Supreme Court Opinions


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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 go to the Clerk of Appellate Courts page for instructions how to register your e-mail address.
 

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED OPINIONS

Please visit the Minnesota State Law Library's Appellate Opinions Archive for previously published Supreme Court Opinions.


 

 

OPINIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT

FILED Wednesday, March 27, 2024

NOTICE - MEDIA RELEASE TIME IS 10:00 A.M.


A23-0737   Alliance Housing Incorporated, et al., Respondents, vs. County of Hennepin, Relator.
                    Tax Court.
          For purposes of qualifying for tax exemption under Article X, Section 1, of the Minnesota Constitution, an institution of purely public charity with a purpose of providing housing for low-income individuals uses its real property in furtherance of its charitable purpose when it leases its property to its intended beneficiaries for personal residence.
          Affirmed. Justice G. Barry Anderson.


Opinion Sets

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ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS


NO ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS RECENTLY FILED

 


ORDERS ON PETITIONS FOR FURTHER REVIEW

FILED Tuesday, March 19, 2024


(Petitioner indicated in Italic Type)

POSTED THURSDAY AFTER SPECIAL TERM CONFERENCE
(Issues are as Presented in the Petition for Review)
 
 
 Granted
 
1.         In re the Estate of: Joanne Mary Ecklund, Decedent – A23-0210
 
Issues Granted:
 
Petition of the Commissioner of Human Services: Federal law requires DHS to recover medical assistance paid on behalf of certain Medicaid recipients.  “Medical assistance” is defined as payments for the cost of providing certain covered services.  Federal agency guidance, binding on DHS, expressly includes capitation payments in this recovery.  The Minnesota Legislature passed an MA statutory scheme expressly intended to comply with the federal Medicaid program.  The state MA recovery statute requires recovery of certain “medical assistance rendered to” recipients and defines medical assistance the same way as federal law.  Do state and federal law require DHS to recover MA capitation payments from Ms. Ecklund’s estate?
 
Petition of Hennepin County Human Services: Does Minn. Stat. § 256B.15, subd. 2(a) limit an estate-recovery claim to the amounts paid for the cost of long-term care services that were provided to a Medical Assistance recipient, or does the statute allow for recovery of the portion of the capitation payments that provided coverage for those service?
 
 
2.         State of Minnesota vs. Logan Hunger Vagle – A23-0863
 
Issues Granted: (1) Does the Legislature’s reference to the federal code within [Minnesota Statutes] section 609.667 apply to [Minnesota Statutes] section 609.667(3)? (2) Is it a felony for Minnesotans to possess privately made firearms that do not include serial numbers where federal law exempts privately made firearms from serial number requirements? (3) Did the district court correctly conclude that [Minnesota Statutes] section 609.667 is unconstitutionally vague?
 
 
Granted/Stayed
 
3.         Sally Cooper Smith vs. Steven C. Piechowski, individually and dba SP Trucking,    LLC, Northstar Materials, Inc., dba Knife River Materials – A23-0481
 
Issues: (1) Should this Court formally adopt a claim for negligent selection of an independent contractor as contemplated by Restatement (Second) of Torts § 411, cmts. (a) and (c)? (2) Did the district court err in granting summary judgment for Knife River on the ground that Cooper Smith’s direct liability claims were barred by her “Pierringer release” settlement with SP Trucking? (3) Did the district court err in granting summary judgment for Knife River on the ground that Cooper Smith could not establish that Knife River’s negligence in selecting unsafe motor carrier SP Trucking was a proximate cause of the crash? (4) Did the district court err in granting summary judgment for Knife River on the ground that the limited indemnity provision in the “Pierringer release” combined with the hiring agreement created a “circuity of obligation”?
 
            Stayed Pending Final Disposition in Alonzo v. Menholt, No. A22-1796.
 
 
Denied
 
4.          Chad Monson, et al. vs. Thomas J. Egge, et al. – A23-0719
5.          In the Matter of the Hazardous/Nuisance Property and Building Located at 118 1st Street East, Maple Lake, Minnesota – A23-1269
6.          Lagoon Partners, LLC, a Minnesota limited liability company vs. Silver Cinemas Acquisition Co., a Delaware corporation, d/b/a Landmark Theatres
             – A23-0194
7.          Minnesota Housing Finance Agency vs. Teresa M. Lentz, John Doe, et al. – A23-1386
8.          Richard Preston Blackwell vs. Little Caesars Pizza – A23-0886
9.          Richard Preston Blackwell vs. Saint Paul Police Department – A23-0730
10.        Richard Preston Blackwell vs. Tubman, Maplewood Police – A23-0687
11.        State of Minnesota vs. Abdullahi Abshir Abdullahi – A23-0205
12.        State of Minnesota vs. Blas Garcia – A22-1753
13.        State of Minnesota vs. Cheath Tek – A22-1655
14.        State of Minnesota vs. Curtis Dwayne Thurston – A23-0172
15.        State of Minnesota vs. Jaundale Maurice Berry – A23-0125
16.        State of Minnesota vs. Justin Kainoa Kaneakua – A23-0019
17.        State of Minnesota vs. Lamarr Lucky Smith – A22-1824
18.        State of Minnesota vs. Mainza Lombe Malambo –A23-0139
19.        State of Minnesota vs. Mitchel Jerome Kasper – A22-1832, A22-1833
20.        State of Minnesota vs. Patrick Martin Orman – A23-0569
21.        State of Minnesota vs. Royale Romeo Harris – A22-1809
 
 
Denied – Filed March 1, 2024
 
In the Matter of the Welfare of the Children of: S.K. and N.K., Parents – A23-1187
 
 
Denied – Filed March 12, 2024
 
In the Matter of the Welfare of the Children of: R.V.M. and J.R.M., Parents – A23-1103, A23-1125