Minnesota Supreme Court Decisions 2021
Date: December 29, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1554
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction of illegal possession of ammunition, holding that the district court erred by denying Defendant's motion to suppress. During a traffic stop, law enforcement officers…
Date: December 29, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1902
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that Defendant's prior conviction counted as a felony in his criminal history score under Minn. Stat. 152.025, subd. 4(a), holding that there was…
Date: December 22, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0434
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming in part and reversing in part the judgment of the district court granting the Attorney General's motion to compel responses to a civil…
Date: December 22, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0857
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the district court ordering Defendant to pay a total of $87,500 in restitution to two victims, holding that the district court did…
Date: December 22, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1027
Date: December 15, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0375
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of obtaining public assistance to which he was not entitled through willfully false statements, holding that there was no…
Date: December 15, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0427
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals denying a writ of prohibition sought by Polaris, Inc. to prevent disclosure of a report in the underlying product-liability lawsuit brought by Colby…
Date: December 1, 2021
Docket Number: A19-2007
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's presentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea, holding that there was no error. During…
Date: November 24, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0491
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court dismissing this insurance dispute for failure to state a claim, holding that resident-relative exclusions do…
Date: November 17, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1464
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming in part and reversing in part Defendant's convictions, holding that Minn. Stat. 634.093 requires a defendant's confession to be corroborated by…
Date: November 10, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0271
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment to Respondents and dismissing Appellant's wrongful death action on grounds of common law official…
Date: November 10, 2021
Docket Number: A21-0511
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court construing Defendant's motion to correct his sentence as an untimely third postconviction petition, holding that the district court did not err. After a jury…
Date: November 10, 2021
Docket Number: A21-0517
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's decision summarily denying Defendant's second petition for postconviction relief, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's petition for…
Date: November 10, 2021
Docket Numbers: A21-1169, A21-1170
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the district court granting Respondents' petition to strike a revised question from the ballot, holding that the district court erred. Respondents filed a petition to correct…
Date: October 27, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1814
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court in this case arising out of a dispute between the children of Lawrence and Phyllis…
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0425
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals holding that a law enforcement officer lawfully expanded the scope of the underlying traffic stop in this case, holding the court of appeals did not…
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1221
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court summarily denying Appellant's claims for postconviction relief, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion. After a jury trial, Defendant…
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1525
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the workers' compensation court of appeals (WCCA) affirming the decision of the compensation judge granting Respondent's claim petition seeking reimbursement from his former…
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1551
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) upholding a compensation judge's order requiring Employer to reimburse Employee for medical cannabis, holding that the WCCA…
Date: September 16, 2021
Docket Number: A21-0830
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1089
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction of depraved-mind murder and remanded this case to the district court for Defendant to be sentenced on a second-degree manslaughter conviction, holding that Defendant…
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1626
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, holding that the modified plain error doctrine was not satisfied in this case. On appeal,…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0679
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction but remanding the case to the district court for Defendant to be resentenced in accordance with modified guidelines, holding…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Numbers: A19-1559, A19-1560
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals determining that the district court judge presiding in the prosecution of Defendant was not disqualified or prohibited from presiding over Defendant's case,…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0485
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the district court granting Defendant's motion to suppress his statements to his probation officer and a polygraph administrator…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: A21-0007
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Tax Court upholding that constitutionality of the Minnesota sales or use tax for aircraft purchases, holding that Minn. Const. art. X, 5 bars only the application of…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Numbers: A18-0846, A20-1588
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree premeditated murder and the decision of the district court denying Defendant's petition for postconviction relief, holding that there was no…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1809
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court overruling Appellant's objection to the State's peremptory strike of a prospective juror, holding that Appellant did not meet his burden of proving that the…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Numbers: A19-1877, A19-1878
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirmed the orders of the district court dismissing Appellant's constitutional claims asserting discrimination in the tax assessments of its properties,…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Numbers: A20-0205, A20-0206, A20-0228, A20-0229
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the orders of the district courts in four cases summarily denying postconviction petitions as untimely, holding that the petitions in this case…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0963
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) affirming the determination of the compensation judge that Respondent's treatment with opioid medication for a work-related…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1007
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the Commitment Appeal Panel (CAP) granting Appellant's petition for provisional discharge, holding that the record evidence…
Date: August 11, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1224
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 granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant on Plaintiff's complaint alleging…
Date: August 11, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0492
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder for the deaths of an adult and an infant, holding that the district court erred in failing to suppress Defendant's…
Date: August 4, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1856
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of first-degree criminal damage to property, holding that reasonable estimates on the cost to repair or replace damaged…
Date: August 4, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0176
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's pretrial motion to strike down Minn. Stat. 624.714, subd. 1a, the permit-to-carry statute, and convicting Defendant of violating the…
Date: August 4, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1182
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court finding that Mother's child was in need of protection or services, holding that the district court properly…
Date: July 21, 2021
Docket Number: A19-2083
Justia Opinion Summary: In this property dispute, the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals determining that Joseph and Jennifer Roach's appeal was not barred by their acceptance of a…
Date: July 14, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1801
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that a Blakely violation committed by the district court at a sentencing hearing was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, holding that the Blakely…
Date: July 7, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1449
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court summarily denying Appellant's third petition for postconviction relief as untimely, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion. After a…
Date: June 30, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1923
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court determining that the district court, and not the arbitrator, was to decide whether the parties' dispute was subject to arbitration, holding that the district…
Date: June 30, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0473
Date: June 16, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1099
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals holding that the City of Waconia's ordinance was subject to the procedural requirements of Minn. Stat. 462.357 for municipal…
Date: June 16, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1603
Date: June 16, 2021
Docket Number: A19-2045
Justia Opinion Summary: In this landlord-tenant dispute, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's denial of Tenant's claim for treble damages under Minn. Stat. 504B.231, holding that remand…
Date: June 16, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0669
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part Defendant's conviction of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and being an ineligible person in possession of a firearm, holding…
Date: June 9, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0918
Date: June 9, 2021
Docket Number: A20-1304
Date: June 9, 2021
Docket Number: A21-0082
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's election contest filed under Minn. Stat. 209.021, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Specifically, the Supreme…
Date: May 26, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0448
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court amending a spousal maintenance award granting in favor of Respondent, Appellant's former wife, holding that the district court abused its discretion in…
Date: May 26, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0732
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court finding Defendant guilty of violating a domestic abuse no contact order (DANCO), holding that the State did not…
Date: May 26, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1045
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of theft under a principal theory of criminal liability and of being an indelible person in possession of a firearm,…
Date: May 5, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0436
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the requirement that Defendant register as a predatory offender based on her conviction for aiding an offender to avoid arrest, holding that…
Date: May 5, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0451
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for exposing her child, T.D., to methamphetamine, holding that the State's evidence was sufficient to prove that T.D. was subjected to a risk of harm from…
Date: May 5, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1461
Date: May 5, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1671
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction of violating Minn. Stat. 260C.425, subd. 1(a), holding that section 260C.425, subd. 1 does not require the State to prove…
Date: April 28, 2021
Docket Numbers: A18-1952, A18-1953, A18-1958, A18-1959, A18-1960, A18-1961
Date: April 28, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0893
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) vacating factual findings made by the workers' compensation judge regarding the reasonableness and necessity of an employee's…
Date: April 21, 2021
Docket Numbers: A19-0688, A19-0704
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals concluding that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission erred by approving affiliated-interest agreements under Minn. Stat. 216B.48, subdivision 3 without…
Date: April 21, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0829
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the district court granting the Commissioner of Correction's motion to dismiss Plaintiff's action…
Date: April 21, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0076
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals denying Appellants' petition for a writ of mandamus after the district court denied Appellants' motion to transfer venue or, an the alternative, their…
Date: April 21, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0977
Date: April 14, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0078
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance dispute, the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the district court's determination that the insurance policy at issue covered all of the…
Date: April 7, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0786
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals determining that Minn. Stat. 169A.20, subd. 1(7) is a strict liability offense that does not require the State to prove knowledge as an element of the…
Date: April 7, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0396
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's fourth petition for postconviction relief, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in summarily denying Appellant's…
Date: March 31, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0157
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction, holding that the State's discovery motion at Defendant's first court appearance seeking to photograph transitory scratches…
Date: March 31, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0708
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of third-degree depraved mind murder under Minn. Stat. 609.195(a), holding that Defendant failed to show that an erroneous…
Date: March 31, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0907
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court denying Plaintiff's claim in conciliation court against Defendants seeking…
Date: March 31, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1921
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court determining that the interior of a private motor vehicle is not a public place when it is not regularly held…
Date: March 24, 2021
Docket Number: A17-1741
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the conclusion of the court of appeals that this appeal was moot but affirmed the court's decision dismissing the appeal, holding that Appellant, a Level III predatory offender serving the…
Date: March 24, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1147
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals concluding that the United States Supreme Court's decision in Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. 141 (2013), is substantive in the context of a conviction for…
Date: March 24, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1281
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, holding that a person is mentally incapacitated under Minn. Stat. 609.341, subd. 7…
Date: March 24, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0756
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of first-degree premeditated murder of Andrew Gokee and attempted first-degree premeditated murder of Hudson Gauthier, holding that the…
Date: March 17, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1425
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that Officer Eric Reetz was not entitled to defense and indemnification from his employer, the…
Date: March 10, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0672
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's denial of Appellant's petition for postconviction relief after determining that his stay of adjudication and discharge from…
Date: March 10, 2021
Docket Number: A19-1363
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the determination of the district court that the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners acted arbitrarily when it set the 2019 salary of the…
Date: February 24, 2021
Docket Numbers: A19-0115, A19-0134
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals concluding that the factual findings of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency were "insufficient to facilitate judicial review" of a permitting decision,…
Date: February 24, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0089
Date: February 24, 2021
Docket Number: A20-0241
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the tax court concluding that Menard, Inc. was not entitled to an offset on its sales tax liability under Minn. Stat. 297A.81, holding that the tax court correctly concluded…
Date: February 10, 2021
Docket Numbers: A18-2094, A18-2095, A18-2159, A18-2163
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that groundwater is a Class 1 water under Minnesota law and therefore subject to secondary drinking water standards promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2018,…
Date: February 10, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0999
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court holding that the adoption of a comprehensive plan is not a proper subject of a claim under the Minnesota…
Date: February 3, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0606
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court granting the City of Plainview's motion to dismiss Donald Hall's contract and statutory claims, holding that the City had a…
Date: February 3, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0668
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's complaint alleging that he witnessed Defendant's workers violate safety protocols resulting in contamination of his home, holding that…
Date: January 20, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0372
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed as modified as modified the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court denying Maria Molloy's motion to intervene in Pamela Spera's proceeding seeking…
Date: January 20, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0481
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case alleging that Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) failed to maintain and produce certain government data the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals holding that Plaintiff's…
Date: January 20, 2021
Docket Number: A19-0853
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court reversing a transfer penalty imposed by the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services on David…
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