Shroyer v. Fanning

Summary

The South Dakota Supreme Court reviewed an eighteen-month protection order issued in favor of Lyn Shroyer and her daughter based on allegations of sexual abuse by Lance Fanning. The court held that the circuit court failed to make sufficient findings of fact and conclusions of law and failed to determine whether the child's hearsay statements satisfied the requirements of SDCL 19-16-39. The protection order was reversed and the matter remanded for a new hearing.

Holdings

1. A circuit court must enter findings of fact and conclusions of law with sufficient specificity to permit meaningful appellate review of a protection order. The circuit court's failure to make findings supporting its conclusion that domestic abuse occurred was reversible error.
2. Before admitting a child's out-of-court statements under SDCL 19-16-39, the circuit court must determine whether the statement has sufficient indicia of reliability and whether the proponent provided the required advance notice. The circuit court's failure to make those determinations, where the statements were prejudicial and formed the basis of the abuse allegations, was reversible error.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court committed reversible error by failing to make findings of fact and conclusions of law supporting the protection order.
2. Whether the circuit court violated SDCL 19-16-39 by admitting the child's out-of-court statements without determining whether they had sufficient indicia of reliability and without determining whether the required advance notice was provided.
3. Whether the circuit court's domestic-abuse finding was clearly erroneous and whether granting the protection order was an abuse of discretion.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded