City of Bismarck v. Goodwin, 2022 ND 72

In Sept. 2020 Goodwin was cited for actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence — refusal.
Goodwin submitted proposed jury instructions addressing elements of the offense and defenses (confusion, mistake) prior to trial.
The district court denied Goodwin’s requested instructions. Goodwin entered a conditional guilty plea reserving the right to appeal a specified pretrial ruling under N.D.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2).
Goodwin’s counsel expressly asked the court to deny the instructions on the record to prompt appellate review and sought Supreme Court guidance on the refusal statute instructions.
The Supreme Court declined to review the denied-requested instructions because doing so would amount to an advisory opinion where there was no adverse determination of a pretrial motion; the court affirmed the criminal judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a conditional guilty plea permits appellate review of the district court’s denial of requested jury instructions	City: Review is not appropriate because no adverse, reviewable pretrial ruling exists and review would be advisory	Goodwin: He reserved the right to appellate review and sought guidance on whether his proposed instructions were legally acceptable	Court: Declined review — absent an adverse determination of a pretrial motion (or overlapping reviewable ruling), the issue would be advisory; judgment affirmed

State v. Sackenrueter, 952 N.W.2d 82 (N.D. 2020) (declined to review denied jury instructions after conditional plea where no instructions were given)
State v. Hammer, 787 N.W.2d 716 (N.D. 2010) (context on limits of appellate review after conditional pleas)
State v. Kleppe, 800 N.W.2d 311 (N.D. 2011) (review allowed where motion in limine overlapped with challenged jury instructions)
State v. Schmidt, 640 N.W.2d 702 (N.D. 2002) (affirmative-defense instruction reviewable when tied to a pretrial motion)
State v. Trevino, 807 N.W.2d 211 (N.D. 2011) (instruction review tied to adjudication of pretrial motion concerning defenses)
City of Fargo v. Nikle, 924 N.W.2d 388 (N.D. 2019) (review of affirmative-defense instruction after trial where burden issue was litigated)