(Pierre, SD) — The state Supreme Court heard the first oral arguments from the Office of Indigent Legal Services. The newly formed, one-point-five million dollar state public defense agency is a five-attorney operation to provide legal services for people who have a right to a lawyer but can’t afford one. Chief Justice Steven Jensen said in January that the office could expand in the future. On Tuesday, Public Defender Beau Blouin presented an appeal in a 2023 stabbing death in Pierre. David Shangreaux is appealing his conviction of second degree murder in the case over the dismissal of a Native American juror because of his race.
