Alaska Supreme Court Decisions 2024
Date: December 13, 2024
Docket Number: S-18521
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a dispute between the developers of an aviation-centric community and the homeowners' association regarding the transfer and use of special declarant rights associated with a unique lot. The developers…
Date: December 11, 2024
Docket Number: S-18720
Date: December 6, 2024
Docket Number: S-18401
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a medical malpractice suit brought by the parents of a stillborn child against the midwives who attended the birth. The plaintiffs alleged that the midwives failed to obtain informed consent for…
Date: December 6, 2024
Docket Number: S-18621
Justia Opinion Summary: A woman and a man were married in July 2003 and separated in March 2022. Before their marriage, the woman had an employer-provided deferred compensation plan with a balance between $63,131.23 and $67,536.80. During the…
Date: December 4, 2024
Docket Number: S-18990
Date: November 29, 2024
Docket Number: S-18802
Justia Opinion Summary: A man and woman who had been in a long-term domestic partnership ended their relationship and sought a distribution of partnership assets. Each initially disputed whether certain property items were part of the domestic…
Date: November 27, 2024
Docket Number: S-18677
Date: November 22, 2024
Docket Number: S-18461
Justia Opinion Summary: A driver, Safet Miftari, was injured in an accident caused by an uninsured motorist while driving his taxi. He filed a claim for coverage under a policy he had for a different vehicle, which was denied by his insurer,…
Date: November 20, 2024
Docket Number: S-18177
Date: November 20, 2024
Docket Number: S-18688
Date: November 20, 2024
Docket Numbers: s-6, S-6
Date: November 13, 2024
Docket Number: S-18552
Date: November 13, 2024
Docket Number: S-18644
Date: November 13, 2024
Docket Number: S-18731
Date: November 13, 2024
Docket Number: S-18769
Date: November 8, 2024
Docket Number: S-18523
Justia Opinion Summary: A construction company chartered a barge and obtained insurance through a broker. Upon returning the barge, the owner discovered damage and sued the construction company in federal court. The construction company…
Date: November 6, 2024
Docket Number: S-18815
Date: October 30, 2024
Docket Number: a-90
Date: October 25, 2024
Docket Number: S-18257
Justia Opinion Summary: A man was unable to purchase a firearm because a background check revealed he was subject to a long-term domestic violence protective order (DVPO). He sued the State, claiming he was no longer subject to a protective…
Date: October 23, 2024
Docket Number: S-18496
Date: October 17, 2024
Docket Number: S-18458
Justia Opinion Summary: A plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the State, arguing that the statutory definition of "sustained yield" under AS 16.05.255(k) violates the Alaska Constitution’s sustained yield provision. The plaintiff contended that…
Date: October 17, 2024
Docket Number: S-18565
Justia Opinion Summary: Carter K. was scheduled to be released from jail in October 2022 when a mental health professional filed a petition for his hospitalization for evaluation. The superior court granted the petition, and Carter was…
Date: October 4, 2024
Docket Number: S-18582
Justia Opinion Summary: A company that leased space to a government agency lost its bid to renew that lease to another landowner in a different zoning district. The new lessor requested the municipal planning department to approve the…
Date: October 4, 2024
Docket Number: S-18809
Justia Opinion Summary: A mother and son co-owned a property in Kodiak and hired an excavation company to build a retaining wall. The son made a $15,000 payment to the contractor by credit card. Disputes arose over the contract terms, leading…
Date: September 27, 2024
Docket Number: S-18217
Justia Opinion Summary: A mother sought to regain custody of her children, who had been living with their uncle and aunt in Canada for two years. The uncle and aunt opposed the return, arguing it was in the children's best interests to stay…
Date: September 27, 2024
Docket Number: S-18538
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Soldotna sought to expand its boundaries by annexing adjacent land and submitted an annexation petition to the Local Boundary Commission (Commission) for legislative review. The Commission, however, decided…
Date: September 27, 2024
Docket Number: S-18541
Justia Opinion Summary: Baxter Senior Living, LLC, an assisted living facility in Anchorage, Alaska, obtained an insurance policy from Zurich American Insurance Company covering various types of losses, including those caused by microorganisms.…
Date: September 20, 2024
Docket Number: S-17944
Justia Opinion Summary: A man domiciled in Washington passed away, leaving a will that specified it should be administered according to Alaska law. He had married his surviving spouse after executing the will. The will devised property to the…
Date: September 20, 2024
Docket Number: S-18608
Justia Opinion Summary: A couple owning a lot in Homer, Alaska, added a second dwelling made from a shipping container and obtained a permit from the city. A neighboring property owner challenged the permit, arguing that the container dwelling…
Date: September 6, 2024
Docket Number: S-18261
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a dispute between two lakefront property owners, the McCavits and the Lachers, over a dock extension built by the McCavits. The Lachers claimed that the extension interfered with their riparian rights…
Date: September 6, 2024
Docket Number: S-18528
Justia Opinion Summary: A man sued his neighbors, claiming that an access road on their property caused flooding on his property. After settling with the neighbors and dismissing his claims with prejudice, he sued them again over continued…
Date: September 6, 2024
Docket Number: S-18580
Justia Opinion Summary: Gregory Numann and Diane Gallant were married in 2002 and separated in October 2016. They verbally agreed to maintain separate residences, with Numann paying child support and both contributing to their child's college…
Date: September 6, 2024
Docket Number: S-18683
Justia Opinion Summary: Evan D., an Indian child, was born with significant health complications. Shortly after his birth, the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) filed an emergency petition to adjudicate him a child in need of aid due to his…
Date: September 4, 2024
Docket Number: S-18907
Date: August 30, 2024
Docket Number: S-18050
Justia Opinion Summary: A woman experiencing psychotic delusions was admitted to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) for a mental health evaluation. Her treating psychiatrist identified three possible causes of her delusions, including…
Date: August 30, 2024
Docket Number: S-18145
Justia Opinion Summary: A group of landowners (the Andersons) sued their neighbors (the Wilsons) over a property dispute involving access to remote parcels near a lake. The Andersons argued that a public easement existed over the Wilsons'…
Date: August 30, 2024
Docket Number: S-18669
Justia Opinion Summary: Austin and Regena Joy owned property in Anchorage and leased it to Randy Hahn for his firewood business, Best Split Firewood, LLC (BSF). The lease included a purchase option for BSF to buy the property at a specified…
Date: August 30, 2024
Docket Number: S-18835
Justia Opinion Summary: A 13-year-old boy, Oscar M., sought to intervene in his parents' custody dispute after the superior court granted primary interim custody to his father, Shawn M., with weekend visitation for his mother, Marilyn P. Oscar,…
Date: August 30, 2024
Docket Number: S-18916
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the termination of parental rights of an incarcerated father, Anton K., to his two daughters, Allie and Melissa, who are Indian children under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The Office of…
Date: August 28, 2024
Citations: 323 P.3d 47, 367 P.3d 32, 433 P.3d 1137
Docket Number: S-2
Date: August 23, 2024
Docket Number: S-18415
Justia Opinion Summary: A child in the custody of the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) suffered severe abuse by his adoptive mother. Just before his 21st birthday, he filed a tort suit against OCS and his adoptive mother. OCS moved to…
Date: July 26, 2024
Docket Numbers: a-7, A-7
Justia Opinion Summary: Samuel Amos fell from the roof of a shop building he was helping David Tidwell construct on property owned by Travis and Tabitha Plambeck. Tidwell had promised to pay Amos for his work. Amos filed a workers’ compensation…
Date: July 19, 2024
Docket Number: a-8
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves divorcing parents who had entered into a custody settlement agreement for their child, which included a provision for the child to move to New Jersey in 2022. The father later sought to modify this…
Date: July 19, 2024
Docket Number: S-18096
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a dispute over the control of a nonprofit corporation, which was dissolved by the State due to the executive director’s failure to pay taxes and fees and renew corporate registration. Despite the…
Date: July 19, 2024
Docket Number: S-18738
Justia Opinion Summary: In July 2019, Tyler Blue, an inmate at Spring Creek Correctional Center, assaulted fellow inmate Patrick Torrence, causing abrasions, bruising, a mild concussion, and aggravation of a preexisting hip injury. Blue was…
Date: July 12, 2024
Docket Number: S-18519
Justia Opinion Summary: A mother sought to modify visitation between her child and the child’s father due to allegations of domestic violence between the father and his new romantic partner. On the day of the hearing, the father’s attorney…
Date: July 12, 2024
Docket Number: S-18572
Justia Opinion Summary: K.B., a patient at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API), has been under successive involuntary commitment orders since 2019 due to his diagnoses of schizoaffective disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and…
Date: July 10, 2024
Docket Number: S-18891
Date: June 26, 2024
Docket Number: S-18794
Date: June 19, 2024
Docket Number: S-17917
Date: June 12, 2024
Docket Number: S-18638
Date: June 7, 2024
Docket Number: S-18592
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves a dispute over a small triangular portion of land in south Anchorage, Alaska, between two neighbors, Janice Park and the Browns. The land in question was enclosed by a fence that had been in place…
Date: May 24, 2024
Docket Number: S-18466
Justia Opinion Summary: Seth Lookhart, a dentist, was convicted of numerous crimes related to a fraudulent scheme that endangered his patients' health and safety. The scheme involved unnecessary sedation of patients to fraudulently bill…
Date: May 24, 2024
Docket Numbers: s-6, S-6
Justia Opinion Summary: A teacher, who was involved in a car accident caused by a third party, sustained serious injuries. The teacher was covered under his employer’s self-insured healthcare plan, which stipulates that the employer has a right…
Date: May 22, 2024
Citations: 320 P.3d 291, 424 P.3d 333, 467 P.3d 211
Docket Number: a-8
Date: May 22, 2024
Docket Number: S-18430
Date: May 22, 2024
Docket Number: S-18585
Date: May 17, 2024
Docket Number: S-18284
Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around a dispute between a condominium association and the owner of two commercial units over parking and storage space. The commercial owner, Cooper Leasing, claimed ownership of certain parking spots…
Date: May 10, 2024
Docket Number: S-18189
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the Alaska Trappers Association and the National Trappers Association (collectively, the Trappers) who challenged a city ordinance enacted by the City of Valdez. The ordinance regulated animal trapping…
Date: May 3, 2024
Citation: 547 P.3d 1042
Docket Number: S-18526
Justia Opinion Summary: A pilot, who was injured in an airplane crash in 1985, sought medical benefits for a 2016 spinal surgery and subsequent treatment, as well as for diabetes treatment related to his spinal treatment. The Alaska Workers’…
Date: May 3, 2024
Docket Number: s-27
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Valdez in Alaska appealed two orders by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) related to the transfer of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) from BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc. (BPPA) to Harvest Alaska,…
Date: May 1, 2024
Docket Number: S-18645
Date: April 26, 2024
Citation: 547 P.3d 1003
Docket Number: S-17965
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of Alaska affirmed a lower court's decision that the Copper River Native Association (CRNA), a non-profit corporation formed by federally recognized Alaska Native tribes, is an arm of its member tribes…
Date: April 26, 2024
Docket Number: S-18282
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a man, Dominic N., who was involuntarily committed for mental health treatment. Dominic N. has a history of being charged with sexual abuse of a minor and has been deemed incompetent to stand trial…
Date: April 24, 2024
Docket Numbers: a-6, A-6
Date: April 24, 2024
Docket Number: S-18593
Date: April 19, 2024
Docket Number: S-18351
Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around a dispute between the City of Valdez and the Prince William Sound Oil Spill Response Corporation, the State of Alaska, Department of Revenue, and the State Assessment Review Board. The City of…
Date: April 17, 2024
Docket Number: S-18433
Date: April 12, 2024
Citations: 268 P.3d 293, 357 P.3d 789, 491 P.3d 1088
Docket Number: a-3
Justia Opinion Summary: Brennan Grubb was convicted of sexually abusing a minor, which resulted in severe emotional trauma for the young boy. The boy's mother, a teacher, resigned from her job to care for her son. Grubb pleaded guilty to the…
Date: March 29, 2024
Docket Number: S-18567
Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a domestic violence protective order (DVPO) issued in favor of a child's father (Jacob G.) against the child's mother (Savanah F.) following an incident of custodial interference that involved the…
Date: March 27, 2024
Docket Number: S-18718
Date: March 27, 2024
Docket Number: s-39
Date: March 22, 2024
Citation: 545 P.3d 444
Docket Number: S-18700
Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around a legal dispute involving a man named Mitchel Wolfgram and a woman named Nadirah Davis-Perkins over the custody of a child, Genevieve, who Wolfgram helped raise but was later proven not to be the…
Date: March 13, 2024
Docket Number: S-18428
Date: March 13, 2024
Docket Number: S-18435
Date: March 8, 2024
Citation: 544 P.3d 632
Docket Number: S-17910
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Alaska considered whether law enforcement officers violated the Alaska Constitution by conducting warrantless aerial surveillance of a private property with high-powered optics to…
Date: March 1, 2024
Citation: 544 P.3d 1178
Docket Number: S-18619
Justia Opinion Summary: This case revolves around the eligibility of Jennie Armstrong, the winning candidate of Alaska’s House District 16 2022 general election. The losing candidate, Liz Vazquez, along with four House District 16 voters,…
Date: February 28, 2024
Docket Number: S-18142
Date: February 28, 2024
Docket Number: S-18627
Date: February 23, 2024
Docket Number: S-18262
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, tenants Matthew Raines and Melissa Clayton complained to their landlord, Tuyen Dinh, about the habitability of their rented unit, particularly due to issues with their utilities and the presence of…
Date: February 16, 2024
Citation: 542 P.3d 1159
Docket Number: S-18276
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, MJ Corporation, the owner of an automated teller machine (ATM), sued Societe Financial, LLC, an ATM processor, and its owner, James Dainis, for breach of…
Date: February 16, 2024
Citation: 542 P.3d 1153
Docket Number: S-18504
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Lee Baker and Kenneth Duffus were partners in a real estate development company, Harvest Properties, LLC. Baker was accused of defrauding the company, leading to a lawsuit from the company's members for…
Date: February 9, 2024
Citation: 542 P.3d 1124
Docket Number: S-17943
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case of Brett Lane v. the State of Alaska, Department of Family & Community Services, Office of Children’s Services, the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska affirmed the lower court's decision denying the Office…
Date: February 9, 2024
Citation: 542 P.3d 1099
Docket Number: S-18481
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of Alaska ruled on the legal process applying to the Office of Children's Services (OCS) when it seeks to admit a child in its custody to a hospital for psychiatric care. The case centered…
Date: February 2, 2024
Citation: 542 P.3d 654
Docket Number: S-18317
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Alaska affirmed the decision of the Superior Court to grant summary judgement in favor of an attorney, John Wallace, in a case brought against him by the estate of a deceased…
Date: January 31, 2024
Docket Number: S-18682
Date: January 31, 2024
Docket Number: S-18757
Date: January 26, 2024
Citation: 542 P.3d 222
Docket Number: S-18462
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a woman was severely injured while moving an inoperable airplane owned by her husband. She sought recovery from her husband's homeowner's insurance policy. The insurance policy, however, excluded injuries…
Date: January 24, 2024
Docket Number: S-17856
Date: January 24, 2024
Citations: 257 P.3d 130, 347 P.3d 109, 424 P.3d 306, 447 P.3d 769
Docket Number: s-9
Date: January 19, 2024
Citation: 541 P.3d 1128
Docket Number: S-18452
Justia Opinion Summary: In the State of Alaska, a woman, Lacie Chance, left her boyfriend, Jason Armstrong, in California and relocated to Alaska with their daughter. She filed for a domestic violence protective order (DVPO) against Armstrong…
Date: January 17, 2024
Citation: 513 P.3d 994
Docket Number: S-17767
Date: January 12, 2024
Citation: 541 P.3d 530
Docket Number: S-18586
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the Office of Children’s Services' (OCS) decision to take emergency custody of a baby who tested positive for drugs at birth, and the subsequent legal proceedings that ensued. Both parents initially…
Date: January 10, 2024
Docket Number: S-18391
Date: January 3, 2024
Docket Number: S-18664
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