Opinion testimony by lay witnesses
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case State v. Stone (2019)
Most recently applied in Foote v. Young (July 2024)
Source: SL 1979, ch 358 (Supreme Court Rule 78-2, Rule 701); SL 2011, ch 234 (Supreme Court Rule 10-10); SDCL § 19-15-1; SL 2016, ch 239 (Supreme Court Rule 15-49), eff
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
If a witness is not testifying as an expert, testimony in the form of an opinion is limited to one that is:
(a) Rationally based on the witness's perception;
(b) Helpful to clearly understanding the witness's testimony or to determining a fact in issue; and
(c) Not based on scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge within the scope of § 19-19-702.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.