The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed a woman's conviction for forgery after concluding the district court had erred in closing the courtroom to provide jurors with the opportunity to discuss "embarrassing or intrusive" matters "in private."

In a June 21 opinion, authored by Justice Jerod E. Tufte, the court determined the lower court had closed the courtroom in holding private individual questioning of three prospective jurors, which violated Susan Kaye Coons' right to a public trial.