State v. Pfeiffer

1

2024 S.D. 71

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. MAXTON PFEIFFER, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 30120-a-PJD

Supreme Court of South Dakota

November 26, 2024

ARGUED JUNE 5, 2024

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT PENNINGTON COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA THE HONORABLE JEFFREY R CONNOLLY Judge

CONOR DUFFY of Duffy Law Firm Rapid City, South Dakota Attorneys for defendant and appellant.

MARTY J. JACKLEY Attorney General, ERIN E. HANDKE JENNIFER M JORGENSON Assistant Attorneys General Pierre, South Dakota Attorneys for plaintiff and appellee.

DEVANEY, JUSTICE

[¶1.] Maxton Pfeiffer shot and killed his friend Ty Scott when Pfeiffer, Scott, and others were hanging out at their friend Cody Siemonsma's apartment. Pfeiffer did not dispute that he swept Siemonsma's .45 caliber pistol in the direction of Scott and discharged the firearm. However, he maintained that he checked the pistol before doing so and believed it to be unloaded. After a seven-day trial, the jury found Pfeiffer guilty of first-degree manslaughter. He appeals, asserting the circuit court erred by failing to instruct the jury that the State had the burden of proving criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt and by refusing to give a mistake of fact instruction. He also challenges an evidentiary ruling and the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

[¶2.] On June 13, 2018, Pfeiffer, who was 18 years old, spent the evening with his friends at Siemonsma's apartment in Keystone, South Dakota. This friend group included Pfeiffer Siemonsma, Scott, Joshio Villalobos, and Damon Picotte. Most of them had been friends for a long time and regularly spent time together at Siemonsma's apartment because he was the only one with a place of his own. The apartment was small consisting of a bathroom and one room comprising the kitchen living, and sleeping areas. That evening, the group was watching YouTube videos and talking. Siemonsma and Picotte also "smoked a bowl" of marijuana and were drinking beer.

[¶3.] This friend group also liked to shoot guns together recreationally and when hunting. A few days prior to June 13, Picotte purchased a .38 revolver, and he brought it to Siemonsma's apartment to show his friends. Siemonsma also owned five guns, including a Charles Daly model 1911 semi-automatic .45 caliber pistol, which he kept by his bed on either the dresser or nightstand. The .45 caliber pistol was stored in a holster with a full magazine in the handle and a spare magazine in the holster.

[¶4.] Picotte was the first to arrive at Siemonsma's apartment. He testified that while he was showing Siemonsma his .38 revolver, which he claimed was unloaded, either he or Siemonsma picked up Siemonsma's .45 caliber pistol to compare it to the .38 revolver. Picotte further testified that before they compared the two guns, either he or Siemonsma removed the magazine from the .45 caliber pistol and made sure it was unloaded. The two also compared the bullets used for each gun. According to Picotte, after they were done comparing the guns, either he or Siemonsma put the magazine back in the .45 caliber pistol and placed that gun on Siemonsma's dresser. Picotte further testified that as more people, including Pfeiffer, arrived at the apartment, he passed around his .38 revolver for the others to look at. He recalled that at some point, someone "dry fired" his revolver, meaning the trigger was pulled with no bullet in the gun, but he did not remember who dry fired it. He claimed, however, that when the gun was dry fired, it was pointed at either the ground or ceiling.

[¶5.] Pfeiffer similarly recalled everyone looking at Picotte's .38 revolver and that it was dry fired. He testified that at one point after Picotte went outside to smoke a cigarette, Villalobos was "messing around" with the .38 revolver by pointing it at him and Siemonsma. At this time, Pfeiffer and Siemonsma were sitting on the foot of the bed approximately eight feet from the futon couch where Villalobos was sitting next to Scott. According to Pfeiffer, Villalobos dry fired the .38 revolver while pointing it at them. He further claimed that Siemonsma then took one of his assault rifles, pointed it at Villalobos, and pretended to shoot. To Pfeiffer, they were "joking around." Villalobos testified that he did not "remember doing that" with the .38 revolver and does not remember Siemonsma pointing a rifle at him. Siemonsma testified that he did not point a rifle at anyone.

[¶6.] Pfeiffer testified that as his friends were handling these guns, he decided to join in and picked up Siemonsma's .45 caliber pistol from the dresser. He claimed that he took the pistol out of its holster, removed the loaded magazine from the handle, and "racked" the slide to eject any live rounds. When nothing ejected, he believed that the pistol was unloaded. He testified that he then made a sweeping motion with the pistol in the direction of where Scott and Villalobos were sitting. As he did so, the gun discharged.

[¶7.] Siemonsma testified that he was in the hallway outside his apartment when he heard a gunshot. He claimed he immediately looked into the apartment, saw Pfeiffer make a racking-type gesture with his hands, and heard Pfeiffer shout, "It should have been clear. It should have been clear." Villalobos testified that after he heard the gunshot, he and Scott stood up to check themselves to see if they had been shot. He also heard Pfeiffer say, "I checked. I checked the gun" and saw him make a gesture with his hands as if he was racking the slide of the gun.

[¶8.] Moments after Scott stood to check if he had been shot, he collapsed to the floor. When Villalobos saw blood coming out of Scott's mouth, he yelled, "Call 911." Pfeiffer and Siemonsma ran outside the apartment building to call 911. Both calls were recorded and played for the jury at trial. Siemonsma told the 911 operator to send help because his friend just shot his other friend "on accident." He repeated two other times that it was an accident. At trial, Siemonsma explained that he believed it was an accident "[b]ecause nobody was fighting and nothing was going on." Pfeiffer, who was emotionally distraught and struggling at times to talk during his 911 call, told the operator that he accidentally shot his friend. After receiving instructions from the 911 operator, Pfeiffer returned to the apartment and pressed a towel to Scott's wound until emergency medical personnel arrived.

[¶9.] Two firefighters and two paramedics arrived first on the scene. Keystone Fire Department Chief Cory Jonas testified that when he entered the apartment, he observed three males inside: one person on the floor bleeding, one person standing over him, and another person holding a towel to the wounded person's chest. Chief Jonas asked for the location of the gun and was told it was on the table to the right of the injured person. Chief Jonas did not touch the gun and directed those in the apartment to go outside while the paramedics rendered aid to Scott.

[¶10.] Chief Jonas testified that Highway Patrol Trooper Paige Erickson arrived on the scene while he was assisting the paramedics. Chief Jonas told her to "basically, be our security cover down there and make sure that the gun was secure." Trooper Erickson testified that she understood this as a request to "just empty [the gun] and kind of put it off to the side." She testified that the .45 caliber pistol was on a table by the bed. Although she initially stated that the magazine was in the pistol, after having her memory refreshed by her written report, she testified that the magazine was lying next to the pistol. She explained how she picked the gun up and looked in the chamber while she "racked the slide," after which she saw "one unspent round eject[] itself" onto the floor. She then picked up the unspent round and placed it on the table next to the pistol after she "locked the slide back" to make it known that "the gun is now empty and safe." She thereafter stood in the doorway of the apartment to ensure no one entered and to await the arrival of additional law enforcement officers.

[¶11.] Park Services Ranger Steven Wollman then arrived on the scene. He testified that "the very first thing [he] noticed when" he entered the apartment was "a very, very, strong odor of burnt marijuana inside the room." After determining that his assistance was not needed inside the apartment, he went outside. He testified that the scene was chaotic; there was "an individual that was on the ground in the grass that was crying and screaming and yelling" and "another individual that was pacing and shouting comments to the individual on the ground." Ranger Wollman testified that he placed these individuals, later identified as Pfeiffer and Picotte, in separate patrol vehicles to de-escalate the chaos at the scene as more people began to congregate.

[¶12.] Pfeiffer was placed in the front seat of Ranger Wollman's vehicle, and the vehicle's audio and video recording system was activated. The recording was entered into evidence at trial. While only approximately 35 minutes of the recording was played for the jury, Ranger Wollman testified that Pfeiffer was "[v]ery distraught and very upset and very emotional" for the entire one hour and fifty minutes of the recording. Ranger Wollman further testified that he "initiated an interview" with Pfeiffer to determine "[w]hat's going on." Pfeiffer told him that he and his friends were "just sitting there, and they were all holding guns and stuff." He then described the events surrounding the shooting, stating, "And then they were all empty. And then they're pointing them at each other, and then he points one at me [referring...