The SD Supreme Court handed down one decision this morning, holding inter alia:
- Criminal Convictions reversed because
“illegal immigrant” status of victim not disclosed to jury
STATE
v. DICKERSON & REECY, 2022 S.D. 23: Two
Criminal Defendants were found guilty by jury of 1st degree robbery
and 1st degree burglary of illegal immigrant. One of the Defendants
was also found guilty of aggravated assault on the illegal immigrant. The Trial Court prohibited Defendants from showing
the illegal immigration status of the victim, “not[ing] serious public
policy concerns associated with allowing evidence of a victim’s
immigration status, including that it
might deter people from reporting crimes.”
On
appeal Defendants asserted that their 6th Amendment right to
confront and cross examine witnesses was denied by Trial Court’s refusal to
allow evidence of “illegal” status of victim.
Defendants further asserted that the Trial Court erred in admitting a printout (from Victim’s bank) of
attempted transactions, showing attempted usage of victim’s stolen debit card
by Defendants.
In
a split decision (3/2), the SD Supreme Court reversed and remanded. The majority opinion, authored by Justice
DeVaney, holds that the illegal immigration status of the victim related to
credibility and should have been admitted into evidence. The majority opinion also holds that the
admission of the printout evidence was reversible error.
Justice
Salter filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Kern joins. The dissent states that the illegal status of
the victim “lacks logical relevance” to
the issues and that the admission of the printout evidence was harmless
error.
This
decision may be accessed at
