When Tashina Abraham-Medved appeared in a Roberts County courtroom to be sentenced for felony drug ingestion in April of 2022, her lawyer asked to be removed from the case.
That court-appointed attorney, Robert Doody, said there had been a “serious communication breakdown” between himself and his client.
Judge Jon Flemmer denied the request and sent Abraham-Medved to prison.
Continue reading “New hearing ordered for woman sentenced to prison without aid of attorney”
Emails from the deleted account of the late North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem have been discovered, his successor has said.
The emails, once believed to have been deleted forever, were downloaded last summer to a computer at the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Attorney General Drew Wrigley told The Forum on Monday, March 4.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has signed the following bills into law:
Noem has signed 108 bills into law this legislative session.
In 2022, New Mexico recorded the nation’s highest violent crime rate, while Washington had the highest property crime rate. Maine had the lowest violent crime rate, and Idaho held the lowest property crime rate.
The US crime rate has trended downward for decades, and recent data confirms this pattern. However, while the national violent crime rate decreased by 1.6% in 2022 compared to 2021, the property crime rate rose by 6.7%. Rates vary by region due to factors including urbanization levels, economic conditions, and law enforcement effectiveness.
Continue reading “Which states have the highest and lowest crime rate?”
The state’s new women’s prison may well be full when it opens, South Dakota’s corrections secretary said this week, a reality largely attributable to the prevalence of drug abuse in the penal population.
The new prison will free up space for addiction treatment, but the secretary said she’s concerned about the potential for more crowding in the womens’ facilities if the state doesn’t find a way to address its approach to substance abuse.
Lawmakers heard those warnings during debate on funding for the Rapid City minimum security prison, which passed the full Senate this week after a hearing in the budget-setting Joint Appropriations Committee.
Continue reading “Corrections secretary: New women’s prison could be filled with addicts on day one”
Some lawmakers in South Dakota want harsher penalties for people who make threats of violence against elected officials.
It’s already a felony in South Dakota to make death threats or vows to seriously injure constitutional office holders here, but a measure under consideration at the state Capitol wants those same legal protections extended to lawmakers, judges or just about any elected office holder in South Dakota.
Continue reading “Death threats against public officials could be broadened in SD”
On January 12, South Dakota’s Division of Banking issued a mandate setting March 31, 2024 as the deadline for all South Dakota licensed money lenders and non-residential mortgage brokers to comply with their Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) requirements under a 2020 Final Rule published by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). FinCEN’s 2020 Final Rule notably closed a regulatory loophole, extending BSA/AML requirements to banks that lack a federal functional regulator. A “federal functional regulator” is any one of the following: Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, NCUA, OCC, OTS, SEC, or CFTC. There are over 550 banks that currently lack a federal functional regulator, consisting of state-chartered, non-depository trust companies, non-federally insured credit unions, and some international banking entities.
Continue reading “South Dakota Lenders on Tight Deadline for BSA/AML Compliance”
Rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj have had a long standing-feud, referenced in their new songs “Hiss” and “Bigfoot.” Recently, reports online claim the beef between the two has taken a turn for the worse, this time involving Minaj’s fans.
According to TMZ, Minaj’s fans shared the location of Megan Thee Stallion’s mother’s gravesite in Texas. The people who released the information are now being accused of doxxing.
Doxxing is the practice of gathering private or identifying information and sharing it with the public without permission. Oftentimes, people who dox others are trying to harass, threaten or shame them, or exact some form of revenge.
Continue reading “Doxxing is a federal crime in certain cases”
It would be easier for prosecutors to tell jurors about previous sexual assault allegations in rape trials under the provisions of two bills endorsed by a state Senate panel Tuesday morning.
The bills heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee would amend South Dakota’s rules of evidence to allow evidence of prior sexual assaults — including unconvicted sexual assaults — if a judge deems that evidence meaningful for jurors.
Two bills, Senate Bills 97 and 98, would allow such evidence in adult and child sexual assault cases, respectively. The bills came from Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings.
Continue reading “Prior sexual assaults could become part of rape trials”
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that the overall number of criminal offenses reported statewide in 2023 was down 2.57 percent compared to 2022. The Crime in South Dakota 2023 Report indicated that the number of reported criminal offenses was 67,145 in 2023. That is a decrease from the 68,917 reported in 2022. Continue reading “2023 Crime in South Dakota Report released by SD Attorney General Marty Jackley”