State v. Legare, 935 N.W.2d 773

Chad Vincent Legare moved in McHenry County District Court for leave to present an affirmative defense of justification/excuse (defense of others) and a related jury instruction.
The district court denied the motion, concluding there was no evidence or anticipated evidence of imminent danger to the person Legare claimed to be defending.
Legare entered an Alford plea to attempted murder and reserved no conditional appeal rights under N.D.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2).
On appeal Legare argued the denial of his motion violated his Sixth Amendment right to present a defense and sought reversal of the in limine ruling and vacation of the conviction.
The Supreme Court analyzed whether the Menna-Blackledge exception to waiver of appeals after guilty pleas applied and whether Legare preserved the right to appeal; it concluded the exception did not apply and Legare failed to preserve the issue because he did not enter a conditional plea.
The Court affirmed the district court’s criminal judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Menna-Blackledge doctrine allows appeal despite Alford plea	State: Menna-Blackledge inapplicable here	Legare: Menna-Blackledge permits appeal of pre-plea ruling preventing defense	Held: Exception doesn't apply; Legare's claim is case-related and could have been cured at trial, so not within doctrine
Whether denial of motion in limine violated right to present a defense	State: No violation; issue waived by plea	Legare: Denial prevented presentation of justification defense, violating Sixth Amendment	Held: Claim not preserved because Legare entered an unconditional Alford plea, not a conditional plea under Rule 11(a)(2)
Whether an Alford plea preserves pre-plea nonjurisdictional claims	State: Alford plea waives pre-plea nonjurisdictional claims	Legare: Contends appellate review should be allowed for his preserved defense claim	Held: Alford plea does not preserve nonjurisdictional pre-plea claims; defendant must use conditional plea to reserve appeal rights

Class v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 798 (2018) (reaffirmed Menna-Blackledge doctrine permitting appeal when prosecution lacks constitutional authority)
United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563 (1989) (guilty plea waives pre-plea nonjurisdictional claims except Menna-Blackledge)
Menna v. New York, 423 U.S. 61 (1975) (origin of doctrine permitting certain appeals despite guilty pleas)
United States v. Ruiz, 536 U.S. 622 (2002) (guilty plea forfeits certain trial-related constitutional rights)
United States v. Rodriguez, 77 F.3d 487 (8th Cir. 1996) (Alford plea waives pre-plea nonjurisdictional issues)
State v. Blurton, 770 N.W.2d 231 (N.D. 2009) (guilty plea waives nonjurisdictional claims under state law)
State v. Barnes, 860 N.W.2d 466 (N.D. 2015) (explaining conditional-plea reservation procedure under Rule 11(a)(2))