Two New Decisions by the SD Supreme Court this morning

The SD Supreme Court handed down two decisions this morning: 1) Summary Judgment for Defendants affirmed in dispute over purchase agreement; 2) False Report Conviction reinstated over fabricated false breath test; Summaries follow: TRIGGER ENERGY HOLDINGS v. STEVENS, 2025 S.D. 72: Plaintiffs sued to reform a purchase agreement which they had signed, asserting theories of economic duress, fiduciary duty breaches and other torts. The agreement related to the sale of Plaintiffs’ interests in one corporate LLC to another corporate LLC – both of which are named Defendants herein, together with an individual co-Defendant. The trial court granted summary judgment for Defendants. The SD Supreme Court affirmed. This is a unanimous ruling (5-0), with opinion authored by Justice Salter. STATE v. BITELER, 2025 S.D. 73: This case involves an individual, on probation for DUI, required, as a condition of probation, to provide breathalyzer tests remotely through a remote testing device. This device takes a photo of the person submitting the sample. The deputy sheriff overseeing the 24/7 program detected photo “manipulation” in the Defendant’s submitted samples – meaning the breath test was given by another person with the wrong photo. Defendant was charged with 6 counts of false reporting under SDCL 22-11-9(3). The Magistrate Judge convicted Defendant of 1 of the 6 counts and acquitted the Defendant of the other 5 counts. Defendant appealed to the Circuit Court which reversed the one conviction based upon its interpretation of “report” as found in the statute. The State appealed. The SD Supreme Court reversed the Circuit Court and reinstated the Magistrate Judge’s conviction. All five Justices agree on this result. The Court’s opinion is authored by Justice Myren, with two Justices in full concurrence. Justice Salter provided a special concurring opinion, in which Retired Justice Kern concurred. NOTE: this case was orally argued just a month ago, on November 17, 2025. These decisions may be accessed at http://ujs.sd.gov/Supreme_Court/opinions.aspx .