State of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. James Brammer, Defendant and Appellant

Summary

The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for rape (Count III) and reversed the conviction for sexual contact (Count IV), holding that the statutes are mutually exclusive and that the evidence did not support a separate sexual contact offense. The court also recognized a legislatively created plain‑error rule allowing reversal of an unraised error that substantially affected the appellant’s rights, and remanded for entry of an acquittal on Count IV.