Riak v. State

VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice.

[¶ 1] Riak Riak appealed from an order denying his motion to reopen his application for post-conviction relief, which the district court had dismissed on its own motion in an earlier order. Under the narrow circumstances of this case, we conclude the district court abused its discretion in denying the motion because Riak filed his application under prior law and had not yet been put to his proof when the court dismissed his application. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I

[¶ 2] In 2009, Riak pleaded guilty to a charge of gross sexual imposition, a class A…