CRIMINAL LAWCourt of Appeals of Alaska (2022)Flora LipskyIn Ambacher v. State, 521 P.3d 604 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court of appeals held that drivingtwenty to thirty miles per hour above the speed limit and briefly crossing the median did notconstitute a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable driver would observe, and,therefore, Continue Reading »
TORT LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Elza BouhassiraIn Estate of Vinberg v. United States, 2022 WL 11753090 (D. Alaska 2022), the district courtheld that a widow’s claim regarding her husband’s death was not barred by the intentional tortexception of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). (Id. at 6). Through his widow, a diseasedcivilian’s Continue Reading »
PROPERTY LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Rachel ReissIn Evertson v. Sibley, 520 P.3d 157 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that because a banklacked actual and constructive notice of any adverse interest to a contested property, it was a bonafide lender with priority over other claimants to the property. (Id. at 161–62). In 2004, a sonconveyed Continue Reading »
MARITIME LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Sarah BrooksIn In re Cargo of the SS Islander, 22 WL 2757372 (D. Alaska 2022), the court held that a thirdparty may intervene in civil cases to access documents when there is a nexus between the case inwhich the third party seeks to intervene and a case Continue Reading »
EVIDENCE LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Jake ShermanIn Garcia v. Vitus Energy, L.L.C., 600 F. Supp. 3d 975 (D. Alaska 2022), the court held that aparty cannot engage in spoliation by failing to collect relevant evidence, because one cannotspoliate evidence that never existed. (Id. at 982). After suffering injuries while being transportedon the Continue Reading »
MARITIME LAWUnited States District Court, District of AlaskaRobert BulkaIn Maritech Marine Services, LLC v. Bay Welding Services, Inc., 593 F. Supp. 3d 902 (D. Alaska2022), the court held that genuine issues of material fact as to the scope of a maritime contractbetween a vessel owner and a custom boat manufacturer precluded summary judgment. (Id. at909). Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAWCourt of Appeals of Alaska (2022)Sam MacDuffieIn Skupa v. State, 520 P.3d 1184 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court held that restitution may beimposed by a court upon a preponderance of the evidence and need not be found by a jury beyonda reasonable doubt. (Id. at 1191). Skupa was a criminal defendant charged with Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW / CRIMINAL PROCEDURECourt of Appeals of Alaska (2022)Joseph PerryIn Perez v. State, 521 P.3d 592 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court of appeals held that a trial courthas an affirmative duty to act when it becomes clear that a criminal defendant has not been assignedan attorney, but that a defendant may consent to Continue Reading »
CIVIL PROCEDUREUnited States District Court, District of AlaskaScott AndersonIn National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh v. Aspen Custom Trailers, Inc., 587 F.Supp.3d904 (D. Alaska 2022), the district court held that a non–Alaska company cannot be sued in anAlaska court when its only connection to the state is a contract with an Alaska company that Continue Reading »
CONSTITUTIONAL LAWCourt of Appeals of Alaska (2022)Connor SakatiIn State v. Jouppi., 519 P.3d 653 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court of appeals held that, todetermine if a forfeiture in a criminal case is unconstitutionally excessive, courts must considerhow harsh the legislature intended to make the crime’s punishment, whether the defendant’sconduct was part of a broader Continue Reading »
