Justia South Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Leo Geier, an heir to his mother Minnie Geier's estate, petitioned for supervised administration of the estate and removal of the estate's personal representative. After hearing evidence, the circuit court denied the petition. Leo appealed. Appellees, Minnie's estate and the personal representative, filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, asserting that Leo did not appeal from a final order and that not all the required parties were served with a notice of the appeal. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that although the order of the circuit court was one from which Leo could appeal, the Appellees' motion to dismiss the appeal was granted because not all of the heirs were served with notice of the appeal. View "In re Estate of Geier" on Justia Law

Jill Robinson and Chelsey Ewalt were involved in a car accident. Robinson sued Ewalt and attempted service of process a few days before the three-year statute of limitations expired, but Ewalt could not be located. Ewalt was eventually served almost one month after the statute of limitations had expired. The circuit court granted Ewalt's motion for summary judgment, finding that the statute of limitations barred Robinson's claim. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) a factual question about where Ewalt resided was material because it would determine whether the statute of limitations barred Robinson's claim under S.D. Codified Laws 15-2-31 or whether a sixty-day extension period applied; and (2) because a material question of fact remained, the circuit court's granting of summary judgment was improper. Remanded. View "Robinson v. Ewalt" on Justia Law

The parties in this case signed an arbitration agreement providing that arbitration would occur in accordance with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) Code of Procedure, but the NAF became unavailable to administer its Code and the arbitration. Defendants moved the circuit court to appoint a substitute arbitrator under Section 5 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The circuit court concluded that a substitute arbitrator could not be appointed under Section 5 because the NAF Code of Procedure was integral to the parties' agreement to arbitrate and the NAF was unavailable to administer its Code. The Supreme Court reversed after considering the language of the arbitration agreement, the language of the NAF Code, and the federal policy expressed in the FAA, holding that Section 5 applied, and that absent some other defense, Section 5 required the appointment of a substitute arbitrator. View "Wright v. GGNSC Holdings LLC " on Justia Law

Sellers hired Agent to list their ranch for sale. Buyers purchased the ranch after Agent represented that the well on the ranch would produce as much water as they would need for their farming and ranching operation. Later, Buyers sued Sellers and Agent for negligent misrepresentation, maintaining that they were misled about the condition of the well and its potential to meet their farming and ranching needs. Buyers sought $513,000 in damages, which was the estimated cost of installing a new well. The circuit court (1) granted Sellers' motion to prohibit evidence of the cost of a new well as a measure of damages, and (2) prohibited Buyers from testifying on the cost of the well as a means of proving the devaluation of their property. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the Restatement (Second) of Torts sets forth the proper measure of damages in South Dakota for negligent misrepresentation; (2) plaintiffs asserting misrepresentation claims may recover reliance damages but not expectation damages, and therefore, Buyers' evidence of the estimated cost for a new well was properly excluded; and (3) the circuit court properly precluded Buyers from testifying on their land's value. View "Steineke v. Delzer" on Justia Law

Maternal grandparents petitioned for permanent guardianship of a minor Indian child in the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe tribal court. After receiving the guardianship, they sought to have it recognized in a South Dakota circuit court, which had been exercising jurisdiction over the child and his deceased mother since 2007. The circuit court concluded that the tribal court did not have jurisdiction and, consequently, denied the grandparents' motion to recognize the tribal court order. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the minor child did not reside on the Mille Lacs Reservation for purposes of exclusive jurisdiction under the Indian Child Welfare Act; and (2) because the tribal court did not have exclusive jurisdiction over the grandparents' guardianship petition, the circuit court did not err in denying the grandparents' petition to recognize the tribal court order. View "Merrill v. Altman" on Justia Law

Shanna Starkey was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. The stop was based on the officer's perception that Starkey was attempting to evade the police. Starkey was ultimately arrested for driving under the influence. The circuit court suppressed the evidence, concluding that the officer lacked the reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the circuit court erred in failing to consider that conduct designed to evade contact with the police may establish reasonable suspicion for an investigatory detention; and (2), under the totality of the circumstances in this case, Starkey's evasive driving provided reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot. Remanded. View "State v. Starkey " on Justia Law

Former county deputy sheriff Buckly McColl entered into a plea agreement to plead guilty to one count of third-degree rape. In exchange, the State dismissed other charges and agreed not to release an analysis of McColl's use of the sheriff's department's computers. More than one year after McColl was sentenced, he moved to withdraw his plea, asserting that the State violated the plea agreement by "leaking" the computer analysis. The circuit court denied the motion. McColl moved for reconsideration and a hearing to present witnesses who would testify they heard information about the computer analysis. The circuit court also denied that motion. McColl appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred in not allowing a hearing to present evidence that the State breached the plea agreement. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because McColl failed to allege specific facts, which, if true, would entitle him to withdraw his plea, the circuit court was not required to hold a hearing to determine if the plea agreement had been breached. View "State v. McColl" on Justia Law

Appellant Richard Litschewski was convicted by a jury of three separate offenses. The circuit court ordered that the sentence for count two was to run consecutive to the sentence for count one, and the sentence for count three was to run consecutive to counts one and two. The Supreme Court affirmed. Appellant subsequently filed a motion to vacate or modify an illegal sentence, arguing that his sentence was illegal because the circuit court imposed consecutive sentences in an order that was inconsistent with the chronological order in which his crimes occurred. The circuit court denied the motion. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that, under the version of S.D. Codified Laws 22-6-6.1 that was in effect when Appellant was sentenced, the circuit court lacked the authority to order Appellant's sentence for count two, which occurred first in time, to run consecutive to count one. Remanded. View "State v. Litschewski" on Justia Law

Appellant Jason Larsen-Smith was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree and sentenced to life without parole. Appellant appealed, arguing that the sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Appellant where (1) the sentence did not appear grossly disproportionate to the crime, (2) Appellant received a statutorily authorized sentence for his conviction, and (3) the circuit court properly acquired a thorough acquaintance with Appellant and imposed a sentence that took into consideration the safety of the public and Appellant's prospects for rehabilitation. View "State v. Larsen-Smith" on Justia Law

Employee received workers' compensation benefits for a neck and back injury he suffered in 2002 while working for Employer. After his benefits were discontinued in 2004, Employee sought treatment for a low back condition and petitioned the Department of Labor for workers' compensation benefits. The Department denied the petition, ruling that Employee did not prove his low back condition was related to his original 2002 work injury. The circuit court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Department correctly denied workers' compensation benefits where Employee failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the 2002 injury was a major contributing cause of his current low back condition. View "McQuay v. Fischer Furniture" on Justia Law