The SD Supreme Court handed down seven decisions this morning. Five of these involve criminal proceedings
and the Court rules in favor of the State (Attorney General) in each one and in
unanimous rulings. Each of the seven decisions
is unanimous with the Court holding, inter alia:
1) 3 consecutive sentences of 30 years each upheld;
2) Consent to breath test not the same as consent to blood draw;
3) Employment law dispute reversed and remanded;
4) Issues in Declaratory Judgment action warrant determination
by jury trial
5) 75 year sentence on 1st degree manslaughter
upheld for 19 year old;
6) Rape victim’s mental health records protected from
disclosure;
7) Father (joint legal custodian) ordered to cooperate in passport
application process to facility Mother’s effort to vacation in Mexico with
children
Summaries follows:
STATE v. RUDLOFF, 2024 S.D. 73: Defendant was found guilty, by
jury, of THREE counts of 1st degree Rape of Minor under 13. The trial
court sentenced him to 30 years on each count, to run consecutively. The SD Supreme Court affirmed in a unanimous
ruling (5-0), with opinion authored by Justice Myren.
BLAZER v. DEP’T OF PUBLIC SAFETY, 2024 S.D. 74: Driver
submitted voluntarily to breath test after accident, but refused to submit to a
blood draw. Dept. of Public Safety served
notice of intent to permanently disqualify driver’s CDL license (“for life”). Administrative appeal affirmed the
Dept. of Public Safety, but trial court reversed, ruling in favor of Driver, holding
that Driver’s “voluntary submission to the
breath test constituted a submission to a chemical analysis such that his
refusal to submit to the blood draw could not result in the disqualification of
his CDL.” The SD Supreme Court reversed,
holding in favor of Dept. of Public Safety.
This decision is unanimous (5-0), with opinion authored by Justice
DeVaney.
MATTA v. DAKOTA PROVISIONS, 2024 S.D. 75: Employment law
dispute which is adequately described in the 1st and last paragraphs
of the Court’s opinion, as follows:
[¶1.] Angel
Matta was hired as a production worker by Dakota Provisions in February 2020.
Throughout his short tenure, Dakota Provisions documented concerns with Matta’s
work attendance. Matta was injured at work on March 23, 2020, which caused him
to miss several weeks of work. Matta filed a workers’ compensation claim due to
his injuries and Dakota Provisions terminated Matta one month later. Matta
filed suit alleging wrongful termination and that his termination violated
public policy. Dakota Provisions moved for summary judgment on Matta’s claims
which the circuit court granted. Matta appeals the circuit court’s entry of
summary judgment. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
* * * *
[¶36.] We
affirm the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment as to Matta’s claim that
he was terminated in violation of the alleged contract created by the Policy as
well as Matta’s claim that his termination violated public policy as stated in
SDCL 20-13-10. We reverse the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment with
respect to Matta’s claim for retaliatory discharge in violation of SDCL 62-1-16
and remand for further proceedings.
This ruling is unanimous, with opinion authored by Chief
Justice Jensen.
CAL SD, LLC v. INTERWEST LEASING, LLC, 2024 S.D. 76: Declaratory
Judgment action relating to breach of a contract for sale of real estate. Trial judge determined that the issue was a
matter of law and submitted the dispute to a jury which ruled for
plaintiff. Defendant appeals, arguing
that the issue was a matter of equity and should not have been submitted to a “binding jury determination.” Defendant also asserts error in
the jury instructions. The SD Supreme
Court affirmed in a unanimous ruling (5-0) with opinion authored by Chief
Justice Jensen.
STATE v. BEAR ROBE, 2024 S.D. 77: Defendant (19 years old at time
of incident) pled guilty to 1st degree manslaughter; as part of the
plea agreement the State recommended 75 year sentence with 10 years
suspended. PSI was favorable to
Defendant. Several “family, friends and community
members” supporting letters for Defendant,
including, “Three workers from the Rapid City Club for Boys [who] characterized
[Defendant] as a young man of unusually good character, a fine man, and one of
the last people they thought would be in this trouble.” The trial court sentenced Defendant to 75
years, with 0 years suspended. The SD
Supreme Court Affirmed in a unanimous (5-0) ruling, with opinion authored by
Justice Myren.
STATE v. ANTUNA, 2024 S.D. 78: Defendant in 3rd degree
in prosecution sought mental health records of victim. Trial court, “ordered the State to speak with [Victim] to investigate whether
any mental health records existed, obtain any records by subpoena, and provide
them to the court for an in-camera inspection.'' State
appeals. The SD Supreme Court reversed, directing
the trial court to grant the State’s Motion to Quash. This opinion discusses and applies SD's Marsy's
Law, Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d
215 (1963) and United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 94 S. Ct. 3090, 41
L. Ed. 2d 1039 (1974). This ruling is unanimous
(5-0) with opinion authored by Justice Salter.
WASILK v. WASILK, 2024 S.D. 79: Mother and Father (ex-spouses)
share joint legal custody of 3 children. Mother “sought to take the children on vacation to Mexico and requested
[Father’s] consent on the applications for their passports.” Father denied consent. Mother went to court, successfully seeking
and receiving “an order directing [Father’s]
participation in the passport application process.” Father appeals. The SD Supreme Court upholds the trial court’s
ruling in favor of Mother. This decision
is unanimous, with opinion authored by Justice Salter.
These decisions may be accessed at
http://ujs.sd.gov/Supreme_Court/opinions.aspx .
