12 results for 'judge:"Devaney "'.
J. Devaney finds that the district court improperly granted summary judgment regarding decedent���s will, devising farmland to the decedent���s sister-in-law. Three contestants to the will appealed, asserting that the circuit court improperly granted summary judgment on grounds not briefed or argued to the court, which was therefore incorrect in concluding that judgment was appropriate. Reversed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney , Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 2024SD20, Categories: Wills / Probate
J. Devaney finds that an administrative law judge (ALJ) improperly determined that an individual was not entitled to pandemic unemployment benefits in a matter in which the ALJ held that the individual must repay $24,690 in pandemic unemployment benefits he received from the South Dakota Department of Labor, Reemployment Assistance Division. However, the lower court properly determined attorney fees. Affirmed in part.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney , Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 2024SD19, Categories: Employment, Covid-19, Attorney Fees
J. Devaney finds that the circuit court improperly denied defendant's motion to withdraw without allowing her or her attorney an opportunity to establish good cause for the request. The matter stems from one count of unauthorized ingestion of a schedule I or II controlled substance. Reversed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney , Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 2024SD14, Categories: Drug Offender
J. Devaney finds that the circuit court erred in sentencing defendant after he pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. While the lower court considered many factors and found them to be aggravating when it imposed a 5-year prison sentence, it also specifically found that defendant does not pose a significant risk to the public. Under that framework, the circuit court should have entered a sentence of probation. Vacated.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2024SD13, Categories: Drug Offender, Probation, Sentencing
J. Devaney finds that the circuit court properly rejected the South Dakota Department of Transportation's claims that a car collision and personal injury matter were barred. A driver rolled his pickup while driving on a portion of Highway 45 that was being resurfaced. He brought suit against the contractor responsible for the resurfacing project and against the South Dakota Department of Transportation. The portion of the court���s denial of summary judgment relating to the precautionary measures the driver alleged the Department should have taken is reversed. The matter is remanded for further proceedings. Affirmed in part.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney , Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 2023SD66, Categories: Transportation, Vehicle
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J. Devaney finds that the circuit court properly granted a motion in a suit brought by an insurance company seeking a declaration that it had no duty
to defend or indemnify the insured after the insured delivered wheat contaminated with fertilizer to its elevator. Under the plain language of a pollution exclusion provisions, the lower court properly determined the complaint fell within the policy exclusion. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney , Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 2023SD61, Categories: Agriculture, Insurance
J. Devaney finds that the circuit court properly denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal alleging insufficient evidence concerning aggravated assault and felony hit and run. The felony hit and run statute applies regardless of whether defendant's acts were intentional. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney, Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: 2023ND42, Categories: Assault, Vehicle
J. Devaney finds that the circuit court properly entered judgment after defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Defendant sought to introduce evidence of a polygraph examination regarding his role in the crime. The circuit court precluded the admission of the polygraph evidence and sentenced defendant to eighty years in the penitentiary with twenty years suspended. The circuit court correctly precluded polygraph evidence
because of reliability concerns. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney, Filed On: July 26, 2023, Case #: 2023SD39, Categories: Evidence, Manslaughter
J. Devaney consolidates separate petitions for discretionary appeal related to the circuit court���s summary judgment rulings in a professional negligence matter. The consolidated petitions are remanded to the circuit court for dismissal as untimely under South Dakota Codified Law.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 2023SD33, Categories: Property, Negligence
J. Devaney finds that the circuit court properly awarded damages to an airplane owner. The airplane was damaged when an individual sought rental of the aircraft and expressed interest in learning how to fly and assured the owner that he had insurance, which he did not possess. The individual failed to get the plane to an adequate takeoff speed and crashed into a ravine. The panel determined it had jurisdiction and affirmed on the merits of the matter. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney , Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 2023SD34, Categories: Insurance, Property, Damages
J. Devaney finds that the circuit court properly issued an oral ruling from a bench trial finding defendant guilty of hunting on private land without
permission from the owner. Defendant claims that his conviction should be reversed because the South Dakota Codified Law in question is not a strict liability offense. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Devaney, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 2023SD25, Categories: Trespass