State v. Charles

2001 SD 67, 628 N.W.2d 734, 2001 S.D. LEXIS 70
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMay 30, 2001
DocketNone
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 2001 SD 67 (State v. Charles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Charles, 2001 SD 67, 628 N.W.2d 734, 2001 S.D. LEXIS 70 (S.D. 2001).

Opinions

MILLER, Chief Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this appeal, we affirm a conviction of first degree murder and hold that the trial court did not err in denying a motion for judgment of acquittal or in refusing to instruct the jury on mistake of fact.

FACTS

[¶ 2.] Daniel Charles, who was fourteen years of age during the summer of 1999, lived on a ranch near Opal, South Dakota with his stepfather, Duane Ingalls. Charles’ mother and Ingalls had divorced the previous summer, but Charles returned to live with Ingalls because his mother’s job as a truck driver rendered her unable to care for him. Charles alleged at trial that he loved Ingalls despite the fact that Ingalls often subjected him to physical and verbal abuse. Charles testified that after abusive incidents he would frequently retreat to his second floor bedroom, and, when he would see Ingalls in the yard, he would aim an unloaded .25-06 caliber rifle at Ingalls’ head and dry fire the rifle to relieve his emotions.

[¶ 3.] On July 23, 1999, Charles awoke at 4:30 a.m. and prepared breakfast. By 7 [736]*736a.m. he was in the hayfield about one-half mile from the ranch home. Shortly after he began windrowing, Ingalls arrived and stopped him. Ingalls yelled at him for improper windrowing and “cuffed” him on the side of the head knocking his head into the glass in the door of the tractor. Charles resumed working, finished the windrowing and returned home to prepare lunch.

[¶ 4.] Charles waited in his room for Ingalls to return from the hayfield. When he arrived and was walking up to the home, Charles pointed the .25-06 caliber rifle at Ingalls’ head and pulled the trigger. Tragically, the rifle fired instantly killing Ingalls. Charles contends he did not know the rifle was loaded.

[¶ 5.] After shooting and killing Ingalls, Charles dragged the body into the garage, cleaned the blood off the front yard sidewalk with a water hose and telephoned his mother. He convinced her to come to the ranch by telling her that Ingalls had not returned home the previous night. She arrived about 8 p.m., and he then told her there had been an accident and that In-galls was dead. She immediately called 911.

[¶ 6.] Law enforcement and other authorities arrived and began processing the crime scene. Pertinent to this appeal, the agents collected four bullets from the rifle and carefully placed them in a baggie. These bullets were used in ballistics, residue and other analyses, but they were never checked for fingerprints.

[¶ 7.] Charles told the investigators a fabricated story about fox hunting in the front yard, which led to the accidental discharge of the rifle and the death of Ingalls. Out of concern for his emotional state (and considering his prior suicide attempt and hospitalization in a hospital psychiatric ward), Charles was taken to the mental unit of Rapid City Regional Hospital for observation. There he roomed with another youth, W.L. W.L. testified at trial that Charles told him: (1) he wanted to kill his stepfather because Ingalls was a “mean guy”; (2) he shot Ingalls from the upstairs window; (3) the police did not suspect him because they thought it was an accident; (4) he had considered other ways of killing his stepfather; (5) he faked being in shock to make himself more believable; (6) he would kill W.L. and his father if W.L. revealed what Charles had told him.

[¶ 8.] Despite Charles’ threat, W.L. told law enforcement about his conversation with Charles. Due to the differing stories between Charles and W.L., agents interviewed Charles again. Charles maintained he did not murder Ingalls and that he had lied to W.L. to act tough. Charles’ mother attended this interview and ended it when he became emotionally upset. She then spoke with Charles alone. He admitted to his mother that he fabricated the fox hunting story and that actually he thought the rifle was unloaded. His mother relayed this to the agents.

[¶ 9.] Charles was originally charged in juvenile court, but, after a hearing, he was transferred to adult court. We denied his attempted intermediate appeal of that transfer order.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Pfeiffer
2024 S.D. 71 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2024)
State v. Charles
2017 SD 10 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2017)
State v. Klaudt
2009 SD 71 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Janklow
2005 SD 25 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Martin
2004 SD 82 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Bruder
2004 SD 12 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Engesser
2003 SD 47 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Moran
2003 SD 14 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Holway
2002 SD 50 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2002)
General v. State
789 A.2d 102 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2001 SD 67, 628 N.W.2d 734, 2001 S.D. LEXIS 70, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-charles-sd-2001.