Court Opinion

ID: 9374578
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-23 16:07:27.634025+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:51.845253
License: Public Domain

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2023 S.D. 9

                         IN THE SUPREME COURT
                                 OF THE
                        STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA

                                ****

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA,                   Plaintiff and Appellee,

     v.

REBECCA L. VANDYKE,                      Defendant and Appellant.

                                ****

                 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
                    THE THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
                   DEUEL COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA

                                ****

                  THE HONORABLE DAWN M. ELSHERE
                              Judge

                                ****

CODY J. MILLER of
Lammers, Kleibacker &
  Dawson, LLP
Madison, South Dakota                    Attorneys for defendant
                                         and appellant.

MARTY J. JACKLEY
Attorney General

JENNIFER M. JORGENSON
Assistant Attorney General
Pierre, South Dakota                     Attorneys for plaintiff and
                                         appellee.

                                ****

                                         CONSIDERED ON BRIEFS
                                         JANUARY 9, 2023
                                         OPINION FILED 02/22/23
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SALTER, Justice

[¶1.]         Rebecca Vandyke appeals her misdemeanor conviction for intentional

damage to property following a court trial. Vandyke argues the court accepted the

prosecutor’s argument that intentional damage to property is a strict liability

offense and, in so doing, applied the incorrect mens rea standard. We reverse and

remand for further proceedings.

                      Factual and Procedural Background

[¶2.]         The circumstances of this criminal case relate to what appears to be a

high-conflict parenting arrangement between Rebecca Vandyke and Justin Vostad

concerning their two young children. 1

[¶3.]         At around 1:50 p.m. on December 26, 2021, Kara Vostad, 2 Justin’s

current wife, arrived at Vandyke’s home to pick up the two minor children who had

been staying with their mother. After the scheduled exchange time of 2:00 p.m.

came and went, Kara attempted to notify Vandyke by sending several successive

text messages. When these efforts went unacknowledged, Kara honked the horn of

her vehicle two times. Vandyke eventually accompanied the children out of the

house at 2:10.

[¶4.]         Kara later related that after the children were in the car and she was

preparing to leave, she observed Vandyke standing next to her car “with her arms

1.      The record in the criminal file does not indicate whether Vandyke and Justin
        Vostad were previously married, but ancillary information suggests they
        were. In a judicially noticed transcript from a related protection order
        proceeding, Vandyke describes Justin Vostad as her ex-husband.

2.      Because of the common Vostad surname, we will refer to Justin and Kara by
        their first names to avoid confusion.

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crossed and a very aggressive look on her face.” Kara began to back her car away

from Vandyke’s house when, Kara explained, Vandyke “aggressively attacked my

car.”

[¶5.]         The exact number of times Vandyke hit Kara’s car with her hand is

disputed—Kara claimed it was four times, and Vandyke admitted to striking the

vehicle twice. Both women agreed, however, that Vandyke struck Kara’s

windshield with her hand held in a fist, cracking it in a large “spiderwebbed”

pattern. An estimate to fix the windshield placed the amount of the damage at

$540.

[¶6.]         Vandyke was charged with intentional damage to property as a Class 1

misdemeanor. See SDCL 22-34-1 (stating that intentional damage to property is a

Class 1 misdemeanor when the resulting damage is “one thousand dollars or less,

but more than four hundred dollars”). The case was tried to the circuit court

without objection from the defense after the State agreed to forego seeking a jail

sentence.

[¶7.]         Vandyke testified that she was surprised that the windshield broke

and was ashamed and embarrassed that she had damaged the car. She explained

she was trying to get Kara’s attention to ask if Justin was going to be home during

the children’s stay at the Vostad home because she had concerns about her

children’s safety when their father was not present. 3 Vandyke also attributed her

3.      Although largely undeveloped in this record, Vandyke testified that her
        children “had been sexually abused while under the household of their father
        and his wife, and . . . [the children had] frequently told [Vandyke] how mean
        their stepmother is to them when their dad is not around . . . .”

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conduct to the fact that she was pregnant with twins and had “a feeling it had

everything to do with my hormones.”

[¶8.]         After it became clear Vandyke’s defense theory was that she lacked the

specific intent to damage the windshield, the prosecutor stated, at different points

during the trial, that “this is a strict liability case.” In fact, this was the theme of

the prosecutor’s brief closing argument:

              This is a strict liability case, that’s true, but the causation of her
              intending to hit the windshield is what caused the damage in
              this matter and caused the windshield to break. It doesn’t
              matter what the safety of her children were at the time because
              this is a strict liability case, but causation comes from
              intentionally hitting a window to gain someone’s attention. It’s
              her bad fortune that the window broke, but that does not leave
              her as not culpable for her actions especially with children in the
              car and her being pregnant.

[¶9.]         In his closing argument, Vandyke’s counsel focused on the text of the

intentional damage to property statute which, he argued, applies only to a person

who acts “with specific intent to” damage property. See SDCL 22-34-1 (punishing

conduct by “[a]ny person who, with specific intent to do so, injures, damages, or

destroys” public or private property). Using this mens rea standard, Vandyke’s

counsel argued that the State had failed to prove that she had acted with specific

intent where “[a]ll of the evidence show[ed] that her intention was to get the

attention of Kara Vostad and to have a discussion with her.”

[¶10.]        The circuit court found Vandyke guilty and aligned its stated rationale

with the State’s strict liability theory:

              You don’t get to strike someone’s vehicle in anger to get
              attention and have the window break and come in here and
              claim that you’re not responsible for it because you just didn’t
              specifically intend for that windshield to break. I believe you

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             were upset. Maybe you had every right to be upset . . . . But
             you don’t get to claim that you didn’t intend those results when
             you clearly were trying to get her attention. You struck the
             vehicle, I believe you struck that vehicle several times. And
             unfortunately, on the third or fourth time some damage resulted
             and you are responsible for that. And for you to come in here
             and claim that you’re not based upon your attorney’s read of the
             law, I respectfully disagree.

             You do not get to claim to this Court that you didn’t intend for
             that. That’s your responsibility to pay for the damage for that
             vehicle. You are clearly guilty of that. I think your argument is
             just tenuous at best that you didn’t have this specific intent, but
             you should have known better.

(Emphasis added.)

[¶11.]       Vandyke appeals raising two issues for our review that we restate as

follows:

             1.     Whether the circuit court erred when it did not apply a
                    specific intent mens rea requirement to SDCL 22-34-1.

             2.     Whether the circuit court erred by refusing to grant
                    Vandyke’s motion for judgment of acquittal.

                              Analysis and Decision

SDCL 22-34-1’s mens rea requirement

[¶12.]       We begin by noting that true strict liability criminal offenses are

exceptional, and the idea that some form of mental state is required for a conviction

is much more common:

             The contention that an injury can amount to a crime only when
             inflicted by intention is no provincial or transient notion. It is as
             universal and persistent in mature systems of law as belief in
             freedom of the human will and a consequent ability and duty of
             the normal individual to choose between good and evil.

Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 250, 72 S. Ct. 240, 243, 96 L. Ed. 288

(1952).

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[¶13.]         Indeed, even where a statute’s text does not include an explicit mental

state, courts should be reluctant to infer that the omission was purposeful. 4 See

Staples, 511 U.S. at 605, 114 S. Ct. at 1797 (“[S]ilence on [a scienter requirement]

by itself does not necessarily suggest that Congress intended to dispense with a

conventional mens rea element . . . .”); United States v. United States Gypsum Co.,

438 U.S. 422, 437–38, 98 S. Ct. 2864, 2873–74, 57 L. Ed. 2d 854 (1978) (observing

strict liability crimes are generally disfavored and recognized only in limited

instances); Liparota v. United States, 471 U.S. 419, 426, 105 S. Ct. 2084, 2088, 85 L.

Ed. 2d 434 (1985) (inferring that a knowledge requirement may be necessary to

avoid criminalizing innocent conduct); see also State v. Armstrong, 2020 S.D. 6, ¶ 33,

939 N.W.2d 9, 17 (same).

[¶14.]         But here, we are not confronted with a statute that is silent as to a

scienter requirement, and, contrary to the State’s argument to the circuit court,

SDCL 22-34-1 is not a strict liability crime. Instead, the statute contains an

express mens rea element that states either a general intent or specific intent

requirement. 5

4.       However, the United States Supreme Court has “typically declined to apply
         the presumption in favor of scienter in cases involving statutory provisions
         that form part of a ‘regulatory’ or ‘public welfare’ program and carry only
         minor penalties.” Rehaif v. United States, 204 L. Ed. 2d 594, 139 S. Ct. 2191,
         2197 (2019) (citing Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600, 606, 114 S. Ct.
         1793, 1797; Morissette, 342 U.S. at 255–259, 72 S. Ct. at 246–47).

5.       Under a previous version of SDCL 22-34-1 which required only that a
         defendant “intentionally injure[ ], damage[ ], or destroy[,]” we held that
         intentional damage to property was a general intent crime. See State v.
         Bailey, 464 N.W.2d 626, 628 (S.D. 1991); State v. Balint, 426 N.W.2d 316
         (S.D. 1988); State v. Huber, 356 N.W.2d 468 (S.D. 1984). However, as part of
         its comprehensive revision of the criminal code in 2005, the Legislature
                                                               (continued . . .)
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[¶15.]         On appeal, the State has abandoned its earlier strict liability argument

and now claims that SDCL 22-34-1 states a specific intent to damage requirement,

as Vandyke has maintained throughout the case. 6 We agree with the parties that

SDCL 22-34-1 is a specific intent offense and offer the following analysis.

[¶16.]         We begin with the text of the statute, understanding, as our decisions

make clear, that the Legislature’s use of words like “knowingly” or “intentionally”

does not conclusively settle the question of whether a crime requires general or

specific intent. State v. Taecker, 2003 S.D. 43, ¶ 25, 661 N.W.2d 712, 718 (quoting

State v. Heftel, 513 N.W.2d 397, 400 (S.D. 1994)). Rather, these words simply mean

that the statute requires a level of culpability that is “more than negligence or

recklessness.” Id.

[¶17.]         The operative portion of SDCL 22-34-1 provides, “Any person who,

with specific intent to do so, injures, damages, or destroys [public or private

property without consent] is guilty of intentional damage to property.” To properly

understand the statute’s use of the term “specific intent[,]” we must carefully

________________________
(. . . continued)
         amended SDCL 22-34-1 by eliminating “intentionally” and adding the text,
         “with specific intent to do so[.]” 2005 S.D. Sess. Laws ch. 120, § 97. We have
         not had the opportunity to interpret this amendment to the mens rea text
         since that time.

6.       The State argues that Vandyke has not preserved her specific intent
         argument for review because, in its view, she failed to “seek clarification”
         from the circuit court regarding the mens rea standard it was applying. We
         disagree. Vandyke has unquestionably preserved her mens rea argument for
         review. On appeal, she is making the same claim about SDCL 22-34-1 that
         she made to the circuit court.

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examine it in light of the accepted distinction between specific and general intent.

See SDCL 22-34-1.

[¶18.]       We have held, in this regard, that specific intent means “some intent in

addition to the intent to do the physical act which the crime requires[.]” Taecker,

2003 S.D. 43, ¶ 25, 661 N.W.2d at 718 (quoting State v. Barrientos, 444 N.W.2d 374,

376 (S.D. 1989). “Specific intent crimes require that the offender have ‘a specific

design to cause a certain result.’” State v. Liaw, 2016 S.D. 31, ¶ 11, 878 N.W.2d 97,

100 (quoting State v. Schouten, 2005 S.D. 122, ¶ 13, 707 N.W.2d 820, 824). General

intent crimes are different. They “only require that the offender ‘engage in conduct’

that is prohibited by the statute, ‘regardless of what the offender intends to

accomplish.’” Id.

[¶19.]       The clear and unambiguous text of SDCL 22-34-1 establishes that the

Legislature intended the statute to criminalize conduct that causes damage to

property where the defendant has a “specific intent to do so[.]” In other words, the

defendant must have a specific design to cause a result—i.e. damage. Indeed, if it

were otherwise, a broad range of otherwise innocent or negligent conduct would be

indiscriminately swept into the ambit of SDCL 22-34-1.

The circuit court’s application of SDCL 22-34-1

[¶20.]       Notwithstanding the consensus view that SDCL 22-34-1 provides for a

specific intent offense, the parties differ as to whether the circuit court applied it.

Drawing upon isolated excerpts from the circuit court’s oral ruling, the State argues

that the court applied the specific intent standard and simply held that Vandyke’s

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defense theory was unpersuasive. But we conclude that this view is not

sustainable.

[¶21.]         Read in its entirety, the circuit court’s oral ruling suggests that the

court accepted the State’s improvident strict liability theory while responding to

Vandyke’s factual claim that she only intended to get Kara’s attention:

               You don’t get to strike someone’s vehicle in anger to get
               attention and have the window break and come in here and
               claim that you’re not responsible for it because you just didn’t
               specifically intend for that windshield to break. . . . [Y]ou don’t
               get to claim that you didn’t intend those results when you
               clearly were trying to get her attention. You struck the vehicle
               . . . . [a]nd unfortunately . . . some damage resulted and you are
               responsible for that. And for you to come in here and claim that
               you’re not based upon your attorney’s read of the law, I
               respectfully disagree.

(Emphasis added.)

[¶22.]         The most natural and logical reading of the circuit court’s reference to

its disagreement with defense counsel’s “read of the law” is that it was rejecting

Vandyke’s legal argument that SDCL 22-34-1 included a specific intent

requirement. Indeed, that was the only legal question presented by Vandyke’s

defense. The State, for its part, never identified the correct mens rea at trial and

repeated its strict liability view several times. Consequently, we conclude that the

court selected a legal view that foreclosed Vandyke’s argument that she “didn’t

intend” the damage, and instead determined that the resulting damage alone

rendered her “responsible.” 7

7.       This view may well be an accurate assessment of Vandyke’s civil liability to
         pay for the damage she caused to Kara’s windshield, but not her liability
         under the criminal law.

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Vandyke’s motion for judgment of acquittal

[¶23.]       The fact that the circuit court seemingly applied the incorrect mens rea

requirement does not, as Vandyke asserts, mean that there was no evidence of

specific intent to damage Kara’s windshield. For this factual argument, Vandyke

claims the only evidence in the record establishes that she simply intended to get

Kara’s attention to initiate a conversation. However, our holding in this case does

not reach so far as to resolve this factual argument.

[¶24.]       Rather, we view the circuit court’s erroneous application of SDCL 22-

34-1’s mens rea requirement as we would an erroneous instruction on the law in the

context of a criminal jury trial. For this type of error, we vacate the conviction and

remand for a new trial where “the instructions were erroneous, [and] also . . .

prejudicial.” State v. Packed, 2007 S.D. 75, ¶ 17, 736 N.W.2d 851, 856 (quoting

Vetter v. Cam Wal Elec. Co-op., Inc., 2006 S.D. 21, ¶ 10, 711 N.W.2d 612, 615).

[¶25.]       This rule recognizes the restriction on our role as a reviewing court in

a case like this one where we cannot definitively say that the State could not

sustain the specific intent element simply because Vandyke disavowed it in her

testimony. Instead, a retrial is necessary to allow the court, as the trier of fact, to

consider Vandyke’s factual claims in the context of all the circumstances

surrounding the December 26 incident as part of an effort to determine whether

Vandyke had the specific intent to damage Kara’s property.

                                  Conclusion

[¶26.]       Intentional damage to property, as described in SDCL 22-34-1,

requires the State to prove that the defendant acted with the specific intent to cause

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damage to the affected property. It is not a strict liability offense for which a

defendant who caused damage is necessarily guilty, and all appearances suggest

that the circuit court erroneously accepted the State’s argument that it was. This

error likely affected the outcome of this case by compelling a conviction solely as a

consequence of the damage Vandyke caused. We reverse her conviction and remand

the case for a new trial.

[¶27.]       JENSEN, Chief Justice, and KERN, DEVANEY, and MYREN,

Justices, concur.

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