Pedophilia Conviction Improperly Overturned

     SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Supreme Court says a
lower court improperly overturned the conviction and sentence of a
man charged with molesting a 4-year-old girl in 2001.
     Dale Guthmiller was convicted of criminal pedophilia in the
case. He was released last year when a Pierre judge ruled that
Guthmiller didn't get a fair trial because of comments made by the
trial judge.
     The high court reversed that decision in a written opinion
released Thursday.
     Guthmiller's attorney in March argued that a trial judge's
comment that police in Rapid City don't arrest innocent people
eliminated Guthmiller's presumption of innocence.
     The justices said that although the trial judge's inappropriate
comments reflected negatively on Guthmiller, they did not amount to
a structural error or mean the judge was biased.