Briley W. Piper v. Darrin Young, Warden

CAPITAL CASE The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that Briley did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to a jury trial. But the South Dakota Supreme Court only remanded sentenced Piper to a resentencing, not for a new trial. Piper v. Weber (Piper II), 2009 S.D. 66, ¶17, 771 N.W.2d 352, 358-359 (S.D. 2009). The initial question is whether the faulty pre-plea advising, applies to both the wavier of jury trial and waiver of jury sentencing, requiring a remand to allow Piper to make a knowing and intelligent decision about whether to waive his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. The second question is whether the same prosecutor who argued two different timelines, depending on who was on trial, should have had his prior inconsistent statements admitted as admissions by the State in Piper’s resentencing. The final question is whether trial counsel’s cumulated errors provided Piper ineffective assistance of counsel.