Justia Minnesota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

After the City of Moorhead annexed Americana Estates (Americana), a residential subdivision with sixty-five metered electric service accounts, the City filed a condemnation petition to begin municipal electric service to residents of Americana. After a hearing, a three-member commission of the district court awarded the Red River Valley Cooperative Power Association (RRVC), which previously served Americana, $307,214. Both parties appealed the commission's award of damages. After a jury trial, the district court awarded a total compensation award to RRVC of $385,311. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the City's valuation was inconsistent with the plain language of Minn. Stat. 216B.47 by failing to give meaningful consideration to four statutory factors and thus was properly excluded from consideration by the district court; and (2) the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding portions of an untimely revised report submitted by the City dealing with facility replacement costs. View "City of Moorhead v. Red River Valley Coop. Power Ass'n" on Justia Law

The Living Word Bible Camp, a tax-exempt organization, owned property in Itasca County. Living Word sought to obtain the necessary governmental approvals to use the property as a summer bible camp and retreat center. Itasca County classified the property as tax-exempt from 2001 to 2007 then reclassified the property as taxable as of 2008. Living Word challenged the reclassification for the 2008 and 2009 assessments. The tax court affirmed the County's reclassification because Living Word had failed to make sufficient progress in obtaining the necessary governmental approvals for its proposed use of the property. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the tax court (1) erred in concluding that Living Word was not entitled to an exemption because it was not using the property in furtherance of a charitable purpose; and (2) erred in determining that Living Word's current activities on the property could not be considered in determining whether that use was sufficient to qualify as a tax-exempt use. Remanded. View "Living Word Bible Camp v. County of Itasca" on Justia Law

Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder while committing first-degree criminal sexual conduct causing personal injury. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction on appeal. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief, alleging a claim of newly discovered evidence. After an evidentiary hearing, the postconviction court denied the petition, concluding that the newly discovered evidence was not credible and, therefore, was not likely to produce a result more favorable to Appellant. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the postconviction court did not abuse its discretion in denying Appellant's petition for postconviction relief, as the record supported the court's credibility determinations. View "Tscheu v. State" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony. Defendant appealed, seeking a new trial based on the district court's allegedly erroneous admission of expert testimony offered by a medical examiner and a firearms examiner. Defendant argued that the testimony was improperly admitted because it intruded on the fact-finding role of the jury. Defendant did not object to the testimony at trial. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions, holding that the district court properly admitted the expert testimony of the medical examiner and the firearms examiner. View "State v. Xiong" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including driving a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more. Defendant filed a request to preserve "blood tests," but subsequently, the State destroyed Defendant's blood sample used in a blood alcohol test in accordance with its retention policy. Defendant pleaded not guilty and successfully moved to suppress the results of his blood-alcohol test. The court of appeals affirmed the district court's suppression order, adopting a per se rule requiring suppression when the State destroys evidence after a defendant has made a demand to preserve the evidence. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the State did not violate any of the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure when it destroyed Defendant's blood sample, and the district court erred in suppressing the results of the blood test. View "State v. Hawkinson" on Justia Law

Eden Prairie Mall, LLC (EPM) owned a mall. Included in the mall parcel for property tax purposes were the mall's in-line tenants, five anchor tenants, and a movie theater complex. EPM sought review of the tax court's market value determinations for the mall and one of its anchor tenants for the assessment dates of 2005 and 2006. The tax court adopted the market values for the mall parcel proposed by Hennepin County in its post-trial brief, which were higher than the value opinions presented by either party's appraiser at trial. On appeal, the Supreme Court concluded the tax court's value determinations were not supported by the record and remanded with instructions for the tax court to explain its reasoning and describe the factual support in the record for its determinations. On remand, the tax court adopted market values that exceeded its earlier determinations. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the tax court failed to follow the Court's remand instructions because the tax court failed to explain its reasoning and describe the factual support in the record for its determinations. Remanded. View "Eden Prairie Mall, LLC v. County of Hennepin" on Justia Law

The subject property was located at 44 Lafayette Road in Saint Paul. Relators challenged the County's assessments for the assessment dates 2007, 2008, and 2009. After trial, the tax court adopted the market values proposed by the County in its post-trial brief, which were higher than the value opinions presented by either party's appraiser at trial. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded with instructions for the tax court to explain its reasoning for rejecting the appraisal testimony and to describe the factual support in the record for its determinations. On remand, the tax court again adopted market values that exceeded the parties' appraisal opinions. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the tax court failed to follow the Court's remand instructions in its calculation of parking income and expenses. Remanded for a further evidentiary hearing regarding the appropriate calculation of net parking income. View "444 Lafayette, LLC v. County of Ramsey" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree intentional drive-by shooting murder, attempted first-degree premeditated murder, and attempted first-degree intentional drive-by shooting murder. Defendant filed two petitions for postconviction relief, both of which were denied. Several years after his convictions, Defendant filed a third petition for postconviction relief, arguing that the grand jury selection process in Hennepin County violated his constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. Defendant maintained that his current petition was excepted from the statutory two-year time limit. The postconviction court denied Defendant's petition for postconviction relief, concluding that the petition was time barred and that the newly-discovered-evidence exception did not apply and alternatively, that the petition was barred under the Knaffla doctrine. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Defendant's petition failed to satisfy an exception to the two-year limitations period, and therefore, the petition was time barred. View "Francis v. State" on Justia Law

1st Fidelity Loan Servicing initiated a foreclosure by advertisement to collect the debt secured by a mortgage on the home of Respondent. 1st Fidelity subsequently purchased the property at the foreclosure sale. Respondent filed a complaint seeking a declaration that the sale was null and void and the recovery of monetary damages, alleging that 1st Fidelity failed to comply with certain statutory requirements. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of 1st Fidelity on the ground that it had substantially complied with the relevant statutes. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that Minnesota's foreclosure by advertisement statute requires strict compliance and that a foreclosing party's failure to strictly comply renders the foreclosure void. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) a party must strictly comply with Minn. Stat. 580.02(3), which requires that all assignments of a mortgage be recorded before a party is entitled to make a foreclosure by advertisement; and (2) because 1st Fidelity did not strictly comply with section 580.02(3), the foreclosure was void. Remanded. View "Ruiz v. 1st Fidelity Loan Servicing, LLC " on Justia Law

Relator was at all times relevant to this case employed by the National Basketball Association as a referee. Relator did not file Minnesota income tax returns for the 2003 and 2004 tax years but subsequently filed a 2003 state tax return as a part-year Minnesota resident. The Commissioner of Revenue determined that Relator was a full-time, legal resident of Minnesota during the relevant tax years. Relator appealed, asserting that, in 2003, he established his domicile in Florida. The Commissioner again determined that Relator was a full-time Minnesota resident during the 2003 and 2004 tax years, and the tax court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that sufficient evidence supported the tax court's decision, and the court correctly concluded that Relator failed to carry his burden of overcoming the legal presumption that he remained domiciled in Minnesota during the 2003 and 2004 tax years. View "Mauer v. Comm'r of Revenue" on Justia Law