Justia South Dakota Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court in this appeal from a judgment and decree of divorce, holding that the court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees, calculating child support, and dividing property.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the circuit court (1) did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees to Wife; (2) did not err in calculating child support and awarding adoption subsidies to Wife; (3) did not abuse its discretion dividing the credit card debts of the parties and requiring Husband to pay a cash property settlement; and (4) did not abuse its discretion in requiring Husband to pay any judgments against him not covered by the sale of the marital home within one year from the date of the judgment and decree of divorce. View "Green v. Green" on Justia Law

In this criminal case, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court admitting certain other acts evidence and denying Defendant’s motion for a mistrial, holding that the circuit court did not err in admitting the evidence or by denying Defendant’s motion for a mistrial.Defendant was convicted of multiple sex crimes involving two minor victims under the age of sixteen. Among the issues on appeal was the court’s admission of internet searches that used terms associated with an interest in younger females and Defendant’s act of piercing his penis. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court (1) did not abuse its discretion by admitting the internet search histories and piercing evidence; and (2) acted within its discretion when it denied Defendant’s motion for a mistrial after Defendant learned during trial that the bailiff had recently been employed by the State’s attorney. View "State v. Thomas" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of first-degree felony murder, commission of a felony while armed with a firearm, and burglary in the first degree, holding that the circuit court properly denied Defendant’s motion to suppress and did not err by refusing to compel specific performance of a plea agreement.On appeal, Defendant argued that his statements to law enforcement during a custodial interrogation should have bene suppressed because they were obtained in violation of his right to counsel and right against self-incrimination. Defendant further claimed that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for specific performance of the plea agreement that he alleged would have allowed him to plead guilty to manslaughter. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the admission of the evidence that was the subject of the motion to suppress was harmless error even if the statements had been unlawfully obtained; and (2) Defendant failed to show an enforceable plea agreement existed, and therefore, the circuit court properly denied Defendant’s motion for specific performance of the plea agreement. View "State v. Lewandowski" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the dismissing The Institute of Range and the American Mustang’s (IRAM) lawsuit seeking to void a seventeen-year-old deed of conservation easement and to quiet title to its property, holding that the circuit court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of The Nature Conservancy on IRAM’s claims.Specifically, the Court held (1) because the statute of limitations expired more than six years prior to IRAM’s suit, the circuit court did not err in granting The Nature Conservancy summary judgment on IRAM’s fraud claim; (2) summary judgment was properly granted on IRAM’s ultra vires claim and claim to vacate deed for no meeting of the minds; and (3) the circuit court did not err in granting The Nature Conservancy summary judgment on IRAM’s claim to vacate the deed for failure of consideration. View "Institute of Range & American Mustang v. Nature Conservancy" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of the Brant Lake Sanitary District on Plaintiffs’ claims alleging a taking or damaging of their property and nuisance, holding that the circuit court did not err in granting the District’s motion for summary judgment.Plaintiffs owned property a short distance from a new sewage lagoon built by the District to process wastewater from the Brant Lake area. In their complaint, Plaintiffs alleged that the District’s new pond violated the general nuisance statute, the statutory prohibition against pollution of state waters, and a county ordinance. Plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint bringing an additional claim of inverse condemnation. The circuit court granted the District’s motion for summary judgment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) questions of fact did not exist regarding Plaintiffs’ inverse condemnation claim, and Plaintiffs failed to present a claim of inverse condemnation; and (2) Plaintiffs failed to establish a cause of action based upon nuisance. View "Krsnak v. Brant Lake Sanitary District" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s judgment of conviction and sentence for third-degree rape, holding that the circuit court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained from a warrantless search of his garage, holding that Defendant was not seized for Fourth Amendment purposes at the beginning of his encounter with police deputies and that his consent to search the garage was voluntary.On appeal, Defendant asserted that he was unreasonably seized by deputies before the search took place, and therefore, any consent give to search the garage after the seizure was not voluntary. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding that the deputies’ actions were reasonable, Defendant was not seized as soon as the encounter began, and Defendant’s consent to search the garage was voluntary. View "State v. Rolfe" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the circuit court granting Plaintiffs’ motion to compel certain discovery and Plaintiffs’ request for attorney fees, holding that the circuit court abused its discretion in granting the motion to compel and that the award of attorney fees was unsupported by the record and the requirements of S.D. Codified Laws 15-6-37(a)(4)(A).Plaintiffs filed a complaint against Defendant, alleging failure to pay underinsured motorist benefits. After Plaintiffs served written discovery requests on Defendant and Defendant did not respond, Plaintiffs filed a motion to compel. The circuit court granted the motion in its entirety, concluding that Defendant had intentionally not responded to requests related to a bad faith cause of action. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) in granting the motion to compel, the circuit court failed to consider Defendant’s arguments that Plaintiffs had not attempted to meet and confer in good faith regarding the scope of discovery, as required by statute; and (2) having failed to consider whether Plaintiffs made a good faith effort to meet and confer when Defendant asserted as such, the circuit court abused its discretion in awarding attorney fees. View "Krueger v. Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court granting Mother's brother and sister-in-law’s petition for guardianship of Father’s child, holding that that, considering all the evidence in the record, the circuit court did not clearly err or abuse its discretion in granting the guardianship to the child’s maternal aunt and uncle.The child’s mother in this case was killed by Father was the child was in the custody and care of the mother’s brother and sister-in-law. The maternal aunt and uncle petitioned for guardianship of the child, and Father opposed the petition, requesting that his sister by appointed the child’s guardian. The circuit court overruled Father’s objection and granted the petition for guardianship. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err in granting the maternal aunt and uncle’s petition for guardianship. View "In re Guardianship & Conservatorship of I.L.J.E." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of Protective Life Insurance Company on Plaintiff’s complaint alleging breach of contract and bad faith, holding that there were no genuine issues of material fact indicating that Protective breached its contract with Plaintiff.Specifically, the Court held (1) Plaintiff’s claim that Protective breached the implied contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing was reviewable; (2) the circuit court did not err when it determined that Protective did not breach the implied contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing; and (3) the circuit court did not err in ruling that Protective did not commit bad faith in handling Plaintiff’s claims. View "Zochert v. Protective Life Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of contributing to the abuse, neglect, or delinquency of a minor, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict.As his sole issue on appeal, Defendant argued that the circuit court erred by denying his motions for judgment of acquittal because the evidence was factually and legally insufficient to support the verdicts. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s denial of the motion for judgment of acquittal, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support Defendant’s convictions. View "State v. Livingood" on Justia Law