The SD Supreme Court handed down two decisions this morning:
1) Sexual offense conviction affirmed;
2) Convictions on 3 Counts of Grand Theft by Contractor
reversed on basis of failure of evidence
Summaries follows:
STATE v. LEADER CHARGE, 2021 S.D. 1: Defendant was
convicted by jury of sexual contact with child under 16. The SD Supreme
Court affirmed. The issue on appeals is set forth in the opening paragraph of
the opinion:
[¶1.] A
jury found Sean Leader Charge (Leader Charge) guilty of sexual contact with a
child under sixteen. During voir dire, Leader Charge challenged a potential
juror for cause. The trial court denied the challenge, and the juror was placed
on the jury. After the trial, Leader Charge moved for a new trial claiming he
was convicted by a biased jury. The court denied the motion. Leader Charge
appeals claiming the trial court abused its discretion by failing to remove the
potential juror for cause. We affirm the trial court’s decision.
This decision is unanimous (5-0), with opinion authored by
“Retired Chief Justice Gilbertson.”
STATE v. SUCHOR, 2021 S.D. 2: This criminal defendant is a
contractor who entered into 3 contracts to build homes in Spearfish.
Things did not go well, with criminal charges being filed. The Jury found
the Defendant, “guilty of three counts of
grand theft by misappropriation of funds by a contractor.” Defendant appealed on the basis that the trial
court erred in denying his motions for judgment of acquittal for each
conviction. The SD Supreme Court agreed and reversed all three
convictions. This decision is unanimous (5-0) with opinion authored by
Justice DeVaney.
These decisions may be accessed at
http://ujs.sd.gov/Supreme_Court/opinions.aspx .
