CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Sarah Edwards In Taylor v. State of Alaska, 536 P.3d 247 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that defendants cannot raise a claim that they were denied the right to self-representation for the first time on a direct appeal from a guilty plea. (Id. Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW, HEALTH LAW Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Katie Raya In Choi v. State, 528 P.3d 463 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023) the court of appeals held that a personal care assistant convicted of medical assistance fraud was not entitled to an offset of the restitution damages for the value of services they provided Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Olivia Wagner In Bowen v. State, 533 P.3d 935 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that attempted fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance was not a qualifying predicate conviction under a felony enhancement statute. (Id. at 937). Alaska Statute 11.71.050(a)(4) criminalizes the simple possession Continue Reading »
CIVIL PROCEDURE Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Shaun Thompson In BBFM Engineers, Inc. v. McDonald, 530 P.3d 352 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that pro se status alone was insufficiently compelling to relax the 30-day period to file a motion for relief from judgment. (Id. at 358). McDonald, representing himself, filed an unsigned motion Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Cindy Cheng In Morgan v. State, 523 P.3d 1254 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that the State must show that offenders’ conviction under municipal ordinance has elements similar to those of fourth-degree assault to elevate a fourth-degree assault to a third-degree assault. (Id. Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Justin T. Reed In Maxie v. State, 530 P.3d 380 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023) the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled that a jury instruction which fails to comport with judicial precedent is nevertheless insufficient to overturn a conviction where that error would not appreciably affect the resultant Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Allyson Barkley In Larson v. State, No. A-13731, 2023 WL 2783943 (Alaska Ct. App. Apr. 5, 2023), the court of appeals held Alvarez-Perdomo v. State did not create a new rule on admissibility of juror affidavits. (Id. at 1). Loren J. Larson Jr. was convicted of a Continue Reading »
INSURANCE LAW United States Court of Appeals (2023) Catherine Cole In Estate of Wheeler v. Garrison Property & Casualty Insurance Co., 80 F.4th 1006 (9th Cir. 2023), the court of appeals held that certification to the Alaska Supreme Court was warranted to answer whether the scope of the pollution exclusion in a homeowners’ insurance policy Continue Reading »
CIVIL PROCEDURE Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Hannah Berg In Buchholdt v. Nelson, 534 P.3d 91 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that an unsupported and unsworn assertion made for the first time on appeal is insufficient to demonstrate that a trial court committed legal error or abused its discretion in denying a motion for Continue Reading »
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 »
