Justia Minnesota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Claims brought against the manufacturer of a component part of an improvement to real property fell under an exception to the ten-year statute of repose because the improvement was “machinery installed upon real property.” See Minn. Stat. 541.051.Appellant manufactured the motor in a home’s heat-recovery ventilator. Sixteen years after the ventilator was installed, a fire started in the ventilator, causing property damage to the home. Respondent, the insurer of the homeowners, brought this subrogation action against Appellant. The district court granted summary judgment for Appellant, concluding that the ten-year statute of response for improvements to real property barred every claim except the claim alleging a post-sale duty to warn, which claim it dismissed upon summary judgment. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part, holding (1) under the plain language of section 541.051, the ventilator containing Appellant’s motor was “machinery installed upon real property,” and therefore, the court of appeals properly reinstated Respondent’s breach of warranty, negligence, and product liability claims; and (2) Appellant did not have a duty to warn consumers of its product’s alleged defect after the time of sale. View "Great Northern Insurance Co. v. Honeywell International, Inc." on Justia Law

Claims brought against the manufacturer of a component part of an improvement to real property fell under an exception to the ten-year statute of repose because the improvement was “machinery installed upon real property.” See Minn. Stat. 541.051.Appellant manufactured the motor in a home’s heat-recovery ventilator. Sixteen years after the ventilator was installed, a fire started in the ventilator, causing property damage to the home. Respondent, the insurer of the homeowners, brought this subrogation action against Appellant. The district court granted summary judgment for Appellant, concluding that the ten-year statute of response for improvements to real property barred every claim except the claim alleging a post-sale duty to warn, which claim it dismissed upon summary judgment. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part, holding (1) under the plain language of section 541.051, the ventilator containing Appellant’s motor was “machinery installed upon real property,” and therefore, the court of appeals properly reinstated Respondent’s breach of warranty, negligence, and product liability claims; and (2) Appellant did not have a duty to warn consumers of its product’s alleged defect after the time of sale. View "Great Northern Insurance Co. v. Honeywell International, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decisions of the court of appeals and district court that Respondent’s due process rights were violated when he was read an inaccurate implied consent advisory after his arrest on suspicion of driving while impaired.Respondent refused to submit to either a urine or a blood test. Thereafter, the Commissioner of Public Safety revoked Respondent’s driver’s license for refusing to submit to a test. Relying on McDonnell v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 473 N.W.2d 848 (Minn. 1991), the district court rescinded the revocation after finding that the implied consent advisory violated Respondent’s due process rights because it incorrectly stated that refusal to submit to a urine test was a crime. The court of appeals affirmed on the basis that the threat of legally impossible criminal charges for refusal to submit to a urine test violated due process. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that because Respondent did not rely on the implied consent advisory to his detriment, and instead refused to submit to testing, no due process violation occurred under McDonnell. View "Johnson v. Commissioner of Public Safety" on Justia Law

Appellant failed to establish that he was prejudiced by the implied consent advisory read to him after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired, and therefore, Appellant was not entitled to a rescission of his license revocation under McDonnell v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 473 N.W.2d 848 (Minn. 1991).Appellant submitted to a blood test, and the test results showed an alcohol concentration above the legal limit. Appellant’s driver’s license was subsequently revoked. The district court sustained the revocation on the basis that Appellant voluntarily consented to the blood test. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant was not entitled to a rescission of his license revocation under McDonnell because he did not even claim, much less establish, that he prejudicially relied on the implied consent advisory. View "Morehouse v. Commissioner of Public Safety" on Justia Law

A defendant who files a motion under Minn. R. Crim. P. 27.03, subd. 9 to correct a sentence after the time for direct appeal has passed bears the burden to prove the sentence was based on an incorrect criminal history score.The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the district courts denying Appellant’s motions to correct his sentence under Minn. R. Crim. P. 27.03(9), which Appellant filed after the time to file a direct appeal had expired. In his motions, Appellant argued that two Minnesota district courts miscalculated his criminal history score because those courts treated his two Illinois drug-related convictions as felonies. The court of appeals affirmed the denial of the motions. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant had the burden to prove that the Illinois convictions were improperly included in his criminal history score and that Appellant failed to meet this burden. View "Williams v. State" on Justia Law

At issue was whether an indemnity clause in a rental agreement required the renter to indemnify the rental company for the rental company’s negligence.The Tower Tap & Restaurant entered into an agreement to rent folding picnic tables from London Road Rental Center, Inc. for an event. Plaintiff injured his hip at Tower Tap’s event after one of the rented tables collapsed on him. Plaintiff sued Tower Tap and London Road. London Road filed a cross-claim against Tower Tap, seeking contractual indemnity based on the indemnity clause in the rental agreement. The district court granted summary judgment to London Road, concluding that the clause unequivocally covered liability for London Road’s own negligence. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the indemnity clause did not include express language that clearly and unequivocally showed the parties’ intent to transfer such liability to Tower Tap. View "Dewitt v. London Road Rental Center, Inc." on Justia Law

The legislative amendments to the State Auditor’s responsibilities over audits of Minnesota counties do not violate either the Separation of Powers Clause, Minn. Const. art. III, 1 or the Single Subject Clause, Minn. Const. art. IV, 17.In 2015, a new statute was enacted that governed the State Auditor’s county-audit responsibilities. The statute allowed counties to choose to have the required audit performed by either a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm or the State Auditor. The State Auditor brought this suit arguing that the statute violated the Minnesota Constitution. The district court concluded that the legislative modification of the State Auditor’s duties was constitutional. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the State’s Auditor’s challenges under the Separation of Powers Clause and the Single Subject Clause failed. View "Otto v. Wright County" on Justia Law

At issue was whether Hennepin County properly refused to comply with part of Appellant’s government-data request under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (the Data Practices Act).The Supreme Court held (1) there was substantial evidence in the record to support the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) conclusion that Hennepin County’s established procedures do not “insure” appropriate and prompt responses to requests for government data under the Data Practices Act; (2) there was not substantial evidence in the record to support the ALJ’s conclusion that the County did not maintain records containing government data in an arrangement and condition making them easily accessible for convenient use in violation of the Data Practices Act; and (3) the Court did not have appellate jurisdiction to decide whether Appellant’s request was valid or whether the County may refuse to comply with a request that the County deems “unduly burdensome.” View "Webster v. Hennepin County" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed a postconviction order that summarily denied Appellant’s public-trial claim on the grounds that the claim was barred by the rule announced in State v. Knaffla, 243 N.W.2d 737 (Minn. 1976).Appellant was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. During trial, the district court required spectators to present photographic identification before entering the courtroom. In his petition for postconviction relief Appellant asserted that the photographic-identification rule denied him his right to a public trial provided by the federal and state constitutions and that his appellate counsel was ineffective for not seeking a stay to expand the record regarding the courtroom “closure.” Relying on the rule announced in Knaffla, the postconvcition court summarily denied the petition for postconviction relief. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) because Appellant’s public-trial claim was raised by Appellant and rejected by the Supreme Court on direct appeal, the postconviction court properly concluded that Knaffla barred the claim; and (2) Appellant forfeited appellate review of his argument that the interests-of-justice exception applied in his case. View "Taylor v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) upholding the decision of the compensation judge ordering that Atlas Staffing, Inc. and its insurer, Meadowbrook Claims Services, pay workers’ compensation benefits to Anthony Gist. The compensation judge found that Gist’s exposure to silica, a known cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD), during his employment with Atlas was a substantial contributing factor to his kidney disease.In the consolidated appeals brought by Appellants and Fresenius Medical Care, which treated Gist after Appellants denied coverage and accepted payments from Medicaid and Medicare for the costs of that treatment, the Supreme Court held (1) the compensation judge did not abuse her discretion by relying on a certain medical report to find that work-related silica exposure was a substantial contributing factor to Gist’s kidney failure; (2) under 42 C.F.R. 447.15, a provider cannot recover payment from third parties for any services billed to Medicaid after the provider has accepted payment from Medicaid for those services; and (3) the WCCA erred when it dismissed Fresenius’s cross-appeal as untimely. View "Gist v. Atlas Staffing, Inc." on Justia Law