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.
Published Opinions
By 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 Monday, October 7, 2024
A24-0406 Carley Pesente, Appellant, vs. Minnesota Life Insurance Company, Respondent.
Ramsey County District Court, Hon. Patrick C. Diamond.
1. Connecticut law, not Minnesota law, governs the enforceability of an insured’s designation of a spouse as a beneficiary under a group life-insurance policy when the policy was issued in Connecticut and the insured lived in Connecticut, notwithstanding that the couple’s marriage was dissolved by a Minnesota court after the spouse moved to the state.
2. When deciding a choice-of-law question involving interpretation of a group life-insurance policy, the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 192 cmt. h (Am. L. Inst. 1971) does not supersede the analysis based on the choice-influencing factors set forth in Milkovich v. Saari, 203 N.W.2d 408 (Minn. 1973).
Reversed and remanded. Judge Jeanne M. Cochran.
Unpublished Opinions
Unpublished 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.
NONPRECEDENTIAL OPINIONS
FILED Monday, October 7, 2024
Pursuant to Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1 (c)
1.
A24-0136
In the Matter of the Appeal of the Discharge of M.W. from the Minnesota Veterans Home Minneapolis.
Affirmed. Judge Kevin G. Ross.
Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs.
2.
A24-0031
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Breana Joan Donovan Siemers, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Kevin G. Ross.
Benton County District Court, Hon. Michael S. Jesse.
3.
A23-1967
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Nathan Christopher Braun, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Kevin G. Ross.
Stearns County District Court, Hon. Heidi E. Schultz.
4.
A23-1913
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. James Chavers, Jr., Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Kevin G. Ross.
St. Louis County District Court, Hon. Andrew R. Peterson.
5.
A23-1801
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Derek Lee Preston, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Francis J. Connolly.
Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Lisa K. Janzen.
6.
A24-0389
Benjamin Unke, et al., Appellants, vs. Michael Braun, et al., Defendants, Neil Constine, et al., Respondents.
Affirmed. Judge Michelle A. Larkin.
Dakota County District Court, Hon. Christopher J. Lehmann.
7.
A23-1977
Anne L Doering, Relator, vs. 2Care4U South, LLC, Respondent, 4U Home Health Care South, LLC, Respondent, Department of Employment and
Economic Development, Respondent.
Affirmed. Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks.*
Department of Employment and Economic Development.
8.
A23-1902
Angeleah Joy Brandt, Appellant, vs. Garrett James Brandt, et al., Respondents.
Affirmed. Judge Edward J. Cleary.*
Blue Earth County District Court, Hon. Mark Edward Betters.
* Retired judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, serving by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10.
Order Opinions
Cases 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
October 7, 2024
No Order Opinions Filed.
Special Release Opinions
NO SPECIAL RELEASE OPINIONS FILED
Opinion Sets
Opinion 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 Monday, October 7, 2024
Opinion Set in a Zipped PDF Format
- Click the above link.
- Save the unzipped file to your computer.
- Choose the "Open" option on the Download Complete screen.
- Extract the files to a location of your choice.
- Open the extracted file.