Court Opinion

ID: 9660864
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:22:54.87673+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:22.914631
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(concurring).
Concerning the third party perpetrator rule as established in Luna, it was my opinion then, as it is now, that there was “a train of facts to point out the possible guilt of a third party other than the defendant.” Henderson, J., dissenting at 239, 240. Thus, Luna’s proffered evidence should not have been kept from the jury.
In Braddock, as in this case, the evidence eventually was brought to the jury’s attention. Hence, there appears to be no prejudice. In Luna, it appeared to be highly prejudicial (a violent drunk enters a store with blood on him, shortly after the crime and only a half block therefrom, and later expresses to a companion that he was a killer for hire — all kept from the jury).
Regarding jury instruction # 10, the plain language of the instruction was not a “mandatory” presumption; it was a “permissive” presumption. Furthermore, the trial judge limited the instruction by specifically instructing the jury that it was “not conclusive” and “an inference you may reject.” See, State v. McDonald, 421 N.W.2d 492 (S.D.1988).
I concur and would affirm the trial court in all respects.