Two new SD Supreme Court Decisions today

The SD Supreme Court handed down two decisions this morning: 1) dismissal for failure to prosecute reversed; 2) visitation rights ruling affirmed; Summaries follows: ARROWSMITH v. ODLE, 2025 S.D. 70: The trial court dismissed this personal injury action on the basis of failure to prosecute. The SD Supreme Court reversed, stating: [¶34.] Under the circumstances, we conclude the circuit court abused its discretion in granting [Defendant's] motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute under both SDCL 15-11-11 and Rule 41(b) and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. This ruling is unanimous (5-0), with opinion authored by Retired Justice Kern. JESSOP v. COMBS, 2025 S.D. 71: In this visitation dispute, Mother requested that Father be granted only supervised visitation. Trial court granted Father unsupervised visitation, in accordance with SD’s Parenting Guidelines. Mother appealed. The SD Supreme Court affirmed, deferring to the trial court. And, because Mother did not prevail on any issue on appeal, her request for appellate attorneys was denied. This 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 .