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Court of Appeals Opinions

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IMPORTANT NOTICE

Appellate Courts will begin transmitting all notices, orders, and opinions electronically.

Beginning no later than July 1, 2011, the appellate courts will send notices, orders, opinions, and correspondence related to pending cases to attorneys in those cases by e-mail rather than postal mail.  All attorneys with pending appellate cases who have not already registered an e-mail address should do so immediately.  Unrepresented parties with pending appellate cases may also participate in this e-notification system by registering an e-mail address.  Please visit the Clerk of Appellate Courts page for instructions on how to register your e-mail address.
 

Opinion Policies

Minnesota Court of Appeals opinions are issued weekly and are available to the public at 10 a.m. CST/CDT every Monday.

On Wednesday of every week, the Court of Appeals will mail a notice that informs counsel, pro se parties, and court personnel associated with a case that an opinion will be released the following Monday.  Opinions are available online or by visiting the Clerk of Appellate Courts, 305 Minnesota Judicial Center, 25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, after the Monday release time.  Copies of the opinions are mailed to involved parties on Mondays.

In certain time-sensitive cases, the Court of Appeals may issue opinions on a business day other than Monday.  In these instances, involved parties will be contacted just prior to the special release.

Please visit the Minnesota State Law Library's Appellate Opinions Archive for previously released Court of Appeals Opinions.

NOTE: If you are having trouble accessing the tabs on your mobile device, you may view all Opinions on a single page.

Published OpinionsBy statute, the Court of Appeals issues a published opinion only in the most important and complex cases. Published opinions include an extensive analysis of the facts and law. They will be considered and used by courts faced with similar issues in the future, and they are published in books found in most law libraries.

DECISIONS OF THE COURT OF APPEALS
FILED Tuesday, February 18, 2020


A19-0627        Benjamin L. Tapia, Appellant, vs. Dakota County Sheriff, Tim Leslie, Respondent.
                         Dakota County District Court, Hon. David L. Knutson.
            For the purposes of obtaining a permit to carry, a person deemed ineligible to possess a firearm because of an adjudication of a “crime of violence,” as defined under a prior version of Minn. Stat. § 624.712, subd. 5 (2018), is not rendered eligible to possess a firearm as a result of a 2014 amendment that subsequently removed that person’s offense from the list of offenses designated as crimes of violence.  Because the plain language of the amendment indicates that it applies to crimes committed on or after its effective date, the sheriff does not have a clear duty to issue a permit to a person who was previously deemed ineligible.
            Affirmed.  Judge Carol A. Hooten.
            Dissenting, Judge Tracy M. Smith.


A19-0937        Kevin Nelson Birkland, petitioner, Appellant, vs. Commissioner of Public Safety, Respondent.   
                         Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Daniel C. Moreno.
            Minnesota Statutes section 169.19, subdivision 1(b) (2018) does not mandate that a driver turning left from a single left-turn lane must turn into the innermost lane of the roadway being entered.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Randall J. Slieter.
 
Unpublished OpinionsUnpublished opinions are issued in cases that are less complicated, that involve legal issues that have already been decided in published opinions, or that will affect only the parties to that particular case. These opinions are usually shorter, do not contain extensive discussion of the facts, and are not generally relied on by other courts to the same degree as published opinions.

UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS
FILED Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2018)



1.         A19-1056
            In the Matter of the Welfare of the Children of: P. T. N., Father.
            Affirmed.  Chief Judge Edward J. Cleary.
            Ramsey County District Court, Hon. DeAnne M. Hilgers.

2.         A19-0442, A19-0676
            Christian David-Robert Wille, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge Renee L. Worke.
            Ramsey County District Court, Hon. Jennifer Frisch.
 
3.         A19-0376
            Teresa Corinne MacNabb, petitioner, Respondent, vs. John Michael Kysylyczyn,
            Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Francis J. Connolly.
            Ramsey County District Court, Hon. Jeffrey Bryan.

4.         A19-0560
            Jeffrey Alan Fish, petitioner, Respondent, vs. Kristin Klein Fish, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Matthew E. Johnson.
            Chisago County District Court, Hon. Robert G. Rancourt.

5.         A19-0222
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Derrick Lee Riddle, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Matthew E. Johnson.
            Ramsey County District Court, Hon. Thomas Gilligan, Jr.

6.         A19-1310
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Troy Kenneth Scheffler, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Louise Dovre Bjorkman.
            Anoka County District Court, Hon. Dyanna L. Street.

7.         A19-0183
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Adam Vance Stevenson, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Louise Dovre Bjorkman.
            Kandiyohi County District Court, Hon. Dwayne Knutsen.

8.         A19-0829
            Max Carl Werlich, Appellant, vs. Paul Schnell, et al., Respondents.
            Affirmed.  Judge John R. Rodenberg.
            Washington County District Court, Hon. Juanita C. Freeman.

9.         A19-1733
            In re the Matter of the Civil Commitment of: Ahmed Kadir.
            Affirmed.  Judge Denise D. Reilly.
            Ramsey County District Court, Hon. Thomas Gilligan, Jr.

10.       A19-1505
            In re the Matter of the Welfare of the Children of: J. S.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Denise D. Reilly.
            Pope County District Court, Hon. Melissa Listug.

11.       A19-0737
            Michael Dennis Dewar, petitioner, Appellant, vs. Luanna Sue Gary, Respondent.
            Affirmed; motion denied.  Judge Denise D. Reilly.
            Washington County District Court, Hon. Richard C. Ilkka.

12.       A19-0452
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Lawrence Frank Herron, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Peter M. Reyes, Jr.
            Stearns County District Court, Hon. Shan C. Wang.

13.       A19-0363
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Randy Scott Bennett, Jr., Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Diane B. Bratvold.
            Stearns County District Court, Hon. Sarah E. Hennesy.

14.       A19-0294
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Joseph Frank Rezac, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Diane B. Bratvold.
            Dissenting, Judge Renee L. Worke.
            Stearns County District Court, Hon. Mary B. Mahler.

15.       A19-0652
            Theodore Swantz, Relator, vs. Premier Transportation, Respondent, Department of
            Employment and Economic Development, Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge Tracy M. Smith.
            Department of Employment and Economic Development.

16.       A19-0299
            Christina L. Suhsen, petitioner, Respondent, vs. Karl W. Suhsen, Appellant.
            Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded.  Judge Tracy M. Smith.
            Dakota County District Court, Hon. M. Michael Baxter.

17.       A19-0499
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Jeron Demar Faulkner, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Lucinda E. Jesson.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Martha A. Holton Dimick.

18.       A19-0399
            Nathan Christopher Braun, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.
            Reversed and remanded.  Judge Randall J. Slieter.
            Becker County District Court, Hon. Gretchen Thilmony.

19.       A19-0397
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Elizabeth Rose Osterbauer, Appellant.
            Affirmed.  Judge Randall J. Slieter.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Marta M. Chou.

20.       A19-0564
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Justin Guy Adams, Appellant.
            Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded.  Judge Susan L. Segal.
            Dakota County District Court, Hon. Arlene Perkkio.



 
Order OpinionsCases that involve a few simple issues may be decided by order opinions, which include little discussion of the facts of the case and a brief analysis of the laws that are involved.

RECENT ORDER OPINIONS
February 18, 2020



1.         A19-1164
            State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Steven Ray Odenthal, Appellant.
            Affirmed in part and remanded in part.  Judge Lucinda E. Jesson.
            Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Fred Karasov.

2.         A19-1084
            Joshua Steven Mittelsted, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.
            Affirmed.  Judge Jeanne M. Cochran.
            Mower County District Court, Hon. Jeffrey Kritzer.


 

NO SPECIAL RELEASE OPINIONS FILED

Opinion SetsOpinion sets contain all published, unpublished, and order opinions. The sets are compressed into files that must be unpacked before opening them.

Opinion Sets For Opinions
Filed Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Opinion Set in a Zipped Word Document Format

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  4. Extract the files to a location of your choice.
  5. Open the extracted file.

Opinion Set in a Zipped Rich Text Format

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  5. Open the extracted file.