Tom Cogley News Today

ABERDEEN — The caseload of defendants who can’t afford a lawyer has increased exponentially in Brown County in recent years, and public defense costs for criminal cases have more than doubled in the last decade in the county and across the state. That’s putting increased pressure on the county to cover the costs for the attorneys, but […]

South Dakota is one of only 11 states to use local rather than state dollars to pay for the vast majority of public defense.

U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann refused to dismiss indictments against a defendant after she entered into a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office. Kornmann said because of the deal, he would not be able to sentence Tiffany Bernard to more than 15 years in prison, even though she was the ringleader of a vicious crime.

A federal inmate found guilty by a jury of conspiring to sell methamphetamine is appealing his verdict. Stanley Schily Sr. says the trial judge should have acquitted him for lack of evidence. But a federal prosecutor says Schily had meth, baggies, and written sales records in his house, and he confessed to detectives. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Wednesday, May 11, in St. Paul.

A LANCASHIRE fire boss has spoken of his pride in the four firefighters deployed to assist Greece as wildfires continue to devastate parts of the…

A 2019 murder conviction of an Aberdeen man has been upheld by the South Dakota Supreme Court. Jose A. Quinones-Rodriguez, 39, was convicted following a court trial before Judge Richard Sommers in May 2019. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the death of Tawny Rockwood of Andover. In a court trial, the judge hears the evidence and determines the verdict. No jury is selected. Rockwood, 25, was found dead in her Andover apartment after a fire at Hansen’s 4 Apartments. That ...

A 2019 murder conviction of an Aberdeen man has been upheld by the South Dakota Supreme Court. Jose A. Quinones-Rodriguez, 39, was convicted following a court trial before Judge Richard Sommers in May 2019. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the death of Tawny Rockwood of Andover. In a court trial, the judge hears the evidence and determines the verdict. No jury is selected. Rockwood, 25, was found dead in her Andover apartment after a fire at Hansen’s 4 Apartments. That ...