Justia South Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Defendant appealed, asserting that the jury had insufficient evidence to find that he possessed the marijuana found in the apartment he resided in. Defendant's girlfriend was listed as the apartment's only tenant. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the State produced sufficient evidence to sustain the conviction, as (1) Defendant had at least joint control over the dresser where the marijuana was found and thus joint control over the marijuana; and (2) Defendant's had a knowledge of the specific character and location of the marijuana. View "State v. Wheeler" on Justia Law

Decedent's ex-wife, Ann, filed a claim against Decedent's estate for compensation for nursing and convalescent services she provided to Decedent before his death. Before Decedent died, he forgave a loan he made to Ann. The trustee of Decedent's trust denied Ann's claim, asserting that the loan forgiveness constituted payment for Ann's services. Ann subsequently filed a petition for allowance of claim, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment and seeking payment from Decedent's trust. The trial court ordered that the trust pay Ann $183,538 for services rendered, concluding that Ann was entitled to compensation. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the trial court's conclusion that the loan forgiveness was not compensation for the services Ann provided to Decedent and that Ann was entitled to compensation for the services she provided to Decedent; but (2) concluded that the trial court erred in calculating the amount of Ann's award. Remanded with instructions to recalculate the award. View "In re Nelson Living Trust" on Justia Law

This case involved a dispute between two construction companies, Plaintiff and Defendant. Defendant contracted with Plaintiff to build grain storage facilities at two locations. After beginning construction, Plaintiff stopped work for Defendant's alleged failure to make progress payments. Plaintiff then filed two lawsuits against Defendant seeking to foreclose liens on the property and asserting, ultimately, claims for breach of contract. Defendant counterclaimed for breach of contract, negligence, and other claims. The trial court dismissed the mechanic's liens claims, granted Defendant's motions for default judgment on the counterclaims, and granted Defendant's motions for summary judgment in both cases. The Supreme Court reversed the grant of the default judgments and summary judgments, holding that the trial court (1) abused its discretion in granting the motions for default judgment against Plaintiff on Defendant's counterclaims and in failing to grant Plaintiff's motions for enlargement of time; and (2) erred in granting the motions for summary judgment to Defendant on Plaintiff's claims of breach of contract. Remanded. View "Donald Bucklin Constr. v. McCormick Constr. Co." on Justia Law

The State charged Defendant with bigamy in violation of S.D. Codified Laws 22-22A-1. Defendant moved to dismiss the information, arguing that the State failed to state a public offense. Specifically, Defendant argued that because a bigamous marriage is void ab initio under S.D. Codified Laws 25-1-8, he was never legally married the second time, and thus, it was legally impossible to prosecute him for bigamy. The trial court accepted this argument and dismissed the case. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that in order to give meaning and effect to the enactment of section 22-22A-1, bigamy is committed when a person enters into a purported marriage contract or relationship at a time when the person already has a living spouse. Remanded. View "State v. Clements" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, an in-home registered nurse, was injured in an automobile accident while driving her employer's vehicle to to a patient's home to perform her nursing duties. Plaintiff incurred $382,849 in medical expenses as a result of the accident. After Plaintiff's employer's workers compensation carrier (AIG) denied Plaintiff's workers compensation claim, Plaintiff filed a medical payments claim with Allstate, with whom Plaintiff had a personal automobile insurance policy that provided $100,000 in medical payments coverage. Allstate failed to provide medical payments benefits immediately to Plaintiff. Plaintiff and AIG later settled Plaintiff's worker's compensation claim for $150,000. Plaintiff then commenced this breach of contract and bad faith action against Allstate based on Allstate's failure to pay medical benefits. The circuit court granted judgment as a matter of law for $33,000 on the breach of contract claim and awarded $150,000 in compensatory damages and $1,500,000 in punitive damages on the bad faith claim. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the circuit court erred in excluding Allstate's evidence of AIG's acceptance of the worker's compensation claim, and that exclusion prejudiced Allstate's ability to defend the bad faith and punitive damages claims. View "Bertelsen v. Allstate Ins. Co." on Justia Law

A corporation entered into an agreement with Wells Fargo for a business line of credit. The owners of the corporation signed the document as officers of the corporation. The corporation later defaulted on the line of credit. Velocity Investments, the alleged successor in interest to Wells Fargo, subsequently filed suit against the corporation and the owners as personal guarantors of the debt. The trial court granted summary judgment for Velocity after the owners, acting pro se, failed to respond to Velocity's statement of material facts and requests for admissions. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court (1) abused its discretion in denying the owners' motion for leave to answer requests for admissions, as (i) allowing the owners to answer the requests for admissions would serve the presentation of the merits of this case, and (ii) Velocity failed to demonstrate that it would be prejudiced if the owners were allowed to answer; and (2) because the trial court granted summary judgment based solely upon the owners' failure to respond to the request for admissions, genuine issues of material fact still existed, and the motion for summary judgment should have been denied. View "Velocity Invs., LLC v. Dybvig Installations, Inc." on Justia Law

After Wife moved into a nursing home, Husband disinherited Wife in his will. Wife's attorney-in-fact, her son, disclaimed any inheritance Wife may have been entitled to receive from Husband's estate. One year later, while Wife was receiving Medicaid assistance for her nursing home care, Husband predeceased Wife. Wife's guardian ad litem petitioned for an elective share of Husband's estate and moved to set aside the disclaimer. The circuit court denied the petition, concluding that Wife had validly disclaimed her right to an elective share and that Wife received her fair share of Husband's estate when Husband used their joint resources to pay for her care. The Department of Social Services, which administers the Medicaid program, intervened and moved to reconsider. The circuit court denied the motion. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded for Wife to obtain her elective share, holding (1) Wife was entitled to an elective share; and (2) because no prejudice to interested parties was demonstrated, the circuit court erred by not granting the guardian ad litem's motion to revoke the disclaimer where the guardian was acting in Wife's best interests. View "In re Estate of Shipman" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with numerous crimes, including grand theft. Defendant entered into an agreement with the State in which the State agreed to defer prosecution of the grand theft charge if Defendant pleaded guilty to other charges and complied with additional conditions, one of which required Defendant to plead guilty to grand theft if he violated any of the other conditions of the agreement. Defendant later violated some of the conditions of the agreement, and consequently, the State re-filed the grand theft charge against Defendant. Defendant filed a motion to exercise his right to a jury trial. The circuit court denied the motion based on the terms of the agreement. Defendant subsequently pleaded guilty to grand theft and was sentenced. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the portion of the agreement requiring Defendant to plead guilty to grand theft was unenforceable because it unconstitutionally deprived Defendant of his right to voluntarily enter his choice of plea on the grand theft charge; and (2) because that portion of the agreement was unenforceable, the circuit court erred in determining that Defendant was bound by that portion of the agreement and in subsequently denying Defendant's motion to exercise his right to a jury trial. View "State v. Fox" on Justia Law

Plaintiff was a teacher employed by the Beresford School District. In 2011, the Beresford Board of Education voted not to renew Plaintiff's teaching contract for the upcoming year as part of a reduction-in-force (RIF). Plaintiff appealed, arguing that the Board utilized the wrong RIF policy in not renewing her contract. The circuit court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the Board correctly found that the policy for reductions in force was governed by a 2010-2011 negotiated agreement and properly followed the staff reduction policy contained in that agreement in deciding to terminate Plaintiff's employment; (2) the Board correctly applied the 2010-2011 RIF policy; and (3) the Board's decision to eliminate Plaintiff's position was not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. View "Huth v. Beresford Sch. Dist." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs entered into a contract with DJ Construction (DJ) to build a home on their property. Construction was halted two years later after Plaintiffs discovered significant water damage in the home. Plaintiffs sued DJ, seeking to recover for the damage to their home and DJ's failure to complete the house. Auto-Owners Insurance Company, DJ's insurer, denied DJ's requests for defense and indemnity against Plaintiffs' claims, determining coverage was not provided for under the terms of the policy. Plaintiffs subsequently entered into a stipulated judgment and settlement agreement with DJ in which DJ confessed judgment and assigned its rights and claims against Owners to Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs then filed suit against Owners based on Owners' failure to defend and indemnify DJ. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Owners, determining there was no coverage under the policy because multiple policy exclusions applied. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of Owners on Plaintiffs' breach of contract and bad faith claims based upon its determination that multiple policy exclusions applied. View "Swenson v. Owners Ins. Co." on Justia Law