The SD Supreme Court
handed down 1 decision this morning:
1) 25 year sentence for inmate’s
possession of altered razor blade upheld;
Summary
follows:
STATE
v. HILLYER, 2025 S.D. 30: Pennington County jail inmate “was convicted of possession of a weapon - an
altered razor blade,”
and sentenced to 25 years as “a habitual offender.” The SD Supreme Court affirmed,
rejecting Defendant’s arguments that, “that the circuit court erred by rejecting his lesser-included
offense jury instruction, [by] denying his motion for judgment of acquittal
based on insufficient evidence, [by] refusing to give an instruction telling
the jury not to consider hypothetical uses of the razor blade, [and] that the
cumulative effect of these errors deprived him of a fair trial.” This ruling is unanimous (5-0) with opinion authored
by Justice Kern.
This
decision may be accessed at
http://ujs.sd.gov/Supreme_Court/opinions.aspx .
