Johnson v. Miller, 818 N.W.2d 804

Aria Johnson deeded approximately 720 acres to Linda and Claude as joint tenants for $1; she had previously rented farmland to them for 16 years with Aria paying one-third of expenses and receiving one-third of profits.
Linda filed for divorce from Claude in 2009 after the gift.
Aria sued Claude alleging fraudulent inducement to deed the land and sought restoration of ownership.
The circuit court granted summary judgment for Claude, primarily based on Aria’s deposition.
Claude moved for attorney’s fees under SDCL 15-17-51; the circuit court denied the fee request after a hearing where no testimony was taken.
On appeal, Claude challenges the denial of attorney’s fees; the Supreme Court affirms the denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Aria Johnson’s fraud claim was frivolous or malicious under SDCL 15-17-51	Johnson argues the claim was legally grounded and not frivolous	Miller contends the claim was frivolous or brought with malicious intent	Not frivolous or malicious; court did not abuse discretion in denying fees

Citibank (S.D.), N.A. v. Hauff, 2003 S.D. 99 (S.D. 2003) (defining frivolousness; objective standard for sanctionability)
Ridley v. Lawrence Cnty. Comm’n, 2000 S.D. 143 (S.D. 2000) (frivolousness/malice standard; defers to trial courts on sanctions)
Stratmeyer v. Engberg, 2002 S.D. 91 (S.D. 2002) (abuse-of-discretion standard for fee awards; baseline premise from prior cases)
Fenske Media Corp. v. Banta Corp., 2004 S.D. 23 (S.D. 2004) (fraud elements and reliance requirements; necessity of causation in fraud claims)
Schwaiger v. Mitchell Radiology Assocs., P.C., 2002 S.D. 97 (S.D. 2002) (fraudulent inducement requires willful deceit and actual inducement to act to detriment)