State v. Emil, 2010 ND 117

Summary

The Supreme Court of North Dakota dismissed the State's appeals from orders suppressing financial records in consolidated criminal prosecutions for workforce safety fraud and accomplice liability. The court held the prosecutors' statements did not sufficiently explain the relevance of the suppressed evidence under N.D.C.C. § 29-28-07(5), while a dissent concluded the statements satisfied the statute's plain language.

Holdings

1. The prosecutor's statement must have substantive content explaining the relevance of the suppressed evidence; merely parroting the language of N.D.C.C. § 29-28-07(5) is insufficient when the relevance is not clear from the record.
2. The appeal must be dismissed because the prosecutor's statements failed to explain the relevance of the suppressed evidence and the record did not clearly establish that relevance.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the State's prosecutorial statements satisfied N.D.C.C. § 29-28-07(5), permitting an appeal from an order suppressing evidence.
2. Whether the record clearly demonstrated that the suppressed financial records constituted substantial proof of a fact material to the criminal proceedings.

Disposition

dismissed