In nonjury cases the judge shall, after conducting the presentence hearing as provided in § 23A-27A-2, designate, in writing, the aggravating circumstance or circumstances, if any, which he found beyond a reasonable doubt. Unless at least one of the statutory aggravating circumstances enumerated in § 23A-27A-1 is so found, the death penalty shall not be imposed.
S.D. Codified Laws § 23A-27A-6
Designation by judge in nonjury cases--At least one aggravating circumstance required for death penalty imposition
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case State v. Piper (2006)
Most recently applied in Piper v. Young (December 2019)
Source: SL 1979, ch 160, § 6.
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.