The
SD Supreme Court handed down one decision this morning, holding inter alia:
- 40 year prison sentence upheld for Defendant
who was 14 years old at the time of the offense
STATE
v. BLACK CLOUD, 2023 S.D. 53: Defendant, who was 14 years old at the time of
the offense, was tried as an adult and found guilty of 2nd degree
murder by jury. The trial court sentenced Defendant to 40 years in prison. Defendant’s 16 year old companion Johnson --
who was present during the events related to the killing, but who did not pull
the trigger -- was tried as an
adult. Johnson “pled
guilty to aggravated assault and accessory to [the] crime,” and received a 20 year
sentence. The SD Supreme Court affirmed,
ruling against Defendant on each of the following assertions of error:
1. Whether the circuit court
abused its discretion in denying Black Cloud’s motion for a mistrial following
the voir dire discussion regarding Black Cloud being tried in adult court.
2. Whether comments to the
jury regarding Johnson’s guilty plea constituted plain error.
3. Whether the circuit court
abused its discretion when it refused to instruct the jury to disregard
Johnson’s guilty plea.
4. Whether the circuit court
erred in excluding evidence that [the victim] was on parole at the time of his
death.
5. Whether the circuit court
abused its discretion by imposing a 40-year sentence or erred by imposing a
sentence in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and
unusual punishment.
The
Court’s decision is unanimous (5-0), with opinion authored by Justice Salter.
Although
the State had made some inappropriate comments in voir dire relating to the
fact the Defendant was being “tried as an adult,” the trial court directed the
State’s Attorney to provide an explanation which “clarified” the inappropriate
comments.
As
to the propriety of transfer from Juvenile Court to Circuit Court, the SD
Supreme Court held that the transfer “issue is not properly before
us.” (footnote
10).
This
decision may be accessed at
