Justia South Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of second-degree murder and sentencing him to forty years in prison, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) as concerning the prosecutor's effort to conceal the State's involvement in Defendant's transfer proceedings, the circuit court properly exercised its discretion to neutralize any error; (2) the circuit court acted within its discretion to denying Defendant's motion for mistrial; (3) viewed in their entirety, the instructions given to the jury correctly stated the applicable law; (4) the exercise of the circuit court's discretion did not contravene Defendant's right to present a complete defense; and (5) Defendant's sentence could not be described as grossly disproportionate to his crime. View "State v. Black Cloud" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed on appeal two orders of the circuit court in which the court denied the requests brought by Mark and Annessee Brockley to hold Michael Trucano, the Michael J. Truman Living Trust, and Hickoks Hotel & Suites, LLC in contempt, holding that there was no error.The Brockleys sued several entities seeking the amount remaining due on a contract. The circuit court granted partially summary judgment in favor of the Brockleys. At issue was the circuit court's charging order directing an entity that later changed its name to Hickoks to pay certain distributions owed to the Brockleys. The Brockleys filed motions for an order to show cause claiming that several defendants should be held in contempt for violating the charging order. The circuit court denied the motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court was not clearly erroneous when it found that neither Trucano, the Trucano Trust, nor Hickoks willfully or contumaciously violated the charging order. View "Brockley v. Ellis" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed in part and remanded in part the judgment of the circuit court determining that Tom Smith Masonry had a valid mechanic's lien for the unpaid balance due under a construction contract with WIPI Group USA, Inc., holding that the circuit court erred in denying Smith Masonry a judgment of foreclosure on the mechanic's lien for the full amount of the recorded lien.Smith Masonry instituted a mechanic's lien foreclosure action against WIPI seeking to recover unpaid balance due under the parties' construction contract and an award of attorney fees. WIPI counterclaimed for breach of contract. The circuit court ultimately denied both parties relief, determining that Smith Masonry had a valid mechanic's lien for the unpaid contract balance but that WIPI was entitled to an offset because the work did not meet the reasonable standard for construction. The Supreme Court reversed in part and remanded or the court to enter a judgment of foreclosure in favor of Smith Masonry on its mechanics lien, holding that the circuit court erred in determining that WIPI was entitled to a wholesale offset of the amount due under the contract. View "Smith Masonry v. WIPI Group, USA" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of The Genevieve J. Parmely Revocable Trust asking the court to determine that an option agreement made with Brad Magness was invalid because of the absence of consideration, holding that the circuit court erred.In denying summary judgment for Magness and in granting the Trust's second motion for summary judgment the circuit court determined that the written option agreements at issue were not supported by independent consideration and were null and void. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Trust failed to rebut the presumption of consideration established by S.D. Codified Laws 53-6-3. View "Genevieve J. Parmely Revocable Trust v. Magness" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the determination of the circuit court that the Day County Board of Adjustment could reconsider and modify a previously-granted variance, holding that the Board of Adjustment no longer had the authority to reconsider the variance when it did so.Appellants were informed that their property violated the Day County Planning and Zoning Ordinance because they altered the grading and added rocks. Appellant subsequently sought a variance from the ordinance allowing the existing grading and rocks to remain. The Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the application. The Board subsequently reconsidered the variance and modified it. Appellants later applied for a permit to build a house on their property. The Board of Adjustment denied the application because Appellants had not complied with the modified variance. The circuit court denied Appellants' request for relief and dismissed their complaint. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that because the Board of Adjustment did not reconsider the variance before the appeal time expired, Appellants were entitled to a declaration of their rights under the variance the Board granted. View "Gonsor v. Day County Planning Commission" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of first-degree manslaughter and aggravated assault and sentencing him to life imprisonment, holding that Defendant's sentence did not violate the Eighth Amendment.Defendant pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter and aggravated assault. The circuit court sentenced Defendant to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree manslaughter and to a term of fifteen years for aggravated assault to run concurrently with his life sentence. Defendant appealed, arguing that his life sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment and that the circuit court abused its discretion by imposing a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion. View "State v. Caffee" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed these two appeals involving unrelated juvenile adjudications and dispositions, holding that this Court lacked appellate jurisdiction over S.A.'s and E.B.'s respective appeals.At issue before the Supreme Court was whether the Court had appellate jurisdiction where the juveniles - S.A. and E.B. - failed properly to serve the notices of appeal on their parents. The Supreme Court dismissed both appeals, holding (1) S.A. and E.B. were required to timely serve their parents because parents are parties in juvenile delinquency proceedings; and (2) because both juveniles failed timely to show service of their notices of appeal on all parties, this Court lacked appellate jurisdiction. View "In re S.A." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court dismissing this administrative appeal brought by Brittain Kovac from a final decision of the South Dakota Department of Labor of Regulation's Reemployment Assistance Division (RAD) determining that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, holding that the circuit court had subject matter jurisdiction over this administrative appeal.An administrative law judge (ALJ) concluded that Kovac was ineligible to have received $20,278 in federal pandemic unemployment benefits and ordered her to repay them. Kovac attempted to filed notices of appeal, but the pleadings were returned unfiled for not meeting the requirements set forth in S.D. Codified Laws 1-26-31. Kovac then appealed with assistance of counsel. The circuit court dismissed the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to Kovac's failure to timely perfect an appeal. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) a notice of appeal is considered filed under section 1-26-31 on the date of receipt by the clerk of courts' office, regardless of the date the office formally accepts notice of appeal; and (2) Kovac's notice of appeal was sufficient to constitute a timely "filing" under the statute. View "Kovac v. S.D. Reemployment Assistance Division" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of rape in the first degree and his sentence of two consecutive twenty-five-year prison terms, holding that the circuit court did not err in denying Defendant's motion for a mistrial or in instructing the jury.During trial, defense counsel cross-examined the victim at issue in order to demonstrate what counsel believed were inconsistencies between the victim's testimony and a prior incident. Based on the belief that counsel's questions had prompted the victim about uncharged events involving Defendant, the prosecutor asked the victim about this other conduct. Defendant later moved for a mistrial on the grounds that he had not received notice of the State's intent to introduce other acts evidence,The circuit court denied the motion and convicted Defendant. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Defendant's motion for mistrial or in failing to include Defendant's proposed instruction regarding other acts of rape. View "State v. Ortiz-Martinez" on Justia Law

In this case regarding the reformation of a trust the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the circuit court denying Sally Johnson's request for reimbursement from the trust for her attorney fees and expenses incurred during the underlying litigation, holding that attorney fees were authorized for Johnson efforts to vindicate her father's intent.The trust in this case was created by Fred Peterson, the father of Johnson and Mindy Smith. After Peterson died, Johnson filed petitions seeking court supervision and reformation of one of the trusts, which Smith opposed. The circuit court granted Johnson's request to reform the trust and denied Smith's requests for relief following a trial. Thereafter, Johnson filed a motion for reimbursement of attorney fees and expenses from the trust. The circuit court denied the motion. The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's denial of attorney fees for Johnson's litigation efforts to obtain certain property, holding that attorney fees were authorized under S.D. Codified Laws 15-17-38. View "In re Fred Petersen Living Trust" on Justia Law