Justia South Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

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

Mother and Father divorced in 1997. As part of their divorce, Mother and Father entered into an agreement regarding payment of their children's post-high school educational expenses. The parties' youngest child, Jason, took five years to complete his undergraduate degree and was accepted into several master's degree programs. At the end of Jason's senior year of college, Father began to dispute his obligation to continue paying his share of Jason's educational expenses. The circuit court found that the parties' agreement was unambiguous and ordered Husband to pay his share of the expenses associated with Jason's fifth year of undergraduate studies and Jason's first year of graduate school. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the agreement was intended to include graduate school and was not limited to an undergraduate education; and (2) Father was obligated to pay his pro-rata share of Jason's fifth year of college. View "Roseth v. Roseth" on Justia Law

Mother and Father, who were unmarried, had a child in 2002. In 2008, Father was awarded primary physical custody of the child. In 2012, Father petitioned to increase Mother's child support obligation because he lost his job and was unemployed. After a hearing, the referee recommended that Mother's obligation be reduced because Father had received part of an inheritance and expected to receive the balance of that inheritance in the near future. The circuit court adopted the referee's recommendation and reduced Mother's child support obligation. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Father's inheritance could not be considered when calculating Mother's child support obligation without a finding that the child's needs were not being met through Father's and Mother's income. Remanded. View "Crawford v. Schulte" on Justia Law

Wife and Husband were married in 1997. Wife, who was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, was declared disabled in 2002. In 2011, Husband initiated divorce proceedings. Husband's attorney (Attorney) prepared the marital termination agreement and affidavits. After a meeting with Attorney, Wife signed the agreement, which gave Husband the marital home, two vehicles, a utility trailer, Husband's retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, checking and saving accounts, and life insurance. Wife received approximately eight percent of the property, and she waived alimony. The judgment and decree of divorce were filed in September 2011. Wife subsequently filed a motion to set aside the judgment, which the trial court denied. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a trial on the merits, holding that Wife demonstrated exceptional circumstances constituting excusable neglect and a probable meritorious defense. View "Geier v. Geier" 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 worked for the City of Sioux Falls as an assistant city attorney. In 2010, Appellant was terminated for violating various subsections of the Sioux Falls City Ordinance. Appellant appealed and applied for an alternative writ of mandamus to compel discovery of certain documents including personnel records of other city employees. The trial court denied the writ, determining that the files were not relevant to Appellant's appeal of his termination. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial judge had jurisdiction to preside over the writ of mandamus; (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the writ of mandamus, as Appellant did not prove the existence of a clear legal duty to act; and (3) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Appellant's motion for a new trial. View "Tornow v. Sioux Falls Civil Serv. Bd." on Justia Law

Defendants owned three lots in the Eagle Crest subdivision adjacent to the Eagle Ridge Estates (Eagle Ridge) subdivision. Defendants' predecessor in title obtained a private access easement from the prior owners of Eagle Ridge, which allowed Defendants to access their property in Eagle Crest by way of roads running through Eagle Ridge. In exchange, the grantee of the easement agreed to pay an annual general road assessment for each lot. The Eagle Ridge Homeowners Association (Association) brought suit against Defendants for their failure to pay general assessments for three assessment years. Defendants argued that the Association only had authority to assess general road assessments against them and not general assessments. Ultimately, the trial court found in favor of the Association and awarded attorney fees, finding that the expenditures made by the Association were associated with roads. The Supreme Court affirmed on all issues with the exception of the Association's request for certain attorney fees because of contradictory findings and conclusions by the trial court. Remanded. View "Eagle Ridge Estates Homeowners Ass'n v. Anderson" on Justia Law

In 1994, Plaintiff granted a drainage easement to Pennington County on land he owned. In 1996, silt began to accumulate near the bottom of the canyon on part of Plaintiff's land due to the County's repair of a section of road abutting Plaintiff's land. In 2010, Plaintiff filed suit against the County for nuisance, constructive taking, trespass, and unlawful taking. The trial court granted summary judgment for the County, determining that there was no continuing tort and that the statute of limitations had run. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment for the County, as the County's actions did not constitute a continuing tort, and thus, Plaintiff's action was untimely filed. View "Brandt v. County of Pennington" on Justia Law

AgFirst Farmers Cooperative (AgFirst) sued Diamond C Dairy (Diamond) for cattle feed allegedly purchased by Diamond. Diamond admitted it owed AgFirst for some of the feed but contended that some shipments could have been sent to a facility in Ft. Dodge, Iowa that was owned by another company. The trial court disallowed this defense by refusing to allow Diamond to withdraw its admissions admitting that the feed had been delivered to its facility. Diamond also contended it did not owe AgFirst for some shipments because Diamond's facility did not have sufficient storage capacity to accommodate those loads of feed. The circuit court rejected this second defense and awarded AgFirst a money judgment. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) the circuit court's findings of fact were adequate to support its determination that there was sufficient storage space at Diamond's facility to have accepted AgFirst's deliveries; (2) the record was inadequate to determine whether the award of attorney's fees and expenses to AgFirst was appropriate; and (3) the court applied the wrong test in denying Diamond's request to withdraw admissions relating to the Ft. Dodge defense. Remanded for a new trial on that issue. View "AgFirst Farmers Coop. v. Diamond C Dairy, LLC" on Justia Law

Plaintiff was the owner of a voting interest in Coldwell Banker Lewis-Kirkeby-Hall Real Estate, Inc. (CBLKH). Plaintiff and Defendant entered into a contract under which the parties agreed that Plaintiff would sell Defendant his shares of CBLKH voting stock. On the closing date of the contract, Defendant failed to attend the closing and did not pay the amount agreed upon for Plaintiff's shares. After negotiations between the parties failed, Plaintiff brought suit for breach of contract against Defendant. Defendant raised the defense that his consent to enter into the contract was obtained by fraud. After a trial, the trial court entered judgment against Defendant for $250,000. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new trial, holding (1) the trial court correctly concluded that the contract was clear and unambiguous as to Defendant's receipt of financial documents; but (2) the court erred in barring Defendant's fraudulent inducement evidence under the parole evidence rule. View "Poeppel v. Lester" on Justia Law