North Dakota v. Gedrose
Annotate this CaseThe State appealed a judgment dismissing its criminal complaint against Orin Gedrose after the district court held N.D.C.C. 6-08-16(1)(d) was unconstitutional. Gedrose was charged with issuing a check without sufficient funds in violation of N.D.C.C. 6-08-16(1)(d), a class C felony. The State alleged on October 31, 2017, Gedrose made and delivered to the Peterson Law Office a check for $120,000 payable to “Peterson Trust Acc’t,” and the check was returned on November 6, 2017, for non-sufficient funds. He argued the statute was unconstitutional because it lacked a mens rea requirement for a violation and it did not qualify as a public welfare offense. He also claimed a mens rea element was required because innocent conduct could be severely punished. The State opposed the motion, arguing the statute was a strict liability offense and the lack of a mens rea requirement did not violate due process. After review, the North Dakota Supreme Court reversed the judgment and remanded, concluding the district court erred in deciding N.D.C.C. 6-08-16(1)(d) was unconstitutional.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.