Everett v. State, 952 N.W.2d 95

In 2007 a jury convicted Tilmer Everett of gross sexual imposition; the conviction was affirmed on direct appeal.
Everett repeatedly filed postconviction applications; the district court in August 2015 entered a pre-filing order barring further filings in his criminal case without first obtaining leave by showing an exception to the statute of limitations and that the claim was not subject to summary disposition.
On July 10, 2019 Everett submitted a postconviction application plus a motion seeking permission to file under the 2015 pre-filing order.
On September 24, 2019 the district court dismissed the matter for failure to request permission (though Everett had requested it) and also reviewed the merits, concluding the proffered evidence was not new and denying relief.
The district court entered judgment denying postconviction relief; Everett appealed.
The Supreme Court treated the district court’s disposition as a denial of leave to file, held such orders are not appealable, and dismissed the appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court's order denying Everett's postconviction petition/permission to file is appealable	Everett: court erred by denying permission and ruling on merits; he did seek leave	State: court's disposition functionally denied leave to file; denials of leave are not appealable	Court treated the order as denial of leave to file and dismissed the appeal as not appealable

State v. Everett, 2008 ND 126, 756 N.W.2d 344 (affirming Everett's conviction)
Everett v. State, 2016 ND 78, 877 N.W.2d 796 (upholding district court's pre-filing restrictions)
Everett v. State, 2018 ND 114, 910 N.W.2d 835 (treating district court order as denial of leave to file and holding such orders are not appealable)