Egeland v. Continental Resources, Inc., 2000 ND 169 Consent from the landowner is not required when a lessee applies to the Industrial Commission to force pool property. A Pugh clause severs an oil and gas lease when less than all of the leasehold is included in a pooled spacing unit, and production on the pooled portion does not normally constitute production on the part not pooled. A continuous drilling operations clause continued to operate lease-wide after expiration of the primary term even though the Pugh clause limited the operation and effect of the habendum clause to the confines of each spacing unit. Johnson v. Johnson, 2000 ND 170 The doctrine of equitable adoption may be applied to impose a child support obligation and to justify an award of visitation. The trial court must make an equitable distribution of the property of divorcing parties, indicating its rationale for the distribution. A trial court may award spousal support if it finds a claimant is a disadvantaged spouse; such a determination is a finding of fact.
September 6, 2000
City of West Fargo v. Hawkins, 2000 ND 168 Unless the date is an essential element of the offense, the prosecution need not prove the crime was committed on the precise date alleged in the complaint or information. The date of the offense is not an element of the crime of driving under the influence. When there is a deviation from the chain-of-custody procedure specified on Form 104 for submission of blood samples to the State Toxicologist, the blood test results are still admissible if the officer's testimony established proper chain of custody.
September 5, 2000
Robertson v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 2000 ND 167 The presumption that a law enforcement officer's heart disease was suffered in the line of duty is based on a legislatively adopted premise that a law enforcement officer's work stress causes heart disease, and the presumption cannot be rebutted by expert medical opinion rejecting that underlying premise.