South Dakota Supreme Court Decisions 2012
Date: December 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 91
Docket Number: 26212
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second-degree rape. Defendant appealed a number of issues involving hearsay and the denial of a requested jury instruction, a Batson challenge, and an objection regarding…
Date: December 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 90
Docket Number: 26327
Justia Opinion Summary: Ila and Gary Fedderson owned a business called Whisky Flow Dining and Minor Alley. Whisky Flow was destroyed by fire, after which Ila and Gary submitted a sworn proof of loss statement to the business's insurer, Columbia…
Date: December 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 88
Docket Number: 26299
Justia Opinion Summary: Father was the biological father of three sons and one daughter and the stepfather of two stepdaughters. Upon allegations that Father raped one of his stepdaughters, the children were taken into the custody of the…
Date: December 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 89
Docket Number: 26367
Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) approved plans and specifications for the Brant Lake Sanitary District's wastewater treatment facility in 2012. The Brant Lake facility plans proposed to join…
Date: December 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 86
Docket Number: 26195
Justia Opinion Summary: In this custody dispute between the non-married parents of two minor children, the maternal grandparents were permitted to join/intervene. After a trial, the circuit court awarded legal and physical custody to the…
Date: December 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 87
Docket Number: 26231
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with and found guilty of aggravated child abuse. The charges stemmed from the bruising found on the face of Defendant's fiancee's daughter, six-year-old K.N., while K.N. was at school. Defendant…
Date: December 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 83
Docket Number: 26261
Justia Opinion Summary: While driving a car owned by her divorced parents, Plaintiff was hit and injured by an uninsured drunk driver. Plaintiff's father's policy specifically covered Plaintiff's car and paid Plaintiff $100,000 in uninsured…
Date: December 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 84
Docket Number: 26304
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged separately with DUI and distribution of a controlled substance. A plea agreement was reached in both cases. The state's attorney's office agreed to recommend that the DUI sentence run concurrent to…
Date: December 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 85
Docket Number: 26323
Justia Opinion Summary: After the parties' divorce, Appellee filed a petition for a domestic abuse protection order from Appellant. The trial court granted the protection order for one year and excluded Appellant from Appellee's residence and…
Date: November 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 81
Docket Number: 26217
Justia Opinion Summary: Daniel Huffaker and Jeffrey Huffaker were granted a divorce on grounds of irreconcilable differences. The trial court awarded Danielle primary physical custody of the parties' three minor children and ordered Jeffrey to…
Date: November 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 82
Docket Number: 26270
Justia Opinion Summary: Claimant was injured on a job site while working in North Dakota for the North Dakota office of Hamm & Phillips Service Company. Claimant worked about sixty percent of the time in North Dakota and about thirty-five…
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 78
Docket Number: 26154
Justia Opinion Summary: Jorgensen Farms sued Country Pride Cooperative alleging that Country Pride sold Jorgensen fertilizer contaminated with rye, damaging its 2007 wheat crop. Country Pride settled with Jorgensen but preserved its claims…
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 79
Docket Number: 26221
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of arson in connection with a fire in her apartment. Defendant appealed, arguing that the circuit court abused its discretion in denying her motions for judgment of acquittal and new trial based…
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 80
Docket Number: 26316
Justia Opinion Summary: Walter Henderson brought a quiet title action to claim ownership of an undivided thirty percent interest in a mineral estate. Following a court trial, which confirmed Walter's ownership of the mineral interest in fee,…
Date: November 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 77
Docket Number: 26248
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty but mentally ill to ten counts of grand theft. Defendant filed a motion to withdraw her guilty but mentally ill pleas prior to sentencing. The circuit court denied…
Date: October 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 75
Docket Number: 26169
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and Father had a child out of wedlock. The parents had agreed that Mother would retain physical custody of the child and Father would exercise visitation for one week every other month. This arrangement continued…
Date: October 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 76
Docket Number: 26254
Justia Opinion Summary: Lamar Advertising submitted applications to Rapid City for sign building permits, which would allow Lamar to convert six traditional billboards to digital signs. The City denied Lamar's applications, finding that a…
Date: October 24, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 74
Docket Number: 26222
Justia Opinion Summary: Bradley DeBoer sued Tara DeBoer for divorce. During the parties' marriage, the Texas Department of State Health Services issued an amended birth certificate naming Bradley as the father of Taiton, the child Tara had from…
Date: October 17, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 70
Docket Number: 26204
Justia Opinion Summary: James Kesling executed a holographic will. After James died, the will was admitted into probate and James's three daughters were appointed as co-personal representatives of James's estate. Both the Estate and James's…
Date: October 17, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 71
Docket Number: 26208
Justia Opinion Summary: Terry Leonhardt and his wife, Cindy, alleged that they entered into an oral lease with Terry's father, Delbert Leonhardt, which was to extend for the lives of Delbert and his wife, Ellen. They claimed the oral lease…
Date: October 17, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 72
Docket Number: 26242
Justia Opinion Summary: Nicole and Michael Hagedorn were married for fifteen years and had two daughters. Nicole later filed for divorce on the grounds of extreme cruelty and adultery. The trial court granted Nicole a divorce on those grounds…
Date: October 17, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 73
Docket Number: 26291
Justia Opinion Summary: Insurer denied coverage for two unassembled wind turbines that were destroyed in a fire on Ranch's property. Insurer claimed that a policy exclusion for "fences, windmills, windchargers, or their towers" permitted it to…
Date: October 10, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 69
Docket Number: 26448
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court granted temporary custody of three Native American children to the department of social services. Citing the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (Tribe) contested the…
Date: October 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 67
Docket Number: 26155
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court interpreted a trust instrument to decide whether the death of Betty Plouf triggered the offset provision of the Plouf Family Trust, and thus, instantaneously satisfied the mortgage lien…
Date: October 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 68
Docket Number: 26215
Justia Opinion Summary: A father petitioned to modify his child support obligation, requesting that his future payments be reduced to account for overpayments he made after his two eldest sons graduated from high school and reached the age of…
Date: September 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 66
Docket Number: 26074
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of malicious intimidation or harassment, first-degree burglary, disorderly conduct, and commission of a felony while armed with a firearm for an incident in which Defendant…
Date: September 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 65
Docket Number: 26351
Justia Opinion Summary: George J. Caruso was convicted of simple assault and sentenced to 360 days in the Meade County Jail. He sought bail pending appeal, but the motion was denied. Caruso appealed the denial of bond asserting that the trial…
Date: September 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 63
Docket Number: 25974
Date: September 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 64
Docket Number: 26000
Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiffs and appellants are former students who attended an elementary boarding school. They alleged that they were sexually abused while attending the school more than thirty-five years ago. The students filed…
Date: August 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 62
Docket Number: 26088
Justia Opinion Summary: While driving a farm tractor down a county road, Defendant John Fuks turned unexpectedly and struck Plaintiff John Walter's motorcycle as Plaintiff was trying to pass on the right. At trial, Defendant asserted that…
Date: August 15, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 61
Docket Number: 26188
Justia Opinion Summary: Arla Johnson deeded farmland to her daughter Linda, and son-in-law, Claude Miller. Linda subsequently filed for divorce from Claude. Arla then sued Claude, claiming she was fraudulently induced by him into deeding the…
Date: August 15, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 60
Docket Number: 2621a
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Eric Robert pled guilty to first-degree murder for the death of penitentiary guard Ronald Johnson, a 23-year veteran correctional officer at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. Defendant waived…
Date: August 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 59
Docket Number: 26170
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Courtney Koch was arrested for DUI on February 27, 2011. The magistrate judge entered an order suppressing all evidence obtained from the initial traffic stop. The State appealed to the circuit court. Defendant…
Date: August 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 58
Docket Number: 26225
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs-Appellants Wayne and Sandra Masloskie sued real estate agent G. Pat Baldwin and Century 21 American Real Estate Inc. on a number of causes of action including actual fraud. Baldwin and Century 21 moved for…
Date: July 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 57
Docket Number: 26102
Justia Opinion Summary: A neighbor's complaint about marijuana directed Spearfish police officers to an apartment unit, where the officers smelled the odor of burnt marijuana outside the door. One tenant let the officers inside, but when the…
Date: July 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 56
Docket Number: 25766
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellant James Brown owned interests in several businesses. In late 2004, he acquired and redesigned two convenience stores on opposite sides of Exit 2 on Interstate 29 in North Sioux City, South Dakota.…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 53
Docket Number: 26072
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-Appellant Randy Kramer initiated a breach of contract action against Mike D. Murphy and the William F. Murphy Self-Declaration of Trust (Trust). Tri-State Ethanol, LLC owned an ethanol plant in Rosholt, South…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 54
Docket Number: 26087
Justia Opinion Summary: Allison Marie and James (Jim) Joseph Marko married on September 26, 1998. Three children were born of the marriage. Allison was granted a divorce from Jim on grounds of extreme mental cruelty. Jim's visitation with his…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 55
Docket Number: 26162
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellant Adam Olson entered into a plea agreement with the State, under the terms of which he pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft and one count of aggravated eluding of a law enforcement officer. Olson…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 52
Docket Number: 26214
Justia Opinion Summary: Claimant-Appellant Megan Peterson worked at a nursing home owned by The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society (Good Samaritan). Claimant alleged that she sustained a work-related injury to her back when assisting a…
Date: June 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 50
Docket Number: 25904
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Paul Wentzlaff, an insurance agent, stole thousands of dollars from Harvey Severson, an elderly man who asked Defendant to help manage his financial affairs. Plaintiff Donald Hass, as personal representative…
Date: June 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 49
Docket Number: 26068
Justia Opinion Summary: M.A.S. (Father) appealed the termination of his parental rights to P.S.E. At the time P.S.E. was removed from Mother’s care, Father lived in California and did not know he had a child in South Dakota. The Indian Child…
Date: June 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 51
Docket Number: 26073
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Defendant Leonard Alan Toohey guilty of first degree rape of a child. On appeal, he asserts that the child victim was not available for cross-examination as required under the Confrontation Clause, that the…
Date: June 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 48
Docket Number: 26143
Justia Opinion Summary: The Surgical Institute of South Dakota, P.C. filed suit against Dr. Matthew Sorrell who was formerly employed by the practice. The practice alleged breach of contract against the physician for failing to give required…
Date: June 13, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 47
Docket Number: 25851
Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Manuel, the sole owner of Toner Plus, Inc., closed his business on May 30, 2009. Manuel then filed a personal claim for unemployment compensation benefits. The South Dakota Department of Labor determined that…
Date: June 6, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 44
Docket Number: 25965
Justia Opinion Summary: Jeannine and Donald Barton divorced, and the circuit court awarded Jeannine permanent alimony, a monetary judgment, and attorney fees. After Donald filed for bankruptcy, the court issued an order clarifying the nature of…
Date: June 6, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 46
Docket Number: 25992
Justia Opinion Summary: Dennis Most was convicted in a bench trial of four counts of sexual contact with a child. Most appealed, contending (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to exclude prior acts evidence and his motion to offer…
Date: June 6, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 45
Docket Number: 26115
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and Father, who were never married, had one child, N.B. After Mother and Father ended their relationship, Mother retained custody of N.B. Mother subsequently entered into another romantic relationship, which…
Date: May 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 42
Docket Number: 25899
Justia Opinion Summary: John Graham, a Canadian citizen, was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Graham appealed, raising a number of arguments, including the contention that because he was extradited…
Date: May 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 43
Docket Number: 26062
Justia Opinion Summary: Sometime after he lit his pilot light, Darrick Van Dyke's home burned down from a propane explosion. The fire spread, destroying Marguerite Cashman's home next door. Cashman brought suit against Van Dyke, alleging…
Date: May 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 40
Docket Number: 26019
Justia Opinion Summary: Kyle Steiner pleaded guilty to one count of sexual contact with a child and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Steiner subsequently filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that his trial counsel…
Date: May 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 39
Docket Number: 26065
Justia Opinion Summary: Dan Prue sold his majority interest in DT-Trak Consulting, a medical coding business, for a lump-sum payment and several annual payments. DT-Trak withheld an annual payment, asserting that Prue had violated the parties'…
Date: May 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 38
Docket Number: 26127
Justia Opinion Summary: This foreclosure action involved a dispute between two creditors, Wells Fargo Financial South Dakota, Inc. and Highmark Federal Credit Union about the priority of their respective mortgage liens against a property. Both…
Date: May 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 41
Docket Number: 26198
Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony Webb appealed an order reducing child support arrearages to a written judgment in favor of his ex-wife, Kathy Webb. The circuit court awarded Kathy a judgment of $71,805. Anthony appealed, arguing that he paid…
Date: May 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 36
Docket Number: 26055
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Trent Danielson guilty of perjury. Danielson appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict, the trial court erred in denying his motion for a court-appointed private…
Date: May 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 37
Docket Number: 26119
Justia Opinion Summary: Rachelle Hunter received a loan from Highmark Federal Credit Union to purchase a home and property. A flood damaged the home a few years later, and Hunter had no flood insurance. Hunter filed suit against Highmark,…
Date: May 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 35
Docket Number: 26104
Justia Opinion Summary: In the early 1990s, Kevin Costner commissioned Peggy Detmers and Detmers Studios, Inc. (collectively, Detmers) to design several sculptures, intending to display them at the entrance of a luxury resort called The Dunbar…
Date: May 2, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 33
Docket Number: 26083
Justia Opinion Summary: Kellie and Doug Rumpca married in August 1990. Around 2005, Glenn Brenner and Kellie became friends. On Labor Day weekend in 2009, Brenner and Kellie had sexual intercourse. In October 2009, Kellie commenced divorce…
Date: May 2, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 32
Docket Number: 26107
Justia Opinion Summary: Dale, Dorothy, Roger, and Daniel Springer owned a forty-acre parcel of property. Andy Cahoy owned an adjoining forty-acre parcel. After the Springers purchased their parcel, they began using Cahoy's parcel to access…
Date: May 2, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 31
Docket Number: 26129
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a grandchildren visitation disagreement between a father and maternal grandparents. After the children's mother died, the father arranged for the children's continued contact with the grandparents.…
Date: May 2, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 34
Docket Number: 26158
Justia Opinion Summary: After witnessing Blair Hamilton accidentally kill himself in October 2009, Lyndon Hart in August 2011 filed a petition to extend time to file a creditor's claim against Hamilton's Estate for the negligent and intentional…
Date: April 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 30
Docket Number: 26133
Justia Opinion Summary: Heidi Schumacher signed a renewed lease with Meadowland Apartments. Meadowland later filed an eviction action against Schumacher, alleging that she was in material non-compliance with the lease because Schumacher kept a…
Date: April 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 29
Docket Number: 26076
Justia Opinion Summary: James Cornelius initiated a declaratory judgment action against National Casualty Company to determine whether a policy of insurance issued by National Casualty to Cornelius's employer, Live Line Maintenance, provided…
Date: April 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 28
Docket Number: 26095
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Ryan Rademaker was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Rademaker moved to suppress all evidence obtained from the stop of his vehicle, arguing that the stop violated his Fourth Amendment…
Date: April 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 26
Docket Number: 26097
Justia Opinion Summary: Minority shareholders (Plaintiffs) brought this action against minority shareholders (Defendants), individually and as officers or directors of Multi-Community Cooperative Dairy (MCC Dairy). Plaintiffs' amended complaint…
Date: April 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 27
Docket Number: 26213
Justia Opinion Summary: Eric Robert was under a sentence of death entered by a circuit court judge and let the time to file an appeal expire. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court in this case was statutorily obligated to review his sentence. The…
Date: April 4, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 25
Docket Number: 26112
Justia Opinion Summary: In a disciplinary proceeding, the South Dakota Real Estate Commission found that Cheri St. Pierre, a licensed broker associate, had engaged in unprofessional conduct involving dishonesty. The Commission suspended her…
Date: March 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 24
Docket Number: 25536
Justia Opinion Summary: Pooled Advocate Trust, Inc. (PATI), the managing corporation for a Medicaid pooled trust, brought a declaratory judgment action on Medicaid eligibility issues associated with the trust and named the South Dakota…
Date: March 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 23
Docket Number: 25799
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Simon Torres was convicted of attempted murder and commission of a felony with a firearm. Torres appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court (1) did not abuse its discretion in…
Date: March 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 21
Docket Number: 26106
Justia Opinion Summary: After six years of marriage, Jamie and Clayton Farlee divorced. In dividing the marital property, the circuit court ordered Clay to pay Jamie $48,000 to equalize the property division without indicating the total value…
Date: March 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 22
Docket Number: 26132
Justia Opinion Summary: After a hearing, the circuit court terminated Mother's parental rights to Child. Mother was Native American and eligible to be enrolled in the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, but because she was not actually enrolled, an Indian…
Date: March 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 19
Docket Number: 25584
Justia Opinion Summary: Without obtaining a search warrant, police attached a global positioning system (GPS) device to Elmer Zahn's vehicle. The GPS device enabled officers to track and record the speed, time, direction, and geographic…
Date: March 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 20
Docket Number: 26092
Justia Opinion Summary: Rabo Agrifinance and Rabo AgServices (collectively, Rabo) commenced a foreclosure action in 2009 on a mortgage granted by Connie and David Finneman (Finnemans) on 17,000 acres of farmland. Rabo commenced its action…
Date: March 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 18
Docket Number: 25849
Justia Opinion Summary: Certain remainder beneficiaries of the Florence Y. Wallbaum Revocable Living Trust petitioned the trial court to interpret the terms of the trust and to determine whether the trustee breached its fiduciary duties. The…
Date: March 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 17
Docket Number: 25909
Justia Opinion Summary: Two beneficiaries of the Moncur Revocable Family Trust petitioned the trial court to remove the co-trustees of the Trust on the grounds that the co-trustees violated various fiduciary duties. The trial court denied the…
Date: February 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 16
Docket Number: 26030
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Jeremy Zephier was convicted of aggravated assault for attacking a man who entered the apartment in which Zephier was drinking alcohol with acquaintances. Zephier appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed,…
Date: February 15, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 14
Docket Number: 25908
Justia Opinion Summary: After Father and Mother separated, Mother left the couple's three children with Father's mother (Grandmother). Grandmother later petitioned for guardianship of the children. The petition was granted in 2008. The Supreme…
Date: February 15, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 15
Docket Number: 25934
Justia Opinion Summary: Garry Rosen pleaded guilty to kidnapping. Rosen subsequently petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, contending that his plea was involuntary because the sentencing court (1) failed to advise him that he would waive his…
Date: February 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 10
Docket Number: 25891
Justia Opinion Summary: This was the fourth appeal in connection with the estate of Walter Brownlee, Sr. After Brownlee died and his will was probated, a dispute arose between Jeanie Weekley, Brownlee's longtime companion, and Brownlee's…
Date: February 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 11
Docket Number: 25894
Justia Opinion Summary: Loren Pourier, the owner of a corporation that operated a gas station on reservation land, brought an action against the state Department of Revenue and Regulation to protest a state motor-fuel tax imposed on the…
Date: February 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 9
Docket Number: 25955
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Misty Jo Oliver asked the trial court to expunge her record of two misdemeanor convictions pursuant to S.D. Codified Laws 23A-3-26 through 23A-3-33 (collectively, the expungement statutes). The trial court…
Date: February 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 12
Docket Number: 26011
Justia Opinion Summary: Stacy Brant pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary. As part of his sentencing, the court ordered that Brant provide a full and honest debrief as to the incident. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles later determined…
Date: February 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 13
Docket Number: 26078
Justia Opinion Summary: Patrick Kendall suffered a work-related injury while working at John Morrell and Company, a self-insured employer. Morrell initially accepted Kendall's workers' compensation claim, but because Kendall later missed a…
Date: February 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 6
Docket Number: 25813
Justia Opinion Summary: A doctor and his wife filed suit against a hospital and several of its treating physicians (collectively, Defendants) alleging medical malpractice. The jury entered a verdict for Defendants. The Supreme Court affirmed,…
Date: February 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 7
Docket Number: 25865
Justia Opinion Summary: Under the terms of a plea agreement entered into with the State, Chris Jones agreed to plead guilty to three counts of second-degree rape and one count of kidnapping. After sentencing, Jones filed a motion to reconsider…
Date: February 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 5
Docket Number: 25990
Justia Opinion Summary: John Willey was arrested for three DUIs: in 2008, May 2010 and August 8, 2010. Willey pleaded guilty to charges for his May 2010 arrest on August 30, 2010 and was convicted on September 27, 2010. For Willey's August 8,…
Date: February 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 8
Docket Number: 26061
Justia Opinion Summary: Robert Dahl was convicted for third-offense DUI. Dahl appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained from the stop of his vehicle because the stop lacked reasonable…
Date: January 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 4
Docket Number: 25877
Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute involved a struggle between two factions in a Hutterite colony. One faction purported to excommunicate members of the other, and eventually the other faction sought court dissolution of the corporation.…
Date: January 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 3
Docket Number: 25930
Justia Opinion Summary: Lorraine Flaws died testate but was predeceased by her named beneficiaries. Because Flaws' will did not designate contingent beneficiaries, the administration of her estate was governed by the laws of intestate…
Date: January 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 2
Docket Number: 25925
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: January 4, 2012
Citation: 2012 S.D. 1
Docket Number: 25912
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
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