Minnesota Supreme Court Decisions 2020
Date: December 30, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0576
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court finding that Minn. Stat. 617.261 was unconstitutional under the First Amendment, holding that the statute does…
Date: December 30, 2020
Docket Numbers: A19-1700, A19-1701, A19-1702, A19-1703
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a letter contesting a notice of zoning violation was not a "request" as defined by Minn. Stat. 15.99, subd. (1)(c) and therefore did not entitle respondent property owners to the benefit of…
Date: December 30, 2020
Docket Number: A20-1048
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the tax court dismissing Relator's appeal of an tax order sent by the Department of Revenue by regular mail, holding that sending a tax order by regular mail provides…
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1656
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals concluding that a distress flare launcher might qualify as a firearm under Minn. Stat. 624.713, subd. 1 if used or intended to be used as a weapon, holding…
Date: December 16, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1795
Date: December 4, 2020
Docket Number: A20-1486
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by Petitioners asking the Supreme Court to temporarily restrain the State Canvassing Board from certifying the results of the November 3, 2020 general election held in…
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1401
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to correct his sentence of life imprisonment for first-degree premeditated murder, holding that the court did not abuse its…
Date: November 4, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0573
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment to Respondent on Appellant's adverse possession claim, holding that a claim of adverse possession…
Date: November 3, 2020
Docket Number: A20-1362
Date: October 28, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0595
Date: October 28, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1664
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's request for counsel and his pro se petition for post conviction relief, holding that the district court did not abuse its…
Date: October 28, 2020
Docket Number: A20-1017
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court temporarily enjoining the Secretary of State from taking steps to enforce or require compliance with voter-assistance and…
Date: October 21, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0253
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of giving a fictitious name to a peace officer in violation of Minn. Stat. 609.506, subd. 1, holding that a fictitious name…
Date: October 21, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0627
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the opinion of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's petition for a writ of mandamus to order the Dakota County Sheriff to issue Defendant a…
Date: September 30, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0473
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the jury's award of damages to Tamara Laechelt in this eminent domain action, holding that evidence of construction-related interference that…
Date: September 16, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1981
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that personal care assistants were entitled to access a list of contact information for personal care assistants who…
Date: September 16, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1229
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's petition for postconviction relief without holding an evidentiary hearing, holding that, even if the facts alleged in the petition were…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: A20-1017
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Numbers: A20-1040, A20-1041
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Number: A20-0021
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the tax court determining that Minnesota could tax an apportioned share of the income from the sale of a business as unitary business income, holding that the gain from the sale…
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Number: A20-0053
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a health care provider who did not intervene in an employee's pending workers' compensation proceeding after receiving adequate notice of the right to intervene cannot initiate a collateral…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0413
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0538
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of first-degree murder under an aiding and abetting theory of liability and one count of second-degree murder under an aiding and abetting theory, holding…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1081
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court awarding taxable costs for denying a first-party insurance claim in violation of Minn. Stat. 604.18, subd. 2(a), holding that the district court did not…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1271
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that an ordinance adopted by the City of Minneapolis that prohibits certain property owners, property managers, and others from refusing to rent…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1987
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the district court's dismissal of a medical malpractice action brought against a hospital system based on the alleged negligence of independent…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A18-2086
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of one count of malicious punishment of a child - less than substantial bodily harm, in violation of Minn. Stat. 609.377, subd. 2,…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0461
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's Minnesota Human Rights Act and common-law negligence claims…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1451
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's petition for postconviction relief arguing that the rule announced in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), and later clarified in…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1897
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's third petition for postconviction relief, holding that Defendant's petition was untimely under Minn. Stat. 590.01, subd. 4(c). Defendant…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: A20-0127
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals denying B.H.'s petition for a writ of prohibition asking that the district court be prohibited from enforcing its written order stating that she was…
Date: July 22, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1890
Date: July 22, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0323
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court and the court of appeals concluding that Minn. Stat. 609.27 subd. 1(4) was constitutionally overbroad and could not be saved through a narrowing construction…
Date: July 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0288
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct, holding that the State proved that Defendant committed an act that was "a substantial step forward, and more than…
Date: July 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0443
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals defining AIM Development, LLC's nonconforming-use rights on a property containing a facility for nonhazardous, non-toxic industrial waste based on the terms…
Date: July 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0750
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case brought by two associations against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) arising out of alleged mismanagement of the groundwater-appropriation permitting process, the Supreme Court held that…
Date: July 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0828
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for of first-degree premeditated murder and attempted first-degree premeditated murder but reversed Defendant's 360-month sentence for attempted first-degree…
Date: July 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0850
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the court of appeals' decision reversing in part Defendant's convictions, holding that the district court did not violate Minn. Stat. 609.04 when it convicted Defendant of both…
Date: July 15, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1253
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's petition to voluntarily terminate her parental rights to her two young children after Grant…
Date: July 15, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1685
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court determining that Appellant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel failed under the second prong of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984),…
Date: July 8, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0389
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the district court's denial of Defendant's petition for postconviction relief, holding that, under Minn. Stat. 260B.245, subd. 1(b), delinquency…
Date: July 8, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0675
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court granting Defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized from his vehicle during a traffic stop, holding that a…
Date: July 8, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1875
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the tax court increasing the assessed unit value of a pipeline system for tax years 2015 and 2016, holding that the tax court did not err in its…
Date: July 1, 2020
Docket Numbers: A18-2114, A19-0155
Justia Opinion Summary: In this wrongful death case, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment for Honeywell International, holding that a claim accrues in an…
Date: July 1, 2020
Docket Number: A18-2139
Date: July 1, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0444
Date: July 1, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0917
Date: June 24, 2020
Docket Number: A18-2156
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the district court that non-homestead life estates should not be included in Marvin Schmalz's assets, holding that the term…
Date: June 17, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1616
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing Father's paternity action on the grounds that Minn. Stat. 259.25, subd. 8 barred the action, holding that the statute did not bar Father's action.…
Date: June 17, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1799
Date: June 10, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0771
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the district court's decision that the Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Ordinance violated the extraterritoriality doctrine, holding that because…
Date: June 10, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1710
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction on the ground that Defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel because, by conceding in the written closing…
Date: June 3, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0174
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant after concluding that Plaintiff failed to allege…
Date: June 3, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1906
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court that Appellant could not enforce the contract between Appellant and Respondent whereby Appellant purchased an…
Date: June 3, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0625
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part Defendant's convictions for first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree domestic abuse murder, and second-degree intentional murder, holding that the district…
Date: May 27, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1694
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying the motion to dismiss filed by State Representative John Lesch on a claim brought by Lyndsey Olson, Saint Paul City Attorney, for defamation per se…
Date: May 13, 2020
Docket Number: A17-2061
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of check forgery, holding that a government inspection of a guest registry is a search under the Minnesota Constitution and…
Date: May 13, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1007
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources had the statutory authority to change the official name of a well-known Minneapolis lake from Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska because the…
Date: May 6, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1055
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentences for drive-by shooting at an occupied vehicle and second-degree assault, holding that Minn. Stat. 609.035 did not prohibit the sentences for both offenses when the crimes…
Date: May 6, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1967
Date: May 6, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0240
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for first-degree murder and second-degree murder but reversed the sentence in part, holding that the district court erred by entering a formal adjudication on both…
Date: April 29, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0063
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's request for postconviction relief and remanding the case for a new trial, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion…
Date: April 29, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0717
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the state district court that revised Appellant's sentence from two consecutive terms of life without the possibility of release to two consecutive terms of life with the…
Date: April 22, 2020
Docket Number: A17-1300
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) lacks the authority to require Otter Tail Power Company to amend an existing transmission cost-recovery rider (TCRR) approved under Minn. Stat.…
Date: April 22, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1280
Justia Opinion Summary: In this condemnation action, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court rejecting Landowners' theory of damages supporting their claim for severance…
Date: April 22, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1886
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of first-degree murder and sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of release, holding that the district court did not…
Date: April 22, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0153
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for first-degree murder, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) Appellant's right to a fair trial before an…
Date: April 22, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0173
Date: April 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1491
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of second-degree driving while impaired, holding that the State properly used Defendant's license revocation as an…
Date: April 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1530
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's convictions for first-degree sale of a controlled substance and second-degree possession of a controlled substance, holding that the…
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0761
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the district court's denial of Defendant's request for non-identifying information about a confidential reliable informant's relationship with…
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0968
Justia Opinion Summary: In this medical malpractice case, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals concluding that the district court abused its discretion by admitting testimony about causation from Dr. John Stark, an…
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1000
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's sentences in connection with his conviction for two counts of violating an order of protection (OFP) under Minn. Stat. 518B.01, subd.…
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Numbers: A18-1002, A19-1083
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the district court denying Appellant's ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim raised in his first petition for post conviction relief and the claims raised in his second…
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1140
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving a Minnesota voter's request for access to information in Minnesota's statewide voter registration list the Supreme Court held that registered Minnesota voters have access to "public information…
Date: April 1, 2020
Docket Number: A17-1968
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction of felony deprivation of parenting rights in violation of Minn. Stat. 609.26, subd. 1(3) on the grounds that the evidence…
Date: April 1, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0893
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction for failure to register as a predatory offender, holding that Defendant's 1992 California conviction for sexual battery did…
Date: April 1, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1420
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the tax court concluding that the market value of a distribution-warehouse property in Rogers, Minnesota was $15,638,000 as of January 2, 2014 and $15,597,000 as of January 2,…
Date: March 25, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0792
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of simple robbery, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support Defendant's conviction. On appeal, Defendant argued that the evidence introduced at trial was…
Date: March 18, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0268
Date: March 18, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0695
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for eight crimes relating to the break in, robbery, and murder at James Herron's home but reversed the sentence imposed on Defendant for the first-degree aggravated…
Date: March 18, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1994
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioners' petition filed under Minn. Stat. 204B.44(a) asking that the Supreme Court direct the Minnesota Secretary of State to include Roque De La Fuente's name as a candidate for The…
Date: March 11, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0170
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Defendant's appeal from an order of the court of appeals affirming the district court's denial of Defendant's request for funding under Minn. Stat. 611.21(a) for out-of-court interpreter…
Date: March 11, 2020
Docket Numbers: A19-0414, A19-0714
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's petition seeking the return of seized property, holding that the district court did not clearly err in finding that the seized property…
Date: March 11, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0745
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's second petition for postconviction relief, holding that the district court properly declined to grant Appellant a new trial and that…
Date: March 10, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0090
Justia Opinion Summary: In this challenge to a zoning ordinance prohibiting industrial mineral operations within Winona County the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the district granting summary…
Date: March 4, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0367
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over the amount of loss after a fire occurred at the home of Respondents the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court granting Respondents'…
Date: February 26, 2020
Docket Number: A17-1068
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the fair and accurate reporting privilege protects news reports about statements on a matter of public concern made by law enforcement officers at an official press conference in an official…
Date: February 19, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0048
Date: February 12, 2020
Docket Number: A17-0221
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals holding that a proposed charter amendment was not manifestly unconstitutional but was an improper referendum, holding that the…
Date: February 12, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1204
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court holding that Appellant, who was injured while she was driving a Pontiac and sought additional primary underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits under an insurance…
Date: February 12, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1287
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the determination of Scott County that Consumer Directed Community Support (CDCS) money that Cindy Ali, whose son was disabled, had allocated to…
Date: February 12, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0567
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from the tax court's conclusion that the market value of Relator's two parcels of improved real estate was higher than the initial assessment value determined by Hennepin County or the valuation opinion…
Date: February 5, 2020
Docket Number: A17-1191
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's sentence on count two, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, holding that the district court abused its discretion by imposing a…
Date: February 5, 2020
Docket Number: A18-1784
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals ruling that James Bergman was not disqualified from receiving a permit to carry a firearm, holding that the sealing of judicial records under a court's…
Date: February 5, 2020
Docket Number: A19-1140
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court denying Appellant's second petition for postconviction relief, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Appellant's…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0593
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court summarily denying Appellant's petition for postconviction relief, holding that the alleged facts, even when viewed in a light most favorable to Appellant,…
Date: January 29, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0428
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the tax court reducing Hennepin County's valuation of a Lowe's store in Plymouth, Minnesota for the 2015 tax year, holding that the tax court did not inflate the property's fair…
Date: January 22, 2020
Docket Number: A17-1730
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the conclusion of the district court that Mother had to notify her three children's biological father of her request to change the children's…
Date: January 22, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0593
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's conclusion that the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (the MFLSA) does not preempt the ordinance enacted by the City of…
Date: January 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0256
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's dismissal of Village Lofts at St. Anthony Falls' common-law claims and statutory warranty…
Date: January 15, 2020
Docket Number: A18-0545
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction for first-degree driving while impaired, holding that Officer Patrick Bendel of the Red Lake Police Department was acting…
Date: January 15, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0237
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals denying the City of Saint Paul's motion to discharge Respondent's petition for a writ of certiorari on the basis that Respondent failed to serve the…
Date: January 15, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0886
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Minnesota Tax Court dismissing Avis Budget Car Rental's property tax petition for failure to disclose certain concession fee information as required by Minn. Stat. 278.05,…
Date: January 15, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0889
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Minnesota Tax Court dismissing the property tax petition filed by Enterprise Leasing Company of Minnesota for failure to disclose certain concession fee information as…
Date: January 2, 2020
Docket Number: A19-0534
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) reversing the judgment of the compensation judge denying a qualified rehabilitation consultant's reimbursement claim for…
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