Justia South Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree manslaughter by means of a dangerous weapon, vehicular homicide, vehicular battery, and DUI. Defendant was acquitted of two charges of first-degree manslaughter while engaged in the commission of a felony. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) the language "while engaged in the commission of a felony" was prejudicial when referring to the charge of DUI; and (2) the trial court improperly overruled her objections to the admissibility of testimony regarding the kinetic energy of Defendant's vehicle. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new trial, holding (1) because the jury did not convict Defendant on the counts containing the language "while engaged in the commission of a felony," Defendant's argument that she was prejudiced was moot; but (2) the trial court erred when it concluded that the disputed testimony was relevant, and the error was not harmless. View "State v. Kvasnicka " on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possession of one to ten pounds of marijuana. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal, as the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction; (2) Defendant's proposed jury instructions were properly denied, as the instructions provided to the jury correctly stated the law and informed the jury; (3) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's motion to have the jury view his residence; and (4) the trial judge did not abuse his discretion when he did not recuse himself on the basis of impartiality where Defendant provided no objective grounds to conclude the trial judge's impartiality might be reasonably questioned. View "State v. Hauge" on Justia Law

Defendant was retried on multiple rape and sexual contact offenses against his daughter after his 2008 conviction was overturned on direct appeal. After a second jury trial, Defendant was convicted on all charges and was sentenced by the trial court to sixty years in the penitentiary. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by (1) admitting evidence pertaining to Defendant's subornation of perjury conviction, as evidence of Defendant's act of fabricating evidence was relevant to Defendant's consciousness of guilt, and any prejudicial effect was substantially outweighed by the probative value of the evidence; and (2) denying Defendant's motion to dismiss based on a defective indictment, where the indictment was not fatally defective because it was neither duplicitous nor failed to apprise Defendant of the charges against him. View "State v. Fisher" on Justia Law

Appellant pleaded guilty to first-degree injury to property and possession of a controlled substance. Appellant was sentenced to twenty-one years in the penitentiary for both convictions, to be served consecutively. Appellant's sentenced commenced on June 18, 2007. According to the Department of Corrections (DOC), Appellant's initial parole date was June 21, 2027. The DOC calculated the initial parole date pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws 24-15A-32. Appellant appealed the DOC's determination. The Board of Pardons and Paroles and the circuit court affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Board acted without authority in determining that Appellant was a Class 2 felon when calculating his initial parole date. Remanded to the Board with directions to calculate Appellant's initial parole date in conformity with this opinion. View "Rowley v. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of three counts of first-degree rape of a minor and twelve counts of possessing, manufacturing, or distributing child pornography. Defendant was indicted of the charges after the deputy state's attorney issued subpoenas to Midcontinent Communications requesting the personal information of the subscriber associated with the IP address where officers found child pornography. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded in part and affirmed in part, holding (1) the trial court failed to address the pertinent factors and make specific findings regarding its exclusion of the general public from the courtroom when the child victim testified about sexual abuse; and (2) Defendant had no privacy interest in the information obtained by subpoenas issued by the State to Midcontinent, and therefore, Defendant had no standing to challenge the subpoenas. View "State v. Rolfe" on Justia Law

Defendant was indicted for driving with a revoked license. The indictment stemmed from a traffic stop that a law enforcement officer initiated after he noticed that Defendant's headlights appeared to be at their high-beam setting. Defendant moved to suppress the evidence and statements obtained during the stop of his vehicle, arguing that the stop should have ended after the officer confirmed Defendant did not fail to dim his headlights. The magistrate court denied the motion and later found Defendant guilty. The circuit court affirmed Defendant's conviction, including the magistrate court's denial of Defendant's suppression motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) when the officer requested Defendant's driver's license, the officer had not yet completed his investigation of the failure to dim offense, and therefore, the officer's request was within the scope of the investigation attendant to the traffic stop; and (2) accordingly, there was no violation of Defendant's federal or state constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. View "State v. Bonacker" on Justia Law

Defendant, who was serving a life sentence in the South Dakota Penitentiary when he and another inmate assaulted a correctional officer, pled guilty to first-degree murder of the officer. Defendant waived his right to a jury determination of the appropriate sentence. After a pre-sentence hearing, the circuit court sentenced Defendant to death. Defendant appealed his sentence. The Supreme Court affirmed in all respects with one exception, holding (1) in selecting a sentence, the circuit court violated Defendant's right to be free from self-incrimination by improperly considering statements made by Defendant to a psychiatrist during a competency evaluation; and (2) the use of this statement was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Remanded to the circuit court to conduct a sentencing without this error. View "State v. Berget" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second-degree rape. Defendant appealed a number of issues involving hearsay and the denial of a requested jury instruction, a Batson challenge, and an objection regarding the State's use of the word "rape" during trial. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Defendant's challenges to testimony admitted at trial were either not preserved for appeal or were without merit; (2) the instructions that were given to the jury accurately stated the law and were not prejudicial to Defendant; (3) the trial court correctly denied Defendant's Batson challenge to the State's peremptory strike of a juror; and (4) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's objection to the use of the word "rape" during trial. View "State v. Roach" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged separately with DUI and distribution of a controlled substance. A plea agreement was reached in both cases. The state's attorney's office agreed to recommend that the DUI sentence run concurrent to the sentence imposed for the distribution charge. At Defendant's sentencing hearing, the attorney general's office initially argued against running the sentences concurrently. The assistant attorney general, however, when made aware of the plea agreement, withdrew his argument against concurrent sentences. The circuit court sentenced Defendant to six years for the DUI and five years for the distribution charge, the sentences to be served consecutively. Defendant appealed, arguing that the State breached the plea agreement by initially arguing against concurrent sentences. The Supreme Court affirmed the sentences because Defendant did not contemporaneously object to the alleged violation of the plea agreement and because Defendant did not establish that the error caused him prejudice. View "State v. Olvera" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with and found guilty of aggravated child abuse. The charges stemmed from the bruising found on the face of Defendant's fiancee's daughter, six-year-old K.N., while K.N. was at school. Defendant appealed, arguing that the verdict was not sustained by the evidence. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support Defendant's conviction beyond a reasonable doubt, as evidence was presented from which the jury could find that Defendant's grabbing and squeezing of K.N.'s face were enough to cause extensive bruising across K.N.'s face and neck and a subconjunctival hemorrhage in one of her eyes, and that Defendant's actions were not permissible discipline. View "State v. Morgan" on Justia Law