Ray, invoked the privilege against self-incrimination and the State refused to grant Ray immunity from prosecution. We conclude that the trial judge was not required to dismiss the charges for two reasons: (1) because it was not apparent that Ray's testimony would have led to an acquittal, and (2) because the State had a valid reason to deny Ray immunity. In addition, the trial judge's...  

I. INTRODUCTION... Karen and Brian Laughlin divorced in October 2008. Before trial, the parties agreed to establish a "children's fund" from which they would pay certain children's expenses in lieu of child support. The superior court conducted a bench trial on the issues the parties were unable to resolve and incorporated the children's fund agreement into its final order. Karen appeals restrictions the court placed on the use of the children's fund. She also appeals the superior...  

I. INTRODUCTION... An employee of the City of Barrow (Barrow) who served as finance director for nearly eight years resigned after learning the mayor was demoting her to the position of senior accountant. She filed suit alleging violation of her right to due process under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violation of the Alaska Whistleblower Act, and alleging wrongful termination and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The... ... ... superior court granted summary...  

Sergeant Daryl Rice of the Sitka Police Department saw a truck traveling at approximately sixty to sixty-five miles per hour in a forty-five mile per hour zone. Sergeant Rice activated his overhead lights and pursued the truck, reaching speeds which... ... ... he estimated at eighty to eighty-five miles per hour. Sergeant Rice pursued the truck as it slowed down to turn into the gravel road of a trailer park. The truck momentarily fishtailed, kicked up some gravel and dust, and then continued,...  

Keen Smith appeals the sentence he received for the crime of first-degree assault (reckless infliction of serious physical injury by means of a dangerous... ... ... instrument).1 Smith raises three primary claims in this appeal, all having to do with proposed mitigating factors... Smith asserts that the superior court should have found his offense to be mitigated under AS 12.55.155(d)(3), the mitigator that applies to cases where the defendant's conduct was significantly affected by "some...