New opinions: July 9, 2026

Highlight: A district court's criminal judgments are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

Highlight: A district court's criminal judgments are summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3).

Highlight: A final contempt order must be appealed within sixty days. Incorporating a final contempt order into a subsequent judgment does not restart the time to appeal.

An appeal waiver not incorporated into a judgment is still enforceable as a contract between the parties but is narrowly construed. Under contract
principles, the parties did not waive the right to appeal the issues that were carved out for judicial determination, but only the issues the parties had resolved by stipulation.

The district court did not abuse its discretion by awarding a limited amount of attorney's fees under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.5 where the fees requested spanned multiple litigation issues and the requesting party failed to segregate the fee request between the issue relevant to the award of attorney's fees and all of the other issues.

State v. Kanneh 2026 ND 137
Docket No.: 20250427
Filing Date: 7/9/2026
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Sexual Offense
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A criminal judgment entered after a jury convicted the defendant of continuous sexual abuse of a child is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).

State v. Warner 2026 ND 133
Docket No.: 20260036
Filing Date: 7/9/2026
Case Type: Appeal - Criminal - Terrorizing
Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair

Highlight: An appellant's failure to file transcripts of evidentiary hearings may preclude appellate review of an issue.

A defendant consents to warrantless searches of property in his control by accepting a condition of probation allowing such searches.

A district court does not abuse its discretion in revoking probation when the court relies on its findings that defendant violated conditions of defendant's probation.

Highlight: Registering to do business in North Dakota, by itself, is not sufficient contact for jurisdiction to attach to a foreign corporation.

Failure to assert an affirmative defense in a lawsuit dismissed without prejudice does not bar the defense in a subsequent case.

Negotiating dismissal of a lawsuit does not constitute the purposeful availment due process requires for personal jurisdiction over a nonresident.

Highlight: Parenting time determinations are findings of fact reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard of review. When restrictions on parenting time are imposed, the district court must articulate findings supporting the limitations, but the limitations need not follow a rigid verbal formula as long as they are fairly discernible by deduction or inference.

Stepped parenting time advancement provisions cannot be delegated to nonjudicial actors without defined standards or a mechanism for judicial review.

Warner v. State 2026 ND 138
Docket No.: 20260041
Filing Date: 7/9/2026
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A judgment denying a postconviction relief application is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

Highlight: A defendant's filing of a third-party complaint, standing alone, does not result in the forfeiture of a statute of limitations defense.

The accrual of a cause of action under the discovery rule does not require a party to have full knowledge of the extent of an injury, but rather knowledge of facts sufficient to put a person of ordinary intelligence on enough inquiry to trigger the responsibility to promptly investigate.

A homeowner had inquiry notice of a potential construction defect claim involving insulation where he noticed persistent cold conditions in a specific area of the home as well as frost buildup and significant temperature differentials within one year of purchasing the home.

Once a cause of action has accrued, a contractor's subsequent repair and remediation activity does not retroactively alter the accrual date, but rather becomes the subject of equitable estoppel.

In construction defect cases, a contractor's good faith repair activity, standing alone, does not constitute conduct calculated to induce the homeowner to forbear from filing suit; the contractor can still invoke equitable estoppel absent evidence the contractor made a promise to repair in exchange for a promise not to sue.

Highlight: A dismissal without prejudice has no res judicata effect because there has been no decision on the merits; a federal judgment dismissing a state-law claim without prejudice under N.D.C.C. § 28-01-46 and resolving only the federal constitutional claims does not preclude a later state-court action on the negligence and wrongful-death claims.

The disability extender in N.D.C.C. § 28-01-25 applies by its terms to any action other than the three it excepts and reaches wrongful-death actions under
N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18(4); the absence of a cross-reference to § 28-01-25 in subsection 4 does not, by negative implication, withdraw wrongful-death claims
from the extender's reach.

A wrongful-death claim accrues at the time of death under N.D.C.C. § 28-01- 18(4); the objective-discovery standard of BASF Corp. v. Symington fixes the date of accrual but does not cut off the § 28-01-25 disability extension, which the Legislature limited by time rather than knowledge. BASF Corp. v. Symington, 512 N.W.2d 692, 696 (N.D. 1994).

Magana v. State 2026 ND 141
Docket No.: 20260046
Filing Date: 7/9/2026
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Highlight: An applicant seeking to withdraw a guilty plea based on ineffective assistance of counsel must satisfy a two-part test. The second prong of the test requires a showing of prejudice. The applicant must convince the district court that a decision to reject the plea bargain would have been rational under the circumstances. An applicant's subjective self-serving statement that he would have insisted on going to trial absent deficient representation is not sufficient to establish prejudice.

Highlight: In non-divorce cases, a party's voluntary acceptance of the full amount of a judgment, without reserving any issues for appeal, waives that party's right to appeal from the judgment.

Highlight: An amended judgment in a quiet title action is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(1), (6), and (8). A pre-filing order designating a vexatious litigant is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(4) and (7). An appellant is ordered to pay the appellees' costs and attorney's fees under N.D.R.App.P. 38.

Foley v. State 2026 ND 134
Docket No.: 20260071
Filing Date: 7/9/2026
Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Post-Conviction Relief
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court judgment denying an application for postconviction relief is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

Januszewski v. WSI 2026 ND 144
Docket No.: 20260175
Filing Date: 7/9/2026
Case Type: Appeal - Administrative - Workers Compensation
Author: Per Curiam

Highlight: A district court judgment affirming an administrative law judge's order upholding a North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance decision denying a claim for workers' compensation benefits is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(5).