Justia Alaska Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Five voters owned homes in a borough and a home outside that borough. Two of the voters voted in the borough's 2010 election. All five voted in the borough's 2011 election. Although each voter was registered to vote, the borough's canvassing committee rejected the voters' ballots in each election on the ground that they were not borough residents. The voters appealed to the superior court and brought direct claims against the borough and a number of borough officials in their official and individual capacities. The court ruled that the voters were borough residents and legally qualified to vote in the 2010 and 2011 borough elections, and that the voters were to remain eligible to vote in future borough elections absent substantial changes in circumstances. The court denied the voters full reasonable attorney fees against the borough under AS 09.60.010(c), concluding that they did not bring constitutional claims, but awarded them partial attorney fees under Alaska Civil Rule 82. The borough appealed the residency determinations and the voters appealed the attorney fees awards. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the superior court’s decisions that the voters were borough residents and eligible to vote in the 2010 and 2011 borough elections, but vacated the order that the voters were automatically eligible to vote in future elections. The Court reversed the superior court's determination that the voters did not bring constitutional claims covered by AS 09.60.010(c), and remanded the case on the fee issue. View "Lake & Peninsula Borough Assembly v. Oberlatz" on Justia Law

Hiland Mountain Correctional Center inmate, Doctor Suzette Welton filed three appeals over the dismissal of her administrative appeals for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In all three cases, Welton appealed decisions in Department of Corrections (DOC) grievance proceedings. In order to qualify for the administrative appeal procedure, Welton had to show that: (1) she was alleging a violation of her constitutional rights; that (2) the proceeding was adjudicative in nature; and (3) she produced a record capable of appellate review. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed with the superior courts that the underlying DOC grievance proceedings were not adjudicative proceedings, and they did not produce a record capable of appellate review. View "Welton v. Alaska" on Justia Law

A court granted a default divorce to Amie Sey after her husband Willie Jackson, who was incarcerated at the time, failed to appear telephonically at a hearing. Jackson filed a motion for relief from judgment under Alaska Civil Rule 60(b), arguing that Sey had made misrepresentations and withheld information about marital property. The court allowed Jackson to conduct discovery in support of the motion, but it later dismissed the motion for lack of prosecution. The court also determined that the time to appeal or to request Rule 60(b) relief was long past. Jackson appealed, making several challenges to the underlying divorce decree. Upon review of the facts of this case, the Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of Jackson’s Rule 60(b) motion and remanded the case for consideration of its merits. View "Jackson v. Sey" on Justia Law

Ed and Kristina B. had one son before they separated. The superior court heard evidence about domestic violence on Ed’s part and Kristina’s medical and substance-abuse issues. The court granted sole legal and primary physical custody of the child to Ed. Kristina appealed many of the court’s findings of fact and legal rulings. Upon review, the Supreme Court remanded the case back to the superior court for reconsideration of: (1) whether Kristina’s child support obligation should be reduced to reflect the significant cost of her court-ordered urinalysis testing; and (2) whether the restrictive visitation schedule was justified once Kristina has demonstrated a history of sobriety. The Court affirmed with respect to all other issues. View "Kristina B. v. Edward B." on Justia Law

A mining company contracted with a consultant to help the company obtain new capital investments. The company later brought suit against the consultant, seeking a declaratory judgment that the contract violated Alaska securities law. The company also sought equitable rescission of the contract and cancellation of shares of stock and royalty interests granted under the contract. The superior court granted summary judgment to the consultant on two grounds: (1) the company’s suit was barred as a matter of law by AS 45.55.930(g); and (2) the company’s suit was barred as a matter of law by res judicata in light of a prior suit instituted by the consultant against the company in which the company did not raise its present claims defensively. Upon review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court reversed the superior court’s grant of summary judgment on both grounds, finding questions of fact still existed. View "Girdwood Mining Company v. Comsult LLC" on Justia Law

A grandmother petitioned for visitation with her daughter’s four children. The superior court denied the petition, finding that the grandmother failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that visitation was in the best interests of the children. The grandmother appealed, arguing: (1) the superior court erred by applying the clear and convincing burden of proof; (2) the record did not support the superior court’s conclusion that the grandmother had not established ongoing personal contact with the children; and (3) the record did not support the superior court’s conclusion that the grandmother failed to prove visitation was in the best interests of the children. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the superior court applied the correct burden of proof and that its conclusions were adequately supported by the evidence presented at trial. View "Hawkins v. Williams" on Justia Law

Michael Reilly and Jaime Vinette lived together and had a son, Barlow. Reilly stopped working in Alaska and moved to Butte, Montana, where he worked part time repairing and renting out homes and managing a bar. Vinette had custody of Barlow during the school year, and Reilly had custody for six weeks during the summer. Reilly moved to have his child support modified to reflect the fact that his income had fallen. Vinette countered that he was voluntarily underemployed. The superior court found that Reilly could work full time and that he was voluntarily and unreasonably underemployed. The court did not find Reilly’s testimony regarding the various reasons he alleged that prevented him from working as credible. The superior court imputed income to Reilly based on the average wage in southwestern Montana for career paths the court believed Reilly would be qualified to pursue. Reilly appealed, arguing that the imputation of income was improper, the amount to be imputed was calculated incorrectly, and the superior court erred in its written child support order by not including a visitation credit for his summers with Barlow. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court affirmed the superior court’s findings and orders, except that the Court remanded the child support order for a correction of a minor omission of visitation credit. View "Reilly v. Northrup" on Justia Law

Nathawn Johnson was convicted of and sentenced for, among other crimes, two counts of sexual assault in the first degree relating to his rape of S.S. One count resulted from penetration of the victim's mouth without her consent; the other count resulted from penetration of the victim's vagina without her consent. Johnson never argued to the trial court that the two counts should have merged for double jeopardy grounds. After Johnson made the double-jeopardy argument for the first time on appeal, the appellate court held that Johnson had not preserved the issue and the trial court did not err by not merging the counts sua sponte. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Johnson argued the court of appeals erred by not reviewing his late-raised double jeopardy argument. The Supreme Court agreed with that, but finding that Johnson's separate convictions did not violate his rights against double jeopardy, the Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. View "Johnson v. Alaska" on Justia Law

Two sisters reported that they were abused by their grandparents while they were entrusted to the legal custody of the Office of Children’s Services (OCS). The sisters sued OCS, and a jury awarded them substantial damages, concluding that OCS was responsible for 95% of their damages and that their grandparents were not responsible for any of their damages. On appeal, OCS argued that the verdict should have been set aside. Because the evidence supporting the jury’s allocation of fault was so insubstantial as to make the verdict plainly unreasonable, the Alaska Supreme Court concluded that OCS was entitled to a new trial. View "State, Dept. of Health & Social Services v. Mullins" on Justia Law

Stephen O.'s parents were concerned that he had suffered a possible psychotic break. They reported his behavior to a mental health clinician. The clinician obtained an ex parte order to take Stephen into custody and transport him to the hospital in Juneau for examination and treatment. The police took him into custody, but due to bad weather he remained in jail for six days before he was transported for evaluation. After a contested hearing, the superior court found by clear and convincing evidence that Stephen was gravely disabled under AS 47.30.915(7)(B) and issued an order for a 30-day involuntary commitment. Stephen appealed that order. Because the superior court’s conclusion that the man was gravely disabled was not supported by clear and convincing evidence, the Supreme Court reversed and vacated the superior court’s 30-day involuntary commitment order.View "In Re Necessity for the Hospitalization of Stephen O." on Justia Law