State v. Lohnes

432 N.W.2d 77, 1988 S.D. LEXIS 164, 1988 WL 124192
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 23, 1988
Docket15989
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 432 N.W.2d 77 (State v. Lohnes) 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. Lohnes, 432 N.W.2d 77, 1988 S.D. LEXIS 164, 1988 WL 124192 (S.D. 1988).

Opinions

SABERS, Justice.

Burton Lohnes (Lohnes) appeals his conviction and life sentence for first-degree manslaughter.

Facts

On November 13, 1980, Perry Mantzoros was shot and killed at the Ranch House Motel in Rapid City. Lohnes, a juvenile at the time, was charged with murder, burglary, and grand theft. He was tried as an adult and convicted of second-degree murder, burglary, and grana theft. This court reversed his second-degree murder conviction because it was based on an inadmissible confession and remanded the case for retrial. See State v. Lohnes, 324 N.W.2d 409 (S.D.1982) (.Lohnes I).

On remand, a plea agreement was reached based on a promise of less than a life sentence. By amended information, the State charged Lohnes with first-degree manslaughter. Lohnes pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 347 years by the trial court. In State v. Lohnes, 344 N.W.2d 686 (S.D.1984) (Lohnes II), this court held that the sentence was improper and remanded the case to permit Lohnes to withdraw his guilty plea.

On the second remand, the trial court granted the State’s motion to dismiss its amended information charging first-degree manslaughter. The State then sought to charge Lohnes with the original information alleging first-degree murder. The trial court ruled at a July 17, 1984, hearing that Lohnes could not be charged with first-degree murder since he had been acquitted of that charge at the original trial. The trial court granted Lohnes’ motion to dismiss the original information and allowed the State to file a second amended information again charging first-degree manslaughter.

Lohnes was not arraigned on that charge until May 21, 1987, due to delay caused by examinations to determine his competence to stand trial and unrelated criminal proceedings in Minnehaha County. Lohnes entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Lohnes was tried in a bifurcated trial which began August 4, 1987. In the first phase of the trial, the evidence was limited to the issue of Lohnes’ guilt. The jury returned a guilty verdict on August 10th. In the second phase, the jury rejected Lohnes’ claim of not guilty by reason of insanity.

1. Necessity Of A New Complaint And Preliminary Hearing.

a. Did Prosecution Cease?

Lohnes argues that the prosecution against him ceased after the State dis[81]*81missed the amended information of first-degree manslaughter. He reasons that the original information charging first-degree murder was invalid because of his earlier acquittal on the charge, so he stood uncharged after the State’s dismissal of the amended information. As a result, Lohnes claims that the State’s filing of the second amended information was an entirely new prosecution. He claims that the failure to file a new complaint or indictment and hold a new preliminary hearing denied the trial court subject matter jurisdiction.

SDCL 23A-44-2 provides that the prosecution of a case ceases after the prosecutor files a dismissal of an indictment, information or complaint. The State made a motion to dismiss the amended information at a hearing, but did not file a dismissal of the information as provided by SDCL 23A-44-2. The statute contemplates that the prosecutor file a written dismissal of the information in order for the prosecution to cease. The State’s failure to file a written dismissal prevented the cessation of the prosecution against Lohnes. Thus, the State’s second amended information, charging first-degree manslaughter, was a continuation of the same prosecution.

b. New Preliminary Hearing Required.

Lohnes also claims the trial court erred in failing to hold a preliminary hearing on the second amended information charging first-degree manslaughter. He claims that the original preliminary hearing was sufficient to establish probable cause for the original murder charge only, as the amended information alleging manslaughter was a new offense.

SDCL 23A-6-19 provides in part:

If trial has not commenced, a prosecuting attorney may amend an information to allege, or to change the allegations regarding, any offense arising out of the same alleged conduct of the defendant that gave rise to any offense alleged in the original information. If the change alleges a new offense, the defendant has the right to a preliminary hearing on the new offense.

This court has upheld a trial court’s ruling to permit the state to amend an information without a new preliminary hearing. State v. Remacle, 386 N.W.2d 38 (S.D.1986); State ¶. Roden, 880 N.W.2d 669 (S.D.1986). However, these cases did not involve any change in the actual offense charged. The question here is whether a lesser-included offense is a “new offense” under the statute. State v. Forbes, 203 Neb. 349, 278 N.W.2d 615 (1979), held that a preliminary hearing is unnecessary where an amended information charges a substantially similar offense, such as a lesser-included offense. The Forbes court stated:

[I]f a defendant is accorded a preliminary hearing and thereafter an amended information is filed charging a crime that includes some of the elements of the original crime charged without the addition of any element irrelevant to that original charge, no new preliminary hearing is necessary.

Id. 278 N.W.2d at 618. Although the Forbes court was construing a different statute, this is a proper interpretation of the language in SDCL 23A-6-19.

The murder and manslaughter charges both required proof that Lohnes unlawfully killed another with a firearm. The probable cause for those elements was established at the original preliminary hearing. Intent is the only element which differs in the two crimes. The murder charge required intent, while the manslaughter charge did not. Lohnes was charged with manslaughter under SDCL 22-16-15(3), which only requires a killing by means of a dangerous weapon. Since these elements were established at the original preliminary hearing, there were no additional elements to be established for the manslaughter charge in the second amended information, and a new preliminary hearing was unnecessary.

c. Probable Cause.

Lohnes challenges the validity of the original preliminary hearing to establish probable cause. He claims that it was improperly based on a confession subsequently ruled inadmissible in Lohnes I.

[82]*82In State v. Reggio, 84 S.D. 687, 176 N.W. 2d 62 (1970), this court indicated that a probable cause determination at a preliminary hearing, based solely on illegally obtained evidence, would render the charge invalid. However, the

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
432 N.W.2d 77, 1988 S.D. LEXIS 164, 1988 WL 124192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lohnes-sd-1988.