ZINTER , Justice . [ 1.] Donald Hyde had a will and later created a revocable trust that he funded with real estate and a brokerage account containing stock. Hyde also executed five codicils before and after he created the trust. In one post-trust codicil, he bequeathed the stock to his siblings. However, the stock was in the trust, and under the trust, the stock was to be distributed to charities upon his death. During his life, Hyde also deeded trust real estate to siblings and loaned...
KONENKAMP , Justice . [ 1.] Samuel Douglas Miland attacked a law enforcement officer while sitting in the officer's patrol car. After a bench trial, he was found guilty of aggravated assault. On appeal, he asserts insufficient evidence to support proof that the officer sustained serious bodily injury and that the injury occurred under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. Background [ 2.] On the evening of October 17, 2012, Deputy Chief of Police for...
GILBERTSON , Chief Justice . [ 1.] The Morris Family LLC (Morris Family) initiated an action against the State of South Dakota and the City of Watertown, claiming unconstitutional taking or damaging of property for loss of access from their property to Highway 212, and violation of due process stemming from the State's and City's actions denying access. The State moved for summary judgment, asserting that the State was granted complete control of access for the land in question in a 1970...
ZINTER , Justice . [ 1.] Nicole Mundy-Geidd was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) in 2013. She appeals, arguing that enforcement of the DUI statute (SDCL 32-23-1) was prohibited at the time of her offense. She contends that until its repeal in 2014, SDCL 34-20A-93 prohibited the enforcement of laws, such as SDCL 32-23-1 that included "drinking, drunkenness, or being found in an intoxicated condition" as an element of the offense. We disagree and affirm the...
KONENKAMP , Justice . [ 1.] In this appeal, we address the question whether a protection order may be entered against a respondent by default when an attorney appears at the protection order hearing on the respondent's behalf, authorized to present a defense. Background [ 2.] On November 12, 2013, Cynthia Ann Arch filed a petition and affidavit for a domestic abuse protection order against her brother, Myril Arch II. The documents were completed pro se on forms provided by the South...
SEVERSON , Justice . [ 1.] Curtis Huether brought this action alleging fraudulent misrepresentation and deceit and civil conspiracy against David Bisson, Mihm Transportation Co. (Mihm), Paul Radloff, Rod Spartz, and Jeff Dietrich (collectively Defendants). Bisson did not defend the lawsuit, and as a result, the circuit court entered a default summary judgment against him for fraudulent misrepresentation and deceit in the amount of $100,004 in actual damages and $1,000,000 in punitive...
GILBERTSON , Chief Justice . [ 1.] Appellant, Deadwood Stage Run, LLC (the Developer), appeals the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court's denial of its motion for summary judgment and that court's granting of the same to Appellee, the South Dakota Department of Revenue (the Department). The Developer argues the Department incorrectly calculated the tax incremental base for Tax Incremental District Number Eight (the District) in the City of Deadwood (the City) by using Lawrence County's (the County)...
KONENKAMP , Justice . [ 1.] Three Deadwood casinos jointly brought a declaratory judgment action in circuit court seeking a ruling that their "free play" promotional programs are not subject to gaming tax under SDCL chapter 42-7B. After an adverse ruling in circuit court, the casinos appealed. Background [ 2.] First Gold Hotel, Mineral Palace Hotel and Gaming, and Four Aces Gaming, LLC (Establishments) each run promotional programs intended to attract patrons to their casinos. If the...
SEVERSON , Justice . [ 1.] A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper stopped Douglas James Myers after radar registered his car traveling at 112 miles per hour. He was traveling with three small children in the vehicle and was under the influence of alcohol. No actual physical injuries to the children occurred as a result of the incident. After a trial to the court on stipulated facts, the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court found him guilty of abuse of a minor in violation of SDCL 26-10-1 because...
KONENKAMP , Justice . [ 1.] The State initiated a civil forfeiture action against a recreational vehicle (RV) belonging to Paul Alan Lockenour. He had transported and stored methamphetamine in this RV, some of which he later sold to a confidential informant for $300. All the illicit drugs found in his possession were valued between $1,600 and $2,000. Thus, he asserted that the forfeiture of his RV, valued at $54,000, was grossly disproportionate to his crime. The State moved for summary...
ZINTER , Justice . [ 1.] Brandon Wolf was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in 2013. Wolf had been previously convicted of DUI in 2005 and 2012. Wolf argued that the 2005 conviction was constitutionally invalid for sentence-enhancement purposes because he did not knowingly and voluntarily enter his guilty plea. The circuit court agreed, and we granted the State's petition for an intermediate appeal. We reverse. [ 2.] Wolf was arrested for DUI on March 31, 2013, in...
ZINTER , Justice . [ 1.] In 2000, Michael Martz injured his shoulder while working at Homestake Mining Company and was paid workers' compensation benefits. In 2002, Martz injured the same shoulder while working for a subsequent employer, McLaughlin Sawmill (Hills Materials). Hills Materials began paying but later denied further benefits. We address two questions. First, whether Hills Materials was equitably estopped from denying liability after four years of paying benefits. Second,...
KONENKAMP , Justice . [ 1.] In this dispute between family members over agricultural land, the circuit court concluded that neither an oral agreement for a lifetime lease nor a right of first refusal existed. Background [ 2.] In 2010, Terry and Cindy Leonhardt (the Leonhardts) brought suit against Terry's father, Delbert Leonhardt, for specific performance of an oral lease and right of first refusal. The Leonhardts alleged that they had entered into an oral lease with Delbert in 1988,...
WILBUR , Justice . [ 1.] Brandon Taliaferro petitioned for expungement of several charges against him. The circuit court granted expungement of some but not all of the charges. Taliaferro appeals the circuit court decision. We affirm. Background [ 2.] On April 20, 2012, and September 14, 2012, a Brown County grand jury indicted Taliaferro on the following seven charges: witness tampering, three counts of subornation of perjury, conspiracy to commit perjury, unauthorized disclosure of...
KONENKAMP , Justice . [ 1.] In this habeas proceeding, the circuit court ruled that the petitioner established clearly and convincingly that newly discovered evidence, if proven and viewed in light of all the other evidence, would establish that no reasonable juror would have convicted him. The court ordered a new trial, and the State appeals. Background [ 2.] In 2001, a jury convicted Oakley "Bernie" Engesser of vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular battery. The sole issue at...
WILBUR , Justice . [ 1.] In August 1996, 16-year-old Shawn Cameron Springer pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a term of years in prison for kidnapping Michael Hare. Springer is eligible for parole after he serves 33 years of his sentence. Based on subsequent United States Supreme Court decisions, Springer filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence. The circuit court denied the motion. We affirm. BACKGROUND [ 2.] The facts which relate to the kidnapping, robbery, and murder of...
ZINTER , Justice . [ 1.] Adam Ray worked for Granite Buick GMC (Granite Buick), and Scott Hanna worked for McKie Ford Lincoln (McKie Ford). Ray and Hanna signed noncompete agreements during the course of their employments. When the two started their own automobile dealership, Granite Buick and McKie Ford moved for injunctions to enforce the agreements. The cases were consolidated, and the circuit court bifurcated the proceedings. The court impaneled a jury to determine Ray's and Hanna's...
GILBERTSON, Chief Justice. [ 1.] Appellant, Merle Temple ("Temple"), appeals the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court's judgment ordering the partition in kind of 3,374.9 acres of land located in Jackson County, South Dakota, owned with Appellee, Bradley Gartner, as tenants in common. Temple argues that the property cannot be partitioned without causing great prejudice, that the circuit court undervalued permanent structures on the land, and that the court should have reduced the amount of the...
SEVERSON, Justice. [ 1.] Pamela Lester, personal representative of Steven C. Lester's estate, published a Notice to Creditors advising them to file claims within four months of the notice. She also mailed a notice directly to Michelle Lamphere which provided a later deadline by which Lamphere needed to file her claim. Lamphere complied with the deadline established in the personal notice she received, but Pamela Lester denied the claim. Lamphere then filed a petition to allow the claim....
GILBERTSON, Chief Justice. [ 1.] Appellants Doug and Louise Hanson appeal from a de novo circuit court decision upholding the approval of a conditional use permit applied for by Eastern Farmers Cooperative. On appeal to this Court, the Hansons assert that the Minnehaha County Commission's decision to uphold the approval of the permit was arbitrary and capricious and that ex parte communications between a commissioner and Eastern Farmers Cooperative violated the Hansons' due process rights....
