State v. Dokken

HERTZ, Acting Justice.

This is a criminal appeal from a jury verdict which found the defendant guilty of first degree manslaughter and sentenced him to serve fifty years in the South Dakota Penitentiary. We reverse and remand.

The defendant/appellant Mark William Dokken, (Dokken), had experienced problems with members of the Deadmen Motorcycle Club, (Deadmen), from as far back as 1978. Their respective differences climaxed on the night of July 25, 1984, when Dokken shot Deadmen member Paul Brandsgaard, Jr., (Brandsgaard), in the Westport Lounge in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He died early the…