The SD Supreme Court handed down two decisions this morning,
holding inter alia:
1) Summary judgment on real estate agreement reversed;
2) Summary judgment on employee’s wrongful termination lawsuit
affirmed;
3) Trial Court’s suppression of evidence order reversed by
virtue of attenuation doctrine.
Summaries follow:
HANNA v. LANDSMAN, 2020 S.D. 33: This opinion reverses the trial
court’s grant of summary judgment. The
nature of this dispute and disposition by the lower court and the SD Supreme
Court’s reversal is nicely summarized in ¶ 1 of the opinion:
In this
breach of contract case, the circuit court granted summary judgment to the
defendant, concluding that the alleged agreement relating to the transfer of
real property was unenforceable because it was for an unlawful purpose, lacked
consideration, and violated the statute of frauds. The plaintiff appeals, and
we reverse and remand.
This decision is unanimous with opinion authored by Justice
DeVaney.
HENNING v. AVERA MCKENNAN, 2020 S.D. 34: This opinion affirms
the trial court’s grant of summary judgment.
The nature of this dispute and disposition by the lower court and the SD
Supreme Court’s reversal is nicely summarized in ¶ 1 of the opinion:
Avera
McKennan Hospital terminated Stephanie Henning, a nurse in its intensive care
unit, after it discovered errors in Henning’s documentation of controlled
substances. Henning brought suit against Avera alleging multiple claims
including: wrongful discharge, breach of contract, and defamation. The circuit
court granted Avera summary judgment on all claims. Henning appeals, and we
affirm.
This decision is unanimous with opinion authored by Justice
DeVaney.
STATE v. MOUSSEAUX, 2020 S.D. 35: The trial court sustained
the Motion to Suppress filed by Defendant facing possession of meth and a
related charge. The SD Supreme Court reversed
on the basis of the attenuation doctrine which is an exception to the 4th
Amendment’s exclusionary rule. In
this case the attenuation doctrine was triggered by the police officer’s
discovery of “an outstanding, unrelated
traffic warrant.” The Court’s
decision is unanimous, with opinion authored by Justice Kern.
These decisions may be accessed at
