Opinion ID: 6330774
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pre-Trial Developments

Text: The court set Keepseagle’s trial for July 8, 2020. About a month before trial, a defense investigator talked with one of the abuse victims and heard the child assert that Quilt used “physical abuse and coercion” to influence the children to testify falsely against Keepseagle. R. Doc. 78, at 1. A week prior to trial, the same abuse victim told agents that Quilt “had physically abused him and his sister.” Id. at 2. He also reported that Quilt had purchased alcohol for his siblings and directed another sibling to punch his sister when she “stated she missed her mom.” Id. The sister, 1 Under South Dakota law, a “person is guilty of a Class 3 felony” “[i]f the victim is less than seven years of age.” S.D. Codified Laws § 26-10-1. Otherwise, it is “a Class 4 felony.” Id. -4- however, denied any physical abuse by Quilt. Nonetheless, authorities removed the children from Quilt’s custody. Two days before trial, the government disclosed reports to the defense detailing the abuse victim’s allegations against Quilt. The day before trial, defense counsel received a report of an interview done that day “in which the sister described physical abuse by . . . Quilt.” Id. She admitted to drinking alcohol with Quilt and “confirmed being made fun of because she missed her mom and that one of her other sibling’s punched her in the stomach.” Id. On the morning of trial, Keepseagle moved for a continuance based on the “new information” received from the government the two days prior. Id. Before the court, defense counsel argued that the new information went “to the heart of [Keepseagle’s] defense, which is that [Quilt] . . . falsely reported or grossly exaggerated the initial incident with the two youngest children; that when the children were in [Quilt’s] care, he did what he could to get them to say what they needed to say—or what he wanted them to say in the interview.” R. Doc. 118, at 9. The district court denied the continuance motion and trial commenced.