State v. Kollie

Citations

• 994 N.W.2d 367
• 2023 ND 152

Syllabus

A sidebar addressing routine evidentiary or administrative matters during trial, even without an adequate record, is not a closure implicating the public trial right. The plain language of the statute criminalizing murder provides alternative means of committing the offense. A jury is not required to unanimously agree upon which of the alternative means of committing murder it believes the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt. For purposes of double jeopardy, criminal offenses are different if each offense contains an element not contained in the other offense. Irrelevant evidence is not admissible. Rights of a deceased victim may be exercised by family members and others as provided in N.D. Const. art. I, § 25(4). Section 25 does not provide for the court's enforcement of a crime victim's rights on behalf of a deceased victim absent the assertion by an individual listed under § 25(4). An erroneous evidentiary ruling is disregarded as harmless error under N.D.R.Crim.P. 52(a) if it does not affect the defendant's substantial rights.