--- title: Justice-Denied — Home url: https://justice-denied.org/ date: 2026-10-23T11:44:31+00:00 modified: 2026-11-06T01:43:07+00:00 lang: en_US --- Judicial accountability · Otter Tail County · Minnesota # When justice fails in public, the public deserves to know. ![Justice-Denied monogram](https://justice-denied.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/justice-denied-team-avatar-300x300.webp) Justice-Denied examines whether Minnesota courts deliver the fairness the law promises. We bring the record into public view so readers can understand what happened, evaluate the courts’ reasoning, compare how litigants were treated, and assess whether justice was served. ## Latest reporting November 6, 2026 ### [Revisiting Our Early AI Analyses: The Record, the Law, and Our Experience](https://justice-denied.org/revisiting-our-early-ai-analyses/) November 3, 2026 ### [Judge Harris’s AI Warning and Judge Miller’s False Quotation](https://justice-denied.org/harris-ai-citations-miller-lawrence/) November 2, 2026 ### [The Civil Case Funnel: How Judges Narrow the Road to Trial](https://justice-denied.org/civil-case-funnel-how-judges-narrow-a-case/) [All reporting →](https://justice-denied.org/blog/) Featured investigations ## Start with the central evidence. Otter Tail County · Civil-jury study ### 5 of 105 cases Reached jury proceedings. **4** verdicts **3** decided contested liability Civil cases with MCRO jury-trial settings, May 2018–Aug. 2026. Outcomes as of Aug. 31, 2026. Our own litigation prompted this investigation. Read alongside the rulings and procedural barriers we experienced, these findings reinforce our concern about how readily litigants can obtain a jury’s determination of disputed facts. [See the cases and methodology →](https://justice-denied.org/otter-tail-county-civil-jury-trials/) Independent judicial investigation ### Different treatment on appeal. 28 Addressed on the merits 1 Forfeited: *Stevenson* Justice-Denied reviewed 29 Minnesota appellate cases. In *Stevenson*, the Court of Appeals deemed the issue forfeited. [Compare the appellate treatment →](https://justice-denied.org/independent-judicial-investigation-on-appeal/) Judge Miller’s orders ### The rule. The ruling. > STANDARD · P. 13 > > “not to decide issues of fact” > ANALYSIS · P. 24 > > “could reasonably support the opposite inference” [Judge Kevin M. Miller](https://justice-denied.org/judge-kevin-m-miller/) Doc. 429 · June 16, 2023. Defamation: disputed intent and substantial truth. [Compare the rule and ruling →](https://justice-denied.org/distorting-the-law-setting-aside-the-fact/)[All 20 AI-assisted analyses →](https://justice-denied.org/bias-analysis-of-judge-millers-orders/) ### When did an Otter Tail County civil jury last decide contested liability? As of August 31, 2026 #### Judge Benson Last identified verdict: December 14, 2023 **2** years **8** months **17** days #### Judge Judd None identified · reviewed from March 1, 2021 **5** years **5** months **30** days #### [Judge Miller](https://justice-denied.org/judge-kevin-m-miller/) None identified · reviewed from May 7, 2018 **8** years **3** months **24** days Contested liability only; identified MCRO civil-jury settings. Benson: since last identified verdict. Judd/Miller: reviewed from appointment. [Details and 105 cases →](https://justice-denied.org/otter-tail-county-civil-jury-trials/#jd-article-jury-interval) From Justice-Denied · Editorial cartoons ## Satire A sideways look at power. Featured cartoon ### Judicial Jeopardy: The Fiction Department Sworn declarations filed before the discovery ruling compared carrier entries with produced messages and identified gaps. This imagined quiz makes that mismatch the clue. Miller’s Order answers with fictional information, echoing its warning about further discovery requests. The host’s fiction-department question turns the response to a record-based inquiry into the punchline. From the record[September 23, 2021 declarations, Docs. 116, 119 and 122 - source and comparison excerpts (PDF)](https://justice-denied.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/stevenson116-119-122-declaration-methodology-excerpts.pdf#page=1) [![Editorial cartoon: Judicial Jeopardy: The Fiction Department. Open the full cartoon page for its transcript and supporting records.](https://justice-denied.org/?jdcm_public=artwork&jdcm_cartoon=4742&jdcm_art=caf0816eeb088d9b58510a4eef72b14f841dde144d9e593eb94c038cef0d2a10&jdcm_width=800)](https://justice-denied.org/satire/judicial-jeopardy-the-fiction-department/) *Humor and irony drawn from public court records. The dialogue is imagined; the rulings are linked.* More reporting ## Follow the record. [View all reporting →](https://justice-denied.org/blog/) November 2, 2026 ### [When Judge Miller Left Disputed Facts to a Jury](https://justice-denied.org/when-judge-miller-left-disputed-facts-to-a-jury/) The Keefe record compares Miller’s recording decision and treatment of disputed inferences with his rulings in Stevenson. [Read the reporting →](https://justice-denied.org/when-judge-miller-left-disputed-facts-to-a-jury/) October 26, 2026 ### [When Summary Judgment Makes Discovery Disappear: R&P and Stevenson](https://justice-denied.org/summary-judgment-and-discovery-rp-stevenson/) R&P’s foreclosure reversal restored claims and discovery questions that summary judgment had ended. Stevenson followed the same path to mootness, with the opposite… [Read the reporting →](https://justice-denied.org/summary-judgment-and-discovery-rp-stevenson/) October 26, 2026 ### [Same Concern, Different Response: Azure v. Bucholz](https://justice-denied.org/same-concern-different-response-azure-v-bucholz/) Azure v. Bucholz, an Otter Tail County contract case, presents a narrow but revealing question: how did Judge Kevin M. Miller respond when a represented plaintiff… [Read the reporting →](https://justice-denied.org/same-concern-different-response-azure-v-bucholz/) October 15, 2026 ### [Two Cases, One Pattern of Narrowing? Comparing Stevenson and Svendsen](https://justice-denied.org/stevenson-and-svendsen-judge-miller/) Compare Judge Kevin M. Miller’s rulings in Stevenson and Svendsen on discovery limits and summary judgment, with court orders and official transcripts. [Read the reporting →](https://justice-denied.org/stevenson-and-svendsen-judge-miller/) [View all reporting →](https://justice-denied.org/blog/) ![Craig and Marie Stevenson holding a framed wedding photograph](https://justice-denied.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Craig-and-Marie-Stevenson-Small.webp) *Craig and Marie Stevenson · Married for over 36 years* Why this site exists ## A personal case. A public question. This began with our family. We are Craig and Marie Stevenson of Fergus Falls, and what happened in Judge Miller’s courtroom raised questions that reach far beyond one case. Justice-Denied documents what happened, tests the courts’ reasoning against the record, and places the evidence in public view. We provide the source material, context, and analysis readers need to reach their own conclusions. [Explore our stories →](https://justice-denied.org/our-story/) ## Investigations and series The people behind the record ## Our team ![Craig Stevenson](https://justice-denied.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cropped-Craig-Stevenson-Profile-Picture-2026_01_11-scaled-1-150x150.jpg) ### Craig Stevenson Research · Reporting · Analysis [About Craig →](https://justice-denied.org/staff/craig-stevenson/) ![Marie Stevenson](https://justice-denied.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cropped-Marie-Stevenson-scaled-1-150x150.jpg) ### Marie Stevenson Writing · Advocacy · Perspective [About Marie →](https://justice-denied.org/staff/marie-stevenson/) ![Miranda Stevenson](https://justice-denied.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cropped-Miranda-Stevenson-Profile-Picture-2026_01_11-scaled-1-150x150.jpg) ### Miranda Stevenson Research · Family perspective [About Miranda →](https://justice-denied.org/staff/miranda-stevenson/)