The
SD Supreme Court handed down one decision this morning, holding inter alia:
- Multiple Assault
Convictions Affirmed
Summary
follows:
STATE
v. BABCOCK, 2020 S.D. 71: This criminal case,
venued in Butte County, is summarized in the 1st paragraph of the
Court’s opinion:
[¶1.] A jury convicted Kevin
Babcock of two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of simple assault
for attacking his former significant other, Rosa Sosa, during a fight. Babcock
appeals, alleging the circuit court erred by granting the State’s motion to
exclude evidence of Sosa’s drug use. He also argues that his convictions for
multiple counts of assault placed him in double jeopardy in violation of his
constitutional rights.
The
trial court sentenced the Defendant to 10 years (with 3 suspended) on each
felony count, with sentences to run consecutively and 250 days in jail (with
credit for time served) on the assault convictions, with the jail sentences to
run concurrently with each other and with the felony sentences.
The
SD Supreme Court affirmed (5-0). The
decision is unanimous with opinion authored by Justice Kern. This case was submitted on the briefs over a
year ago, on November 4, 2019.
This
decision may be accessed at
http://ujs.sd.gov/Supreme_Court/opinions.aspx .
