2013 South Dakota Codified Laws
Title 23A - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
Chapter 27A - Capital Punishment
§ 23A-27A-26.3 Procedures for establishing mental retardation of defendant.

23A-27A-26.3. Procedures for establishing mental retardation of defendant. Not later than ninety days prior to the commencement of trial, the defendant may upon a motion alleging reasonable cause to believe the defendant was mentally retarded at the time of the commission of the offense, apply for an order directing that a mental retardation hearing be conducted prior to trial. If, upon review of the defendant's motion and any response thereto, the court finds reasonable cause to believe the defendant was mentally retarded, it shall promptly conduct a hearing without a jury to determine whether the defendant was mentally retarded. If the court finds after the hearing that the defendant was not mentally retarded at the time of the commission of the offense, the court shall, prior to commencement of trial, enter an order so stating, but nothing in this paragraph precludes the defendant from presenting mitigating evidence of mental retardation at the sentencing phase of the trial. If the court finds after the hearing that the defendant established mental retardation by a preponderance of the evidence, the court shall prior to commencement of trial, enter an order so stating. Unless the order is reversed on appeal, a separate sentencing proceeding under this section may not be conducted if the defendant is thereafter convicted of murder in the first degree. If a separate sentencing proceeding is not conducted, the court, upon conviction of a defendant for the crime of murder in the first degree, shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole.

Source: SL 2000, ch 112, § 3.