South Dakota Supreme Court upholds 1998 murder conviction
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley is praising a South Dakota Supreme Court decision that denied a state prison inmate’s appeal of his 1998 conviction for murder.
The court’s ruling, issued Thursday, determined that David Lee had no right to further appeal an earlier order in the case.
Lee was serving a 50-year sentence in the South Dakota State Penitentiary for robbery, assault, and escape when he was convicted in 1998 of second-degree murder of his cellmate, Robert Stacy Walth. Lee was sentenced to life in prison.
The State Supreme Court upheld Lee’s murder conviction in 1999. Lee then sought additional review of his case, claiming unlawful imprisonment. That was denied in 2003.
Lee then filed additional petitions in 2004 and 2007. Those cases were pending until this Supreme Court ruling.
October 20, 2023
