State v. Lais

2026 ND 12

• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court
• Decided: January 29, 2026
• Docket: No. 20250231
• Status: Published
• Author: Jensen, Jon J.

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

2026 ND 12

State of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Shantel Rose Lais, n/k/a Shantel Rose Golberg, Defendant and Appellant

No. 20250231

Appeal from the District Court of Mercer County, South Central Judicial District, the Honorable Bobbi B. Weiler, Judge.

AFFRIMED.

Opinion of the Court by Jensen, Justice, in which Chief Justice Fair McEvers and Justices Tufte and Bahr joined. Justice Crothers filed an opinion dissenting.

Todd A. Schwarz, State’s Attorney, Stanton, ND, for plaintiff and appellee; submitted on brief.

Jamie L. Schaible, Fargo, ND, for defendant and appellant. State v. Lais No. 20250231

Jensen, Justice.

[¶1] Shantel Lais appeals from a criminal judgment entered after she conditionally pleaded guilty to child neglect and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. She argues the district court erred when it denied her motion to suppress evidence. She asserts her Fourth Amendment rights were violated because law enforcement illegally entered an area where she had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Lais’s co-defendant, Christopher Golberg, challenged the suppression order on the same grounds in State v. Golberg, 2026 ND 11, ___ N.W.3d ___. In that appeal, we decided the court did not err when it declined to suppress evidence after finding no reasonable expectation of privacy existed. Id. ¶ 18. For the reasons expressed in Golberg, we summarily affirm the judgment entered in this case. See N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7) (providing for affirmance by summary opinion when “a previous controlling appellate decision is dispositive of the appeal”).

[¶2] Lisa Fair McEvers, C.J. Jerod E. Tufte Jon J. Jensen Douglas A. Bahr

Crothers, Justice, dissenting.

[¶3] I respectfully dissent for the reasons stated in my dissent in State v. Golberg, 2026 ND 11.

[¶4] Daniel J. Crothers