State v. Catch the Bear

FOSHEIM, Chief Justice.

Attorney Bruce Ellison appeals a civil contempt order entered against him for refusing to submit to a court-ordered pretrial deposition. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

Clarence Tollefson was shot and killed on July 21, 1982, on a ridge near the Yellow Thunder Camp, an American Indian encampment on Victoria Lake in the Black Hills National Forest (camp). Several hours later Bruce Ellison visited the camp.

The next morning Ellison gave a statement to a deputy sheriff at the Pennington County Sheriffs Office. He told the officer that upon returning from the…