SEVERSON, Justice. [ 1.] Todd Pieper (Todd) and Nicole Pieper (Nicole) have two children, B.P. and T.P. Nicole alleges that Todd sexually abused B.P., which Todd denies. They divorced in February 2011. The Second Circuit Court gave Nicole sole physical custody of the two children and granted Todd supervised visitation. Nicole appeals the divorce decree, asserting that: (1) the circuit court abused its discretion by granting Todd visitation under an erroneous legal conclusion and applying an...
SEVERSON, Justice. [ 1.] D.L.F. (Father) appeals the judgment and order waiving Father's consent to step-parent adoption entered on February 14, 2013, and the order for adoption entered on March 15, 2013. We affirm. Background [ 2.] Father and H.S.S. (Mother) are the biological parents of minor child Z.N.F., who was born in 2002. Father and Mother were married in 2001 in Rapid City, South Dakota. After marrying, the couple moved to Oregon. In November 2006, while residing in Oregon, Mother...
GILBERSTON, Chief Justice (on reassignment). [ 1.] James Riley was convicted by a jury of possessing child pornography in violation of SDCL 22-24A-3(3) and was sentenced to eight years in the penitentiary. Riley now appeals his conviction, arguing the evidence was insufficient to establish he possessed child pornography. We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY [ 2.] To combat Internet-based child exploitation and abuse, the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (Task...
GILBERTSON, Chief Justice. [ 1.] On December 4, 2012, the South Dakota Board of Bar Examiners (the Board) conducted a formal hearing to determine whether Jacob Henry (Henry) possessed the good moral character necessary for admission to practice law in South Dakota. The Board recommended that Henry be denied admission to practice law in the state. Pursuant to SDCL 16-16-16, Henry seeks our review of the Board's decision. Facts and Procedural History [ 2.] Henry began attending the...
KONENKAMP, Justice. [ 1.] This is an action to recover on a cattle caretaking agreement and to foreclose an agister's lien. The circuit court awarded compensation on the agreement, but ruled the agister's lien invalid because the cattle were cared for on the cattle owner's land, not the caretakers' land. Yet nothing in our laws governing such liens defeats their validity when cattle are entrusted to a caretaker on the cattle owner's land. Accordingly, we reverse and remand. Background [ 2.]...
GILBERTSON, Chief Justice. [ 1.] Peggy Hewitt appeals a jury verdict awarding no damages in a personal injury suit against Shelli Rae Felderman. Hewitt argues the evidence did not support the verdict, the court erred in denying a motion for directed verdict, and the court erred in denying attorney's fees and costs. Felderman challenges the court's denial of costs and disbursements and the admissibility of certain expert testimony offered at trial. We affirm. Facts and Procedural History [...
ZINTER, Justice. [ 1.] Laurel Niesche is the daughter of Mary Lou Fox. After Mary Lou died, Niesche sued Mary Lou's former husband, Robert Fox. Niesche alleged that Mary Lou jointly owned 960 acres of farmland with Robert. Niesche contended that Robert deprived Mary Lou of her ownership interest in the land, which deprived Niesche of an inheritance from Mary Lou. The circuit court granted Robert summary judgment. Niesche appeals. 1 We affirm. Facts and Procedural History [ 2.] Robert and...
ZINTER, Justice. [ 1.] Lester and Harriet Shoup created an inter vivos trust. After their deaths, their only children, Gregory and Larry Shoup, moved to terminate the trust. They argued that the trust only provided for Lester and Harriet during their lives and there was no trust provision directing disposition of the remaining trust assets. Therefore, they contended that the trust had fulfilled its purpose. Lee and Linda Shoup, Gregory's children, objected. They argued that the trust had...
WILBUR, Justice. [ 1.] Michael Davis filed a petition for habeas relief more than seven and one half years after his conviction for possession of an unauthorized article by an inmate. The habeas court found that Davis had failed to rebut the presumption of prejudice to the State caused by Davis's failure to file his petition for habeas relief within five years pursuant to SDCL 21-27-3.2. We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND [ 2.] Davis was a South Dakota State Penitentiary inmate...
KONENKAMP, Justice. [ 1.] Petitioner, Robert Lee Thompson, was convicted by a jury in 1995 of child rape, sexual contact, disseminating harmful material to minors, and indecent exposure. In the same trial, he was acquitted of raping two other children. Ten years later, in his second habeas corpus proceeding, the counseling records for the child he was convicted of raping were first disclosed. Thompson argued that he was prejudiced by the State's suppression of these records, because, had they...
SEVERSON, Justice. [ 1.] Dale Springer, Dorothy Springer, Roger Springer, and Daniel Springer (Springers) own a landlocked parcel of land and have brought suit claiming an implied easement over Andy Cahoy's land. On June 24, 2011, the Third Circuit Court concluded that an easement implied from prior use existed. We disagreed, Springer v. Cahoy, 2012 S.D. 32, 11, 814 N.W.2d 131 , 135, holding that "Springers failed to present clear and convincing evidence of an easement implied from prior...
GILBERTSON, Chief Justice. [ 1.] Officer Campbell stopped John Garang Yuel after watching Yuel make an improper left turn at an intersection. There were both open and unopened beer containers in the vehicle. When Officer Treadway arrived at the scene, he began a DUI investigation. After conducting multiple field sobriety tests, Officer Treadway arrested Yuel for DUI. The results of Yuel's blood test indicated Yuel's blood alcohol content (BAC) was over 0.08 percent at the time of the stop....
SEVERSON, Justice. [ 1.] Darin Schuelke suffered work-related injuries in 2000. He filed a first report of injury on February 22, 2000. The employer and insurer (collectively Employer) accepted Schuelke's claim as compensable and paid workers' compensation benefits. Employer's last payment of benefits was on August 4, 2004. Schuelke filed another first report of injury on October 5, 2009, based on the same injuries. Employer denied benefits. Schuelke filed a petition for hearing on December...
ZINTER, Justice. [ 1.] Lisa Lewis sued Sanford Medical Center for medical malpractice arising out of an attempted surgery that was aborted. Sanford admitted negligence but denied that its negligence proximately caused any of the damages Lisa sought to recover. Sanford also moved for summary judgment on a statute of limitations defense. The circuit court denied summary judgment. After a five-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Sanford, finding that Lisa did not suffer any...
SEVERSON, Justice. [ 1.] Justin Smith was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) in Pennington County, South Dakota, on August 13, 2012. A Part II Information alleged that Smith had two previous DUI convictions within the last ten years, one in 2011 (Lawrence County, South Dakota) and the other in 2009 (Douglas County, Nebraska). Smith moved to strike the 2011 conviction from the Part II Information, claiming his guilty plea was constitutionally infirm because he was not...
KONENKAMP, Judge. [ 1.] In this workers' compensation appeal, we determine, for statute of limitations purposes, whether an amended petition related back to the original petition. Background [ 2.] Barbara Waterman, a nurse, began working at Morningside Manor in June 2008. In November of that year, she injured her lower back while assisting a resident. She received medical treatment for her injury and returned to work with restrictions in December. On May 13, 2009, she was released from...
GILBERTSON, Chief Justice. [ 1.] Defendant Peter Heney was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, and ingestion of marijuana. Before trial, Heney moved to suppress all evidence in the case as the fruit of an initial illegal search of his hotel room, alleging that all evidence discovered by police on a subsequent call to the hotel was tainted by the initial illegal search. The trial court granted the motion with respect to the drugs seized during the initial...
ZINTER, Justice. [ 1.] David Nielsen obtained a judgment against Logs Unlimited, Inc. (Logs Unlimited). The corporation subsequently transferred its assets to Thomas Schramel, Schramel's daughter Stephanie Wood, and Absolute Log Homes and Restoration, Inc. Schramel was the sole shareholder, director, and officer of both corporations. Proceeds from the transfer were used to pay some of Logs Unlimited's creditors, but Nielsen was not one of the creditors paid. Nielsen sued, claiming that Logs...
KONENKAMP, Justice. [ 1.] We review a circuit court's dismissal of tax assessment appeal for lack of jurisdiction under SDCL 10-59-9 and SDCL 1-26-31. Background [ 2.] On September 10, 2010, the South Dakota Department of Revenue and Regulation issued AEG Processing Center No. 58, Inc. a jeopardy assessment alleging unpaid sales tax, a penalty, and interest due for the reporting period of September 2007 through June 2010. AEG requested an administrative appeal under SDCL 10-59-9, and the...
WILBUR, Justice. [ 1.] Vincent Fast Horse appeals the denial of his request for habeas corpus relief. We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND [ 2.] Fast Horse was indicted by a grand jury in September 2007 for the crimes of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree rape, and aggravated assault. The State also filed a part two information, which alleged that Fast Horse had been previously convicted of two felonies. The factual and procedural history of this case is set forth in this...
