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State of South Dakota
Plaintiff and Appellee
v.
Pedro Morato

Defendant and Appellant
[2000 SD 149]

South Dakota Supreme Court
Appeal from the Circuit Court of
The Third Judicial Circuit
Brookings County, South Dakota

Hon. Rodney J. Steele, Judge

Mark Barnett, Attorney General
Gary Campbell, Assistant Attorney General
Pierre, South Dakota
Attorneys for plaintiff and appellee

Donald M. McCarty
McCann and Ribstein Brookings, South Dakota
Attorney for defendant and appellant

Considered on Briefs October 23, 2000
Opinion Filed 11/29/2000

#21363

KONENKAMP, Justice
[¶1.] The defendant, Pedro Morato, appeals his convictions on three counts of aggravated assault, contending that the circuit court erred in admitting his incriminating statements and in not suppressing a jack handle taken from his vehicle without a search warrant. We affirm these rulings, but reverse and remand for resentencing, as only one offense was committed, not three.
A.
[¶2.] At 4:00 a.m. on April 17, 1999, Officer Bradley Deaver of the Brookings Police Department was dispatched to the local emergency room. Taylor Roberts was being treated there for what appeared to be a severe beating. Roberts had cuts and abrasions on his face. His left eye was swollen shut. He had a deep wound on his forehead. According to the medical personnel, Roberts had a “blow out fracture of the left orbit with [a] buckle fracture of the left lateral sinus wall.

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South Dakota Law