The
SD Supreme Court handed down two decisions this morning:
- Stepparent adoption denied;
- Felonious property damage conviction upheld.
Summaries
follows:
ADOPTION
OF I.V.E., C.A.E., AND L.A.E., 2024 S.D. 32: This is an attempted stepparent
adoption in which the argument is made that the father’s consent may be
considered waived by the Court under SDCL 25-6-4, in particular under SDCL
25-6-4 (3) and (4). (neglect and failure
to support). The trial court denied the
adoption and the SD Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the evidence produced
by Mother and Step Father failed to establish the grounds of SDCL 25-6-4 (3) and
(4) by “clear and convincing evidence.” The Court’s ruling is
unanimous (5-0) with opinion authored by Justice DeVaney.
STATE
v. HAHN, 2024 S.D. 33: In what appears to be a random act of vandalism by a “highly
intoxicated”
Defendant, the jury convicted the Defendant “of intentional
damage to property with the damage amount totaling more than $1,000 but less
than $2,500,”
with the damaged property being the front door of a residence. The sole issue on appeal was the assertion
that the state failed to meet the “correct legal standard for
determining damages” in
regard to the value of the front door. The SD Supreme Court affirmed. The Court’s ruling is unanimous (5-0) with
opinion authored by Justice Salter.
These
decisions may be accessed at
http://ujs.sd.gov/Supreme_Court/opinions.aspx .
