The South Dakota Supreme Court upheld previous court rulings that sentenced Ramon Smith to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He was convicted for second-degree murder and aggravated assault after a shooting in Sioux Falls in 2019. One man died and two others were injured.
In 2021, a statutory immunity law went into effect in South Dakota. It protects people from criminal prosecution and civil liability for the use of force if the person was threatened.
Smith filed to have his charges dismissed underneath this new law.
A circuit court denied his request and ruled that the law did not apply retroactively.
In a recent ruling, the state’s Supreme Court upheld this decision.
