Justia South Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court affirming the decision of the Deadwood Historic District Commission to deny a certificate of appropriateness sought by Harlan Kirwan to conduct renovations on a building he owned that was located in the Historic District, holding that there was no error.Kirwan, who owned a saloon located in the Historic District, applied for a certificate of appropriateness from the Commission after renovating the saloon's facade. The Commission denied the application and ordered Kirwan to remove the facade. Kirwan subsequently applied for a new certificate of appropriateness to cover the existing facade. The Commission denied the permit, and the circuit court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that there was no error in the underlying decision. View "Kirwan v. City Of Deadwood" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of first-degree burglary, aggravated assault, and grand theft, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the circuit court (1) did not commit plain error by allowing a police officer to testify that Defendant invoked his right to an attorney; (2) did not err by denying Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal concerning the aggravated assault charge; and (3) did not err by denying Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal concerning his aggravated assault and first-degree burglary charges. View "State v. Robertson" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court's preliminary ruling that Appellant could provide testimony from an expert witness on the capacity of a ten-year-old alleged third-party perpetrator to have killed Appellant's daughter, A.H., holding that the circuit court abused its discretion.Appellant was arrested and charged by complaint with second-degree murder in connection with the death of her three-year-old daughter A.H. Appellant's theory at trial was that a ten-year-old boy inflicted the injuries upon A.H. that caused her death. At issue was the circuit court's grant of Appellant's motion to offer third-party perpetrator evidence at trial. The circuit court denied Appellant's request to admit direct evidence of the boy's other acts but allowed admission of the opinion testimony at issue. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the circuit court erroneously applied Rule 404(a) and (b) and Rule 703 in allowing the admission of the proffered expert testimony. View "State v. Hernandez" on Justia Law

In a previous decision involving a reporter’s request for information concerning an investigation involving Sanford, the South Dakota Supreme Court held that SDCL 23A-35-4.1 permits a circuit court to “seal the contents of an affidavit in support of a search warrant upon a showing of reasonable cause, but only until the investigation is terminated or an indictment or information is filed.” The court may not prohibit the public disclosure of other specific records nor of the fact that a search warrant affidavit has been filed.” Certain personally identifying information within court records must be redacted as a matter of course.Following the completion of the state’s criminal investigation, the circuit court unsealed the search warrant affidavits related to the investigation. Sanford challenged the denial of his request to inspect and participate in redacting the affidavits before the records were unsealed. The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed. The circuit court properly applied the provisions of SDCL 15-15A-13 and 23A-35-4.1 and thoroughly considered the statutory and constitutional grounds asserted by Sanford with respect to information that could conceivably be contained in the affidavits. The court appropriately exercised its discretion to “decide whether there [were] sufficient grounds to prohibit access” to the contents of the affidavits. View "Matter Of Implicated Individual" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the circuit court's judgment granting specific performance to the Estate of Gordon Campbell in this property dispute, holding that the circuit court erred by determining that there were not material facts in dispute regarding one claim.After Campbell died, his Estate sought to withdraw property contributed by him from Redwater Grazing Association, of which Campbell and John Nelson were founding members. Before the Estate attempted withdraw the property it tried sell it by soliciting bids from Nelson and Jared Capp. The Estate accepted Capp's offer and sought the deed for the property from Redwater so it could convey the property to Capp. Redwater refused to provide the deed. Nelson and Redwater then filed various claims against the Estate and Capp. The circuit court granted specific performance to the Estate and dismissed the remaining claims. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the circuit court (1) did not err when it granted specific performance directing Redwater to deliver the deed for the property to the Estate; (2) did not err in failing to find a valid contract for the sale of the property between Nelson and the Estate; and (3) erred by granting summary judgment to Capp on Nelson's action for claim and delivery of personal property. View "Nelson v. Estate of Campbell" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and vacated Defendant's conviction of multiple offenses relating to the assault of his ex-wife and his later efforts to get the pending charges dismissed, holding that the circuit court erred in denying Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of engaging in threatening or harassing contact, in violation of S.D. Codified Laws 49-31-31(1).After a trial, Defendant was found guilty of six counts, including two counts of aggravated assault and threatening or harassing contact. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding (1) the circuit court did not err by not granting Defendant's motions for judgment of acquittal on the charges of aggravated assault in violation of S.D. Codified Laws 22-18-1.1(1) and S.D. Codified Laws 22-18-1.1(5); but (2) there was insufficient evidence presented to the jury to support a finding of guilt on the charge of engaging in threatening or harassing contact in violation of S.D. Codified Laws 49-31-31(1). View "State v. Peneaux" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court reversing the order of the Department of Public Safety disqualifying Russell Stanley's commercial driver's license (CDL) privileges, holding that the circuit court properly reversed the Department's disqualification of Stanley's CDL.The Department disqualified Stanley's CDL privileges for one year for the reason of a "felony committed while operating a motor vehicle." Stanley requested an administrative hearing. After a hearing, the hearing officer determined that the disqualification of Stanley's CDL was required under S.D. Codified Laws 32-12A-36(4). The Department adopted the proposed decision in full. The circuit court reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the offense that Stanley committed leading to the disqualification of his CDL privileges was not subject to mandatory CDL disqualification within section 32-12A-36(4). View "Stanley v. Dep't of Public Safety" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the order of the circuit court granting partial summary judgment to Plaintiffs in this tort action for damages arising from a motor vehicle accident in which Beverly Winkler sustained fatal injuries and awarding damages to Plaintiffs after a bench trial, holding that the damages award must be recalculated.Plaintiffs sued Defendant, the personal representative of Beverly's estate, for negligence. The circuit court concluded that Beverly was negligent per se upon partial summary judgment, and the parties proceeded to a bench trial on the issue of damages. The circuit court awarded judgment to Plaintiffs and awarded a total of $36,499. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the circuit court erred by not assessing monetary relief for the cost of replacing a battery to Plaintiffs' tractor, which was damaged in the accident. View "Lamb v. Winkler" on Justia Law

In this workers' compensation case, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court dismissing Employee's appeal of the decision of the the administrative law judge (ALJ) dismissing Employee's petition claiming entitlement to workers' compensation benefits, holding that the circuit court correctly dismissed the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.Employee petitioned the Department of Labor for a hearing on his claim that he was entitled to additional workers' compensation benefits. When Employee did not disclose and identify his experts by the date set in the scheduling order, Employer/Insurer moved for summary judgment. The ALJ granted the motion, concluding that Employee did not create a genuine issue of material fact in dispute precluding summary judgment. View "Hussein v. Showplace Wood Products Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court granting the petition filed by the administrator of the Human Services Center (HSC) to administer psychotropic medication to B.T. without his consent, holding that the circuit court did not err in granting the petition.Pursuant to an emergency commitment, B.T. was admitted to the HSC after reports that he was exhibiting delusional behavior connected to his fervent religious views. B.T. was later involuntarily committed. At issue was a separate proceeding in which the HSC's administrator sought an order to administer psychotropic medical to B.T. without his consent. After a hearing, the circuit court granted the petition, allowing the HSC to administer psychotropic medication to the victim for up to one year subject to conditions. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court correctly applied the law, and its factual determinations were based upon competent and unrequited evidence. View "Johnson v. B.T." on Justia Law