State v. Richard, 1 N.W.3d 654

Elias Richard was convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting death of Vernall Marshall after a confrontation that stemmed from text messages sent to a minor by Marshall.
Richard, Lukkes, and Clint—members of the Dark Side Family gang—gathered at Lukkes’ request to confront Marshall, with Lukkes supplying Richard a gun allegedly to scare Marshall.
The prosecution introduced evidence of Richard’s gang affiliation to suggest a motive for his involvement.
During trial, the defense asserted that shell casings found in Lukkes’ apartment matched those at the crime scene, attempting to shift suspicion to Lukkes, but the prosecution revealed (via a late-disclosed forensic report) they were of a different caliber.
Richard twice moved for a mistrial due to the surprise about the forensic report, citing lost credibility with the jury, but the trial court denied these motions.
The jury convicted Richard of second-degree (not first-degree) murder, and he received a mandatory life sentence; he appealed on evidentiary and trial fairness grounds.

Issue	State's Argument	Richard's Argument	Held
Admission of Gang Affiliation	Relevant to explain motive and group dynamics	Not probative, highly prejudicial; only Lukkes connects Richard to gang	Admissible; no abuse of discretion, probative value justified use
Denial of Mistrial (Discovery Violation)	No material prejudice since defense theory and major facts were unchanged	Failure to disclose the forensic report prejudiced credibility and hindered defense	No material prejudice; core defense and trial focus unaffected

State v. Hankins, 982 N.W.2d 21 (S.D. 2022) (sets standard for review of evidentiary rulings and abuse of discretion)
Knecht v. Evridge, 940 N.W.2d 318 (S.D. 2020) (on balancing probative value vs. unfair prejudice)
State v. Krebs, 714 N.W.2d 91 (S.D. 2006) (on discovery violations and when prejudice justifies remedy)
State v. Hart, 544 N.W.2d 206 (S.D. 1996) (irrelevance, not mere prejudice, mandates exclusion of gang evidence)