Alaska Supreme Court Decisions 2019
Date: December 27, 2019
Citation: 454 P.3d 998
Docket Number: S-17170
Justia Opinion Summary: The court of appeals determined that Paino Manuel Alvarez-Perdomo was coerced to take the stand at his criminal trial, thus violating his privilege against self-incrimination in both the federal and Alaska constitutions.…
Date: December 18, 2019
Docket Number: S-17372
Date: December 13, 2019
Citation: 454 P.3d 171
Docket Number: S-17139
Justia Opinion Summary: Raymond Dapo was born in 1990. OCS took custody of him ten years later and, in April 2000, placed him in Taun Lucas’s foster home. Lucas and her husband David legally adopted Dapo in May 2002. According to Dapo, Lucas…
Date: December 11, 2019
Docket Number: S-17260
Date: December 6, 2019
Citation: 453 P.3d 784
Docket Number: S-17069
Justia Opinion Summary: An attorney began representing two injured workers after both encountered difficulties representing themselves in their workers’ compensation claims against the same employer. Both claimants then successfully resolved…
Date: November 29, 2019
Citation: 453 P.3d 200
Docket Number: S-16665
Justia Opinion Summary: Danielle B., a 73-year-old woman who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, was involuntarily committed for 30 days. Her illness led to repeated hospitalizations and temporary improvements with the help of medication.…
Date: November 29, 2019
Citation: 454 P.3d 981
Docket Number: S-17262
Justia Opinion Summary: Sharon Thompson challenged the superior court’s child custody determination, marital property division, and child support order in her divorce proceedings. Because the Alaska Supreme Court concluded the court neither…
Date: November 27, 2019
Docket Number: S-17113
Date: November 22, 2019
Citation: 453 P.3d 193
Docket Number: S-16707
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved prisoner Richard DeRemer's pro se appeal of the superior court’s dismissal of his civil complaint against three Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) employees. DeRemer alleged numerous violations of…
Date: November 20, 2019
Docket Number: S-17326
Date: November 1, 2019
Citation: 451 P.3d 375
Docket Number: S-16685
Justia Opinion Summary: A father sought to modify a child support order on the basis that his income had decreased. He also asked that the support order be changed to not require him to contribute to the children’s health insurance costs. The…
Date: November 1, 2019
Citation: 451 P.3d 382
Docket Number: S-16916
Justia Opinion Summary: When the Department of Corrections (DOC) discovered that one of its contract employees, a substance abuse counselor, was in an “intimate relationship” with a prisoner in violation of prison policy, DOC barred the…
Date: November 1, 2019
Citation: 451 P.3d 365
Docket Number: S-17129
Justia Opinion Summary: A married couple with a ten-year-old son separated in 2014. Following an evidentiary hearing on temporary orders, the trial court found that the father had a history of perpetrating domestic violence and ordered him to…
Date: October 30, 2019
Docket Number: S-16870
Date: October 30, 2019
Docket Number: S-17051
Date: October 17, 2019
Citation: 450 P.3d 1258
Docket Number: S-16654
Justia Opinion Summary: Luciano G. appealed a court order involuntarily committing him for mental health treatment. He argued the court erred in making two findings: (1) that as a result of his mental illness he posed a risk of harm to others;…
Date: October 11, 2019
Citation: 450 P.3d 246
Docket Number: S-16983
Justia Opinion Summary: A juvenile from a small village could not afford to travel to the site of his juvenile delinquency proceeding. His attorney with the Public Defender Agency (the Agency) filed a motion asking the superior court to require…
Date: October 11, 2019
Docket Number: S-17290
Date: October 9, 2019
Docket Number: S-17253
Date: September 27, 2019
Citation: 453 P.3d 178
Docket Number: S-16795
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a boundary dispute between the Collinses and the Halls, who were adjoining property owners in a recreational subdivision on an island near Juneau, Alaska. The Collinses alleged that structures on the…
Date: September 27, 2019
Citation: 450 P.3d 239
Docket Number: S-16854
Justia Opinion Summary: Borrowers brought suit alleging that their lending bank had engaged in fraudulent real estate lending practices. The bank responded that statutes of limitations barred the borrowers’ fraud claims. Following an…
Date: September 27, 2019
Citation: 449 P.3d 694
Docket Number: S-16928
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, then-21-year-old G.L. was arrested after allegedly firing a loaded shotgun at buildings and people in his village. G.L. faced criminal charges related to the shooting, but the superior court ultimately ruled him…
Date: September 27, 2019
Citation: 449 P.3d 700
Docket Number: S-17184
Justia Opinion Summary: Adam and Kyoko Perry married in November 2005 and had two minor children. For the latter part of their marriage, Kyoko handled the couple’s finances. Kyoko continued her education while married, obtaining a bachelor’s…
Date: September 25, 2019
Docket Number: S-16474
Date: September 18, 2019
Docket Number: S-17140
Date: September 13, 2019
Citation: 448 P.3d 868
Docket Number: S-16697
Justia Opinion Summary: In a case of first impression for the Alaska Supreme Court, at issue was the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to a catatonic, non-consenting patient. In March 2017, police officers found Lucy G. in an Anchorage…
Date: September 13, 2019
Citation: 454 P.3d 974
Docket Number: S-17144
Justia Opinion Summary: The Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America increased the amount of annual membership dues. Farthest North Girl Scout Council, its executive director, and the chair of its board of directors…
Date: September 6, 2019
Citation: 448 P.3d 254
Docket Number: S-16903
Justia Opinion Summary: A minor died in a motorized watercraft accident on a lake managed in part by a municipality: the State owned the lake but shared management authority with the City. State law at the relevant time allowed motorized…
Date: August 30, 2019
Docket Number: S-16711
Justia Opinion Summary: Two prisoners in Alaska Department of Corrections’ (DOC) custody were placed in administrative segregation pending an investigation and disciplinary proceedings related to an alleged escape attempt. The disciplinary…
Date: August 30, 2019
Citation: 447 P.3d 769
Docket Number: S-16961
Justia Opinion Summary: After 36 years of service with the Alaska Railroad Corporation, most of those years as a conductor, Harry Ross, an African-American man, applied for a newly created managerial trainmaster position, but he was not chosen.…
Date: August 30, 2019
Citation: 447 P.3d 747
Docket Number: S-17027
Justia Opinion Summary: A hotel housekeeper injured her back while lifting a pile of linens. Her employer challenged her application for benefits based on an examining doctor’s opinion that she was medically stable and that the job injury was…
Date: August 30, 2019
Docket Number: S-17290
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother, Anette H., appealed the termination of her parental rights to her son, who was found to be a child in need of aid based on a hair follicle test positive for controlled substances. She argued that without proof…
Date: August 28, 2019
Docket Number: S-17230
Date: August 16, 2019
Citation: 447 P.3d 726
Docket Number: S-16715
Justia Opinion Summary: Jerry and Brenda McCavit built a dock extending into Wasilla Lake from their upland property. Their neighbors, Barbara and Louis Lacher, sued the McCavits claiming the dock unreasonably interfered with their riparian…
Date: August 16, 2019
Citation: 447 P.3d 737
Docket Number: S-16866
Justia Opinion Summary: An inmate representing himself sued the prison superintendent and chaplain for violating his religious rights by providing an inadequate halal diet, banning scented prayer oils, and not allowing him to have additional…
Date: August 16, 2019
Citation: 446 P.3d 781
Docket Number: S-16973
Justia Opinion Summary: In a divorce case, the superior court divided the marital estate equally. The estate included the marital home and an adjoining lot, which the spouses agreed should be sold. The husband remained in the home after the…
Date: August 16, 2019
Citation: 446 P.3d 786
Docket Number: S-16986
Justia Opinion Summary: For several years two condominium owners withheld a portion of their dues in protest. Then beginning in 2014, they sent the condominium association several payments, with instructions to apply them to recent debts and…
Date: August 14, 2019
Docket Number: S-17186
Date: August 9, 2019
Citation: 446 P.3d 349
Docket Number: S-16905
Justia Opinion Summary: Jeff Graham was employed as a firefighter/EMT by the Anchorage Fire Department (AFD). He worked for AFD since 1995 and has held his then-current position since 2003. After taking AFD’s engineer promotional exam in 2010,…
Date: August 9, 2019
Citation: 446 P.3d 341
Docket Number: S-16908
Justia Opinion Summary: John Diamond, III was assaulted and sustained severe injuries while a patron at Platinum Jaxx, a restaurant and bar. He filed suit against Platinum Jaxx, Inc., its landlord, and his assailant, Noel Bungay. A default was…
Date: August 9, 2019
Citation: 446 P.3d 360
Docket Number: S-16981
Justia Opinion Summary: After an Anchorage strip club applied to have its liquor license renewed the Alcohol and Beverage Control Board received multiple objections to the renewal. Former employees, the Department of Labor, and the Municipality…
Date: August 9, 2019
Docket Number: S-17043
Justia Opinion Summary: Two federal district courts certified questions of law to the Alaska Supreme Court involving the state’s “mineral dump lien” statute. In 1910, the United States Congress passed Alaska’s first mineral dump lien statute,…
Date: August 9, 2019
Citation: 446 P.3d 354
Docket Number: S-17138
Justia Opinion Summary: A father appealed a superior court’s denial of his motion to modify child support, arguing his house arrest while awaiting trial on federal charges should have been considered involuntary unemployment for purposes of…
Date: August 7, 2019
Docket Number: S-17176
Date: August 2, 2019
Citation: 445 P.3d 1015
Docket Number: S-16529
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Lorna Weston was seriously injured when she slipped and fell on ice in a hotel parking lot. Medicare covered her medical expenses, settling the providers’ bills by paying less than one-fifth of the amounts…
Date: August 2, 2019
Citation: 446 P.3d 336
Docket Number: S-16951
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnny Williams worked for Violeta Baker and her home healthcare services company, Last Frontier Assisted Living, LLC (Last Frontier), from 2004 to 2009. Baker hired Johnny to provide payroll, tax-preparation,…
Date: August 2, 2019
Citation: 445 P.3d 1031
Docket Number: S-17068
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, an adult cabaret featuring nude dancing challenged a municipal code provision prohibiting adult-oriented establishments from operating during early morning hours, arguing that if the provision applied to…
Date: August 2, 2019
Citation: 445 P.3d 1005
Docket Number: S-17162
Justia Opinion Summary: A Juneau couple with three children separated, and the mother filed for divorce. Wishing to relocate with the children to Oregon for work, she requested primary physical custody. The superior court concluded that it was…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: S-16979
Date: July 19, 2019
Citation: 445 P.3d 660
Docket Number: S-16877
Justia Opinion Summary: A husband was granted a 20-day domestic violence protective order against his wife. During a brief extension of the 20-day order, the wife sent the husband a text message about the couple’s dog. This text message, a…
Date: July 19, 2019
Citation: 445 P.3d 649
Docket Number: S-16912
Justia Opinion Summary: A divorced mother had sole legal and physical custody of her two daughters. Their father sought a protective order against the mother and a modification of custody after she repeatedly hit the older daughter with a belt.…
Date: July 17, 2019
Docket Number: S-17257
Date: July 12, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 180
Docket Number: S-16762
Justia Opinion Summary: Gordon Taylor and Tamra Faris were married in 1973. For most of their marriage, they lived in Juneau, Alaska. Faris spent her entire career working for the federal government, earning a Civil Service Retirement System…
Date: July 12, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 187
Docket Number: S-16930
Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2009 Jesse Collens, then 21 years old, was permanently injured in a bicycle accident that left him a C-1 quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down, and dependent on a ventilator to breathe. In December 2009 he…
Date: July 5, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 165
Docket Number: S-17143
Justia Opinion Summary: An employer disputed liability for attorney’s fees the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission awarded an employee, contending that the employee was not a successful party in the appeal and that the amount…
Date: July 5, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 171
Docket Number: S-17158
Justia Opinion Summary: In these separate but consolidated appeals, the issue common to both cases presented to the Alaska Supreme Court for review centered on whether new federal regulations materially changed the qualifications required of an…
Date: July 5, 2019
Docket Number: S-17311
Justia Opinion Summary: This recount appeal arose out of the 2018 Alaska House of Representatives race for District 1. Following a recount the election was certified, with Kathryn Dodge receiving 2,662 votes and Barton LeBon receiving 2,663.…
Date: July 3, 2019
Docket Number: S-16899
Date: July 3, 2019
Docket Number: S-17022
Date: July 3, 2019
Docket Number: S-17180
Date: June 28, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 151
Docket Number: S-16931
Justia Opinion Summary: A man accidentally killed his roommate with a large knife while demonstrating martial arts moves. He pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide and stipulated to the applicability of a statutory aggravator that allowed…
Date: June 21, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 139
Docket Number: S-16693
Justia Opinion Summary: John Buckley started working for Labor Ready, Inc., a temporary employment service, in 2009. He was injured on assignment for a shipping company. At the time of injury he was performing a task prohibited by the contract…
Date: June 19, 2019
Docket Number: S-17088
Date: June 14, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 116
Docket Number: S-16748
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2000 John Doe was convicted of aggravated sexual battery in Virginia. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment, with all time suspended, and a five-year term of probation. Under Virginia law Doe was required to…
Date: June 14, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 763
Docket Number: S-17055
Justia Opinion Summary: A self-represented litigant appeals from the dismissal of his complaint against Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Because the superior court gave…
Date: June 14, 2019
Citation: 444 P.3d 109
Docket Number: S-17133
Justia Opinion Summary: Steve H. and Lucy A. were the parents of Donald, an Indian child2 born in April 2013. By the time Donald was born, Steve and Lucy were no longer in a relationship and Steve no longer lived in Anchorage. Donald lived with…
Date: June 14, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 780
Docket Number: S-17135
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015 the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) took custody of three children due to the father’s substance abuse issues and the mother’s mental health issues. Both parents failed to make any meaningful progress on…
Date: June 14, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 755
Docket Number: S-17178
Justia Opinion Summary: After a mother’s and father’s lengthy involvement with the Office of Children’s Services (OCS), based primarily on alcohol abuse, their parental rights to their two minor children were terminated. Both parents appealed,…
Date: June 14, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 771
Docket Number: S-17246
Justia Opinion Summary: In late April 2018, 15-year-old Jessica J. traveled from Iowa to Alaska to spend the summer with family friends. Jessica’s divorced parents shared legal custody; her mother, who retained primary physical custody, gave…
Date: June 7, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 738
Docket Number: S-16612
Justia Opinion Summary: A husband appealed his divorce order, raising multiple issues. The issues considered by the Alaska Supreme Court were: (1) whether the wife’s bank accounts, personal leave from her job, and the house should have been…
Date: June 7, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 731
Docket Number: S-17130
Justia Opinion Summary: The father in this case had not been a substantial part of his daughter’s life when the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) took custody of her from her mother. The father was coping with his own mental health, substance…
Date: May 31, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 706
Docket Number: S-16322
Justia Opinion Summary: One morning in March 2011, Nixola Doan went to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital with her adult daughter, Tristana, who was coughing and having trouble breathing. Doan stayed with Tristana for much of the day. Around 7:00 p.m.…
Date: May 31, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 725
Docket Number: S-16980
Justia Opinion Summary: The superior court affirmed a municipality’s tax valuation of a landowner’s property. The landowner argued on appeal the municipality’s valuation review board abused its discretion by excluding certain evidence of value…
Date: May 31, 2019
Citation: 442 P.3d 717
Docket Number: S-17188
Justia Opinion Summary: Sabrina V. was the mother of Kaleb D., born 2005. By 2016 Kaleb was living in Wasilla with his father, now deceased. Sabrina had been living outside of Alaska for some years; the parents did not have a court order…
Date: May 29, 2019
Docket Number: S-17151
Date: May 24, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 943
Docket Number: S-15853
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013 and 2014 attorney Gerald Markham applied for a senior citizen tax exemption on his residential property in Kodiak, Alaska. The Borough assessor denied the applications due to Markham’s prolonged absences from…
Date: May 24, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 954
Docket Number: S-16737
Justia Opinion Summary: A public utility filed a condemnation action seeking the land use rights necessary to construct a natural gas storage facility in an underground formation of porous rock. The utility held some rights already by…
Date: May 24, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 933
Docket Number: S-16803
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT or the State) condemned a strip of property along the Parks Highway. DOT filed a declaration of taking, allowing it to take title immediately, and…
Date: May 24, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 966
Docket Number: S-16860
Justia Opinion Summary: A husband and wife appealed denials of their Permanent Fund Dividends (PFDs) for 2014 and 2015. The husband’s 2014 PFD application was denied because he had been absent from the state for more than five years, creating a…
Date: May 24, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 925
Docket Number: S-16991
Justia Opinion Summary: Randell Jackson was charged with disorderly conduct, assault, and resisting arrest after a 2012 interaction with three police officers in Haines, Alaska. Amy Williams, an assistant district attorney, first prosecuted…
Date: May 17, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 432
Docket Number: S-16427
Justia Opinion Summary: After a limited liability company and its individual members failed to make payments on a real estate loan, the lender sued. One member, Kenneth Duffus, cross-claimed against a second member, Lee Baker, Jr., alleging…
Date: May 17, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 424
Docket Number: S-16805
Justia Opinion Summary: At trial, petitioner Kenneth Wahl offered an acquaintance’s testimony given during grand jury proceedings, invoking the former-testimony exception to the hearsay rule. The superior court excluded the evidence, reasoning…
Date: May 10, 2019
Citation: 441 P.3d 407
Docket Number: S-16587
Justia Opinion Summary: Two debtor limited liability companies (LLCs) executed security agreements in favor of two creditor LLCs, giving the creditor LLCs security interests in three airplanes. Disputes arose when the creditor LLCs, considering…
Date: May 3, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 294
Docket Number: S-16532
Justia Opinion Summary: A husband appealed the superior court’s unequal property division in a divorce proceeding that gave the wife the majority of the marital estate. He argued the superior court abused its discretion when dividing the…
Date: May 1, 2019
Docket Number: S-16999
Date: April 26, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 256
Docket Number: S-16402
Justia Opinion Summary: Jerry Hatten lived with Beverly Toland for 20 years. He died intestate. Hatten had named Toland as the sole beneficiary to his individual retirement account, but did not provide for her to inherit any of his other…
Date: April 26, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 283
Docket Number: S-16821
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board denied a Bryce Warnke-Green's request that his employer pay for a van modified to accommodate his work-related disability. On appeal, the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Appeals…
Date: April 26, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 264
Docket Number: S-16868
Justia Opinion Summary: Guy Berry and Colleen Coulman had a daughter, born in May 2010. Berry and Coulman never married. Berry was a soldier stationed at Fort Wainwright until shortly before their daughter was born, when he was transferred to…
Date: April 26, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 273
Docket Number: S-17008
Justia Opinion Summary: A mother appealed the superior court’s decision adjudicating her child as a child in need of aid, contending the court relied in part on the record from her previous custody proceeding without giving her prior notice.…
Date: April 19, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 248
Docket Number: S-16267
Justia Opinion Summary: Frank Griswold appealed a decision of the Homer, Alaska Advisory Planning Commission to the Homer Board of Adjustment. Griswold was a Homer resident who owned several lots within the Business District, one of which is…
Date: April 19, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 240
Docket Number: S-16719
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011 Justin Nelson was indicted on three felony counts of sexual abuse of a minor. He was initially represented by two attorneys from the Dillingham office of the Alaska Public Defender Agency. On the day of…
Date: April 19, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 217
Docket Number: S-16872
Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas Anderson, Sr. appealed the superior court’s dismissal of his claim that the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) failed to properly transfer a motorcycle endorsement from his California driver’s license to his new…
Date: April 19, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 224
Docket Number: S-16978
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Theodore Morrison had surgery on his right knee in 2004 after injuring it at work. He returned to work after the surgery and did not consult a doctor about that knee for almost ten years, until he again…
Date: April 12, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 210
Docket Numbers: S-16985, S-16785
Justia Opinion Summary: In early 2016 Jet Commercial Construction, LLC (Jet), an Oklahoma corporation, entered into a contract with Kona Grill, Inc., for the construction of a restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. In May, Jet entered into a…
Date: April 10, 2019
Docket Number: S-16972
Date: April 5, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 199
Docket Number: S-16421
Justia Opinion Summary: Regina S. and Michael C. married in 2000, and had two children, both boys, from the marriage. Regina filed for divorce in late 2014, alleging Michael had engaged in domestic violence against her. The court thus awarded…
Date: April 3, 2019
Docket Number: S-16535
Date: April 3, 2019
Docket Number: S-17120
Date: March 29, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 194
Docket Number: S-16618
Justia Opinion Summary: A wife with serious medical conditions filed for divorce, but during trial, the parties agreed to a legal separation to ensure the wife’s continued access to her husband’s employer-sponsored health insurance. The…
Date: March 29, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 176
Docket Number: S-16917
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services required most healthcare facilities to document the need for proposed services before the state approves construction of a new facility. The agency determined that an…
Date: March 29, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 184
Docket Number: S-16945
Justia Opinion Summary: Yvonne Gambini appeals the superior court’s property division order for her divorce from Perry Hamilton. Gambini argues that she is entitled to more than half of the marital estate and that the superior court erroneously…
Date: March 22, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 168
Docket Number: S-16841
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court found that a woman, "Linda M.," charged with several misdemeanors was incompetent to stand trial and committed her to a state hospital. The hospital later brought petitions in the superior court for…
Date: March 22, 2019
Docket Number: S-16847
Justia Opinion Summary: Connor J. was living at a shelter for homeless youth, when his psychiatric condition allegedly began to deteriorate. A social worker filed a petition in superior court seeking authority to hospitalize Connor for…
Date: March 15, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 149
Docket Number: S-16964
Justia Opinion Summary: A son opened joint checking and savings accounts with his father. A few years later the son was injured in a car accident, settled his claim against the other driver, and deposited the settlement check into his joint…
Date: March 8, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 469
Docket Number: S-16409
Justia Opinion Summary: A former employee of the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), Terri Reynolds-Rogers, brought a wrongful discharge suit against the State. At the time of her termination she had four union grievances pending…
Date: March 8, 2019
Citation: 440 P.3d 145
Docket Number: S-16678
Justia Opinion Summary: Chris and Jeanne Rosauer owned a home and underlying property in Girdwood across the municipal roadway from a home and underlying property owned by Thomas Manos and Jody Liddicoat (collectively, Manos). The Municipality…
Date: March 8, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 1039
Docket Number: S-16781
Justia Opinion Summary: Raymond Leahy was a prisoner at Goose Creek Correctional Center (Goose Creek). He was a practicing Muslim and identified himself as the Imam of the “Ummah of Incarcerated Alaskan Muslims.” He sued two prison…
Date: March 8, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 1050
Docket Numbers: S-16796, S-16816
Justia Opinion Summary: The Office of Children’s Services (OCS) took custody of a three-month-old child after he was found outside alone on a cold winter day. The child’s mother had an alcohol abuse problem and had failed repeated attempts at…
Date: March 1, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 1032
Docket Numbers: S-17038, S-17066
Justia Opinion Summary: The superior court terminated a mother’s and father’s parental rights, finding their two children were in need of aid based on abandonment, incarceration, risk of domestic violence, and substance abuse. The court also…
Date: February 22, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 1015
Docket Numbers: S-15944, S-15973
Justia Opinion Summary: Electrical utilities entered into agreements for the purchase and transmission of energy from a hydroelectric project to utilities in distant service areas. Legislation exempted the agreements from the review or approval…
Date: February 22, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 1009
Docket Number: S-17012
Justia Opinion Summary: A mother wanted to relocate with her daughter from Alaska to New York. She sought primary custody, alleging that the father’s drinking and busy schedule made him an improper guardian for their two-year-old. The superior…
Date: February 15, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 984
Docket Number: S-16123
Justia Opinion Summary: A 2014 statute and 2013 regulation re-defined which abortions qualified as “medically necessary” for the purposes of Medicaid funding. The statute defined medically necessary abortions as those that “must be performed to…
Date: February 15, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 962
Docket Numbers: S-16607, S-16897
Justia Opinion Summary: Two sisters were beneficiaries of their late parents trusts: one was trustee of the trusts and president of the family corporation; the other sister was a shareholder of the family corporation. The latter sister…
Date: February 15, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 976
Docket Numbers: S-16998, S-17002
Justia Opinion Summary: Bill and Clara are the parents of Noah and Olwen, ages 12 and 5 at the time of the termination trial. Noah and Olwen were Indian children within the meaning of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) based on their…
Date: February 8, 2019
Citation: 436 P.3d 956
Docket Number: S-16724
Justia Opinion Summary: In April 2014 Link Fannon acquired the property at issue in this appeal, along with a well and water system, from an owner subsequent to June Scheele’s 1998 transaction. The deed to Fannon made no mention of a Greenbelt…
Date: February 8, 2019
Citation: 435 P.3d 961
Docket Numbers: S-16851, S-16861
Justia Opinion Summary: An employer asked medical specialists to evaluate a worker with injuries to different body systems arising out of one work-related accident. The doctors gave two separate opinions, almost a year apart, about final…
Date: January 25, 2019
Citation: 435 P.3d 938
Docket Number: S-16509
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, Charles Herron, who was under the influence of alcohol and not old enough to legally possess or consume it, was involved in a single-vehicle accident in Bethel, Alaska A 15-year-old passenger in Herron’s…
Date: January 25, 2019
Citation: 435 P.3d 947
Docket Numbers: S-16624, S-16643
Justia Opinion Summary: Dana Thompson was convicted of 13 counts of first degree sexual abuse of a minor and 4 counts of second degree sexual abuse of a minor stemming from a 4-year sexual relationship with the daughter of a family friend. The…
Date: January 18, 2019
Docket Number: S-16847
Justia Opinion Summary: The superior court issued a 30-day involuntary commitment order after finding that respondent Connor J was gravely disabled and there were no less restrictive alternatives to hospitalization. The respondent appealed,…
Date: January 11, 2019
Citation: 435 P.3d 918
Docket Numbers: S-15859, S-16467
Justia Opinion Summary: Two separate appeals from involuntary commitment orders, brought by two appellants, one of whom also appealed a related involuntary medication order were consolidated for the Alaska Supreme Court's review. The challenged…
Date: January 4, 2019
Citation: 435 P.3d 887
Docket Numbers: S-16191, S-16193, S-16214, S-16449
Justia Opinion Summary: In three criminal cases consolidated for appeal, each defendant sought to introduce expert testimony by a polygraph examiner that the defendant was truthful when he made exculpatory statements relating to the charges…
Date: January 4, 2019
Citation: 435 P.3d 908
Docket Number: S-16914
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs-appellants were an adult daughter (believed to be incompetent) and her mother. After retaining counsel, the mother brought a tort action as the daughter’s next friend for in utero injuries to the daughter,…
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