Homicide is excusable if committed by accident and misfortune in the heat of passion, upon sudden and sufficient provocation, or upon a sudden combat. However, to be excusable, no undue advantage may be taken nor any dangerous weapon used and the killing may not be done in a cruel or unusual manner.
S.D. Codified Laws § 22-16-31
Excusable homicide--Heat of passion--Provocation--Sudden combat--Limitations
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case State v. Birdshead (2015)
Most recently applied in State v. Randle (August 2018)
Source: SDC 1939, § 13.2002 (2); SL 2005, ch 120, § 162.
How often courts cite this section
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.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.