State v. St. Francis

Today’s majority all but ignores controlling acts of Congress, strays beyond the issue presented, and makes unwarranted assumptions of fact entirely dehors the record, thereby reaching a predetermined result. I am unable to associate myself with such a decision, and therefore I dissent.

The issue presented is limited to the allocation of the burden of proof as to the jurisdiction of the State to prosecute a criminal case in the face of a defendant’s claim that the alleged offense occurred in “Indian country.”

This is an interlocutory appeal by defendants who challenge a pretrial ruling with…