The SD Supreme Court handed down one decision this morning, holding inter alia:
- Habeas relief denied on rape charges filed 16
years after the offense
Summary
follows:
LACROIX
v. FLUKE, 2022 S.D. 29: Defendant
entered a nolo contender plea to charges of 1st degree rape
and sexual contact as against his daughter who was 10 years old at the time of
the alleged offenses. Charges were filed after daughter turned 26 years old and
made a report to law enforcement personnel.
The trial court sentenced Defendant 25 years in prison, with 5 years
suspended on the rape charge and entered a suspended 1 year jail sentence on
the sexual conduct charge.
In his first application for writ of habeas
corpus, Defendant asserted ineffective assistance of counsel. In his amended application for habeas corpus,
Defendant asserted this was an “unconstitutional ex post facto” prosecution (because he “was
charged and pled guilty to a crime that wasn’t a crime at the time it was
committed and was sentenced for the same”), protection by the statute of limitations,
arguing “the charges were barred by the statute of limitations because the
charges were filed when [the victim] was 26 years old and SDCL 22-22-1 required
that the charges be filed within seven years of the offense date or prior to
the time the victim turns 25 years of age.” The habeas trial court denied relief,
holding that the Defendant’s “waiver of rights” in the plea agreement
foreclosed habeas relief.
The SD Supreme Court affirmed. in a unanimous ruling, with opinion authored
by Justice Kern. Similar to the trial
court, the SD Supreme Court also applied the doctrine of waiver to Defendant’s
assertions and further stated that appellate review as to the statute of
limitations issues was “precluded because [the issue] was not
certified by the habeas court in its CPC. Our review is limited to
consideration of only those issues certified for probable cause by the habeas
court under SDCL 21-27-18.1.” This decision is unanimous
(5-0) ruling, with opinion authored by Justice Kern.
This
decision may be accessed at
http://ujs.sd.gov/Supreme_Court/opinions.aspx .
