Judge rules on evidence issue in upcoming lawmaker trial

North Dakota Rep. Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck, participates in a special session of the Legislature on Oct. 23, 2023. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)

A judge presiding over the upcoming trial of a state lawmaker for an ethics-related charge on Tuesday denied a request by the defense to limit evidence related to votes cast by the legislator in 2021.

Rep. Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck, was charged in December with a misdemeanor crime alleging he violated state law by voting on legislation he had a financial interest in.

The representative has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge. His attorney has previously declined interview requests.

At the center of the case is a Bismarck building partially owned by Dockter and leased to the Attorney General’s Office and the North Dakota Department of Health.

The lease to the AG’s office originally came together during Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s tenure. Dockter helped coordinate the deal, a 2022 report by the state auditor showed. The representative was a friend of Stenehjem’s and previously served as his campaign treasurer. Stenehjem died in office in 2022.

During the 2021 regular session, Dockter voted on both the Attorney General’s Office budget and the Department of Health budget, according to the Legislature’s website.

In 2023, the representative again voted on the Department of Health budget, but wasn’t present for votes on the Attorney General’s Office budget.

In a Monday hearing, Dockter’s attorney, Lloyd Suhr, argued that evidence related to the 2021 votes should be analyzed according to rules governing alleged prior bad acts because they lie outside the state’s two-year statute of limitations for the prosecution of misdemeanors.

South Central Judicial District Judge Bobbi Weiler denied Suhr’s request, concluding that evidence related to the 2021 votes “is part of the conduct leading up to” Dockter’s vote during the 2023 session.

“Evidence regarding the 2021 votes explains the circumstances and the context of the crime charged because the 2021 votes, and the 2023 vote, all relate to Mr. Dockter allegedly taking official actions likely to benefit himself financially,” she wrote in the Tuesday order.

The case is scheduled for a jury trial on Friday starting at 9 a.m. in the Burleigh County Courthouse.

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