Appellant Mary Lickteig sued her brother, appellee Robert Kolar, Jr., in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota for sexual abuse and battery allegedly committed during their childhood, between approximately 1974 and 1977. The district court dismissed the case sua sponte, concluding that Lickteig did not state a cause of action, and Lickteig appealed. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals certified three questions to this court: (1) whether Minnesota law recognizes a cause...  

Appellant challenges the district court's denial of his motions for a new trial, arguing that the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion to compel discovery of the Intoxilyzer source code and by suppressing portions of the testimony of his expert witness. Appellant also argues that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We affirm... FACTS... At approximately 1:36 a.m. on August 29, 2006, Mankato Police Officer Christopher Hendrickson observed a vehicle traveling...  

Appellants Robert and Shirley Polzin contend that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to respondent Chrysler Group LLC, arguing that determining whether respondent breached its express warranty or violated Minnesota's lemon law involves questions of fact for the jury. We affirm... DECISION... In December 2006, appellants purchased a new 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck from Militello Motors in Fairmont. The truck was covered by respondent's basic limited warranty for new...  

Appellant Jonas Jacox was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm after the district court denied his motion to suppress evidence that he argues was discovered in two unlawful vehicle searches. What began as a trooper's welfare check on a stranded driver developed into a vehicle search that revealed a handgun that the driver illegally possessed. Because we conclude that Jacox's seizure and the trooper's vehicle search that uncovered the handgun did not violate Jacox's...  

Kevin Blomseth appeals from his convictions for assaulting his fiancée's 12-year-old son. The child told several people after the assault, and wrote in his journal, that he... ... ... got his black eyes from falling on the deck of his mother's home and hitting a propane tank. But the child told his older brother, and later a jury, that Blomseth had hit him and told him to lie about what happened. The jury convicted Blomseth of malicious punishment of a child and domestic assault. Blomseth...  

Christopher Ehrmantraut was charged with third-degree assault and convicted after a bench trial. He appeals, arguing that his jury-trial waiver was invalid because it... ... ... was based on his attorney's promise that the district court judge would not convict him; that the judge's knowledge of potentially negative information about him and her conduct during his trial violated his due process right to a trial before an impartial judge; that his attorney provided ineffective assistance of...  

Appellant challenges his convictions and subsequent concurrent sentences for five counts of failure to register as a predatory offender, alleging that he is being punished multiple times for the same offense, which would violate constitutional and statutory protections against double jeopardy. Because appellant's failure to register was a continuous offense, and each of the five verification forms sent to him by the state over the course of 15 months was a distinct event triggering a separate...  

In this appeal from an order for formal probate of a will and from an order denying appellants' motion for amended findings of fact and conclusions of law or a new trial, appellants argue that the district court (1) erred in determining that the will was duly... ... ... executed, (2) improperly applied the doctrine of dependent relative revocation, and (3) erroneously admitted hearsay testimony. We affirm... FACTS... Appellants Irving Scott Gaudette, Edward Gaudette, and Sherri Bond are the...  

A Nobles County jury found Brad Robert Grunig guilty of financial transaction card fraud based on evidence that he used a stolen credit card to purchase goods at a Walmart store. On appeal, Grunig argues that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's verdict and that the district court erred by admitting into evidence certain portions of the testimony of two law enforcement officers. We affirm... FACTS... A woman's handbag was stolen from her Jackson County home just before midnight on...  

On appeal from the district court's grant of summary judgment, appellant argues that the district court erred by (1) applying claim-preclusion doctrines because of prior, related litigation in Iowa, and (2) denying his motion to amend his complaint to join another defendant. We affirm... FACTS... Respondents Arthur and Zara Renander, Minnesota residents, owned a parcel of land in Iowa which they swapped for an adjacent property owned by a real-estate development company. The real-estate company...  

This appeal concerns Computer Forensic Services, Inc.'s efforts to be compensated for storing and analyzing AGA Medical Corporation's computer data. Computer Forensics Services (CFS) acquired AGA's data as directed by a court-appointed receiver during shareholder litigation. The suit settled, but CFS was not immediately notified and continued to store and preserve the data. CFS later analyzed the data at the request of a county attorney who was prosecuting an AGA employee. CFS moved the...  

James Boyer appeals, by writ of certiorari, an unemployment law judge's determination that he is ineligible for unemployment benefits. Because we conclude that substantial evidence supports the determination that Boyer quit his employment and that no exception to ineligibility applies, we affirm... FACTS... RFS, LLC is a North Dakota company that installs water sprinklers. On November 3, 2008, RFS employed James Boyer to install sprinklers for clients in North Dakota and Montana. Boyer, who...  

Appellant challenges the treatment of five certificates of deposit as estate assets following a jury's determination that her father did not intend proceeds from the accounts to belong solely to her. Because we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict and because the district court did not err in admitting evidence or instructing the jury, we affirm... FACTS... Appellant Maureen Kissack is the daughter of decedent Patrick Butler and is named as the personal...  

Appellant argues that the district court erred in ruling that a limited conservator may terminate a contract for representation between a conservatee and her private attorneys and that the district court erred in limiting attorney fees. Because the district court did not clearly err in determining that the contract terminated by the limited conservator was subject to the limited conservator's approval, and because the district court did not abuse its discretion with respect to the award of...  

On appeal from summary judgment in this lien dispute, appellant argues that (1) fact issues existed regarding whether it had a contract with respondent and the terms of that contract, (2) to not allow appellant to collect from respondent will result in the... ... ... unjust enrichment of respondents, and (3) appellant has a mechanic's lien against respondent's property as a result of the services that appellant provided. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand... FACTS... From April 17,...  

Brian Podratz is president and sole owner of Built By Design, Inc. Business decline left Podratz unable to sustain full-time employment, and he applied for unemployment benefits. The Department of Employment and Economic Development denied Podratz's application because, as a greater-than-25-percent owner of Built By Design, his work for the corporation was not covered employment unless the company filed an election of coverage, and no such election had been filed for Podratz. An unemployment...  

Diane Sheehan appeals from the district court's dismissal of her legal malpractice complaint against two attorneys who had represented her in her divorce. In the malpractice suit, Sheehan missed the 180-day deadline for serving the affidavit of expert disclosure required by Minnesota Statutes section 544.42, subdivision 2(2), and the defending attorneys moved for summary judgment. The district court granted their motion and held that Sheehan failed to disclose her expert's opinion as required...  

On appeal from his conviction of felony domestic assault, appellant argues that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to withdraw his Alford plea before sentencing because (1) his plea was not accurate or intelligent because he was innocent of the charged crime; and (2) the state did not establish that it would have been prejudiced by the withdrawal. We affirm... FACTS... The facts in this case are undisputed. Appellant was charged with felony domestic assault for an...  

Appellant Allen Pecholt challenges his conviction of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance on the basis that the search of his person and seizure of baggies from... ... ... his pants' pocket violated his constitutional rights. Because the officer had probable cause to arrest Pecholt, we affirm... FACTS... On the evening of May 28, 2008, Minneapolis Police Officer Jeff Carter was in an unmarked car monitoring a suspected drug house in northeast Minneapolis. Officer Carter had...  

Appellants challenge the district court's ruling that respondent was not liable for damage to a van that appellants loaned to respondent. We affirm... ... ... FACTS... Respondent Mishu Asfaw Abeje worked as an independent contractor driver for appellant Travelon Transportation. Respondent signed a Motor Vehicle Use Agreement with Travelon providing that respondent "received in satisfactory condition" a 2006 van with approximately 27,000 miles on it and that he would be responsible for...