South Dakota
South Dakota man acquitted by Kandiyohi County jury of alleged sexual assault of 15-year-old girl in 2008
WILLMAR
— A Kandiyohi County jury last month acquitted a 38-year-old South Dakota man, finding him not guilty of two felony sexual assault charges filed against him in 2021.
Jaime Galicia Merino, also known as Ramiro Ramirez, was charged in June 2021 with the alleged
sexual assault of a girl in Willmar
in 2008. According to the criminal complaint, the girl was 15 years old at the time and Merino was 23.
He was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Merino was acquitted on both counts April 5 after the jury entered its not guilty verdicts.
According to the criminal complaint, on April 28, 2008, two teenage girls at a retail business location on First Street in Willmar. accepted a ride back to school from two adult males, including Merino.
The girl who rode in the back seat with Merino said he began kissing her and asked if she wanted to have sex. The girl said no, but Merino then resumed his actions, according to the complaint, and allegedly raped her.
The girl in the front seat confirmed those events and said she told the driver to “have him stop,” according to the complaint.
The two girls were dropped off at school, where a police officer and the principal were waiting, the court documents said. The girls reported what happened, and at the hospital an assault exam kit was completed and later sealed into evidence at the Willmar Police Department.
An investigation was opened and contacts between the Willmar Police Department, and the Huron, South Dakota, Police Department were established.
Two days later, on April 30, 2008, a Willmar detective received photos of two potential suspects who were associated with the car, but photographic lineups did not produce a solid identification.
According to the findings of fact in an omnibus order ruling on several motions in the case in 2022, the sexual assault kit taken at Rice Memorial Hospital was not sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension crime lab for testing until March 10, 2021. The
Sexual Assault Kit Initiative
through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety provided grant funds to test kits not previously submitted.
On March 12, 2021, Willmar police received a report from the BCA crime lab that concluded the source material came from one male. According to the criminal complaint, a DNA sample later taken from Merino matched the DNA sample from the sexual assault kit.
The detective in April 2021 interviewed the woman who had owned the car and the man who had been driving it in Willmar.
According to court records, the driver, interviewed at his residence in Huron, South Dakota, told the detective that he believed the girls were 15 or 16 but that the girl who rode in the back seat had said she was 18.
He saw Merino and the girl kissing and also said there was a discussion about payment for sex, according to the narrative in the complaint. He said he told Merino not to do anything the girl didn’t want to because he could go to jail for a long time.
After more investigation, the detective eventually on April 30, 2021, made contact with Merino at his residence in Huron, South Dakota. A Huron Police Department officer also arrived as the detective did not have the power to make an arrest in South Dakota, and according to the findings of fact, Merino was not in custody at any point during his interaction with the detective.
Merino made attempts to call an attorney, according to the complaint, and the detective asked Merino to provide a voluntary DNA sample, to which Merino later agreed.
In briefs filed by defense attorney Brandon Lauer, the interaction is described as chaotic and confrontational, with a translator on speakerphone as Merino speaks limited English. The brief says the detective kept asking for a voluntary DNA sample after Merino continued to say that he needed an attorney and was attempting to call one on his phone. The brief states that the detective “did not seem to take no for an answer.”
Lauer also states in his motion brief that the case had been turned down for prosecution before.
In addition to providing a DNA sample, Merino during the April 30, 2021, police visit to his residence also spoke with the detective. According to court records, Merino confirmed he was in Willmar in April 2008 and recalled meeting the two girls. He said he could not remember how old the girls were and denied raping anyone.
A warrant for Merino’s arrest was eventually issued June 29, 2021.
Lauer filed motions to dismiss the case based on lack of probable cause and to suppress the results of the DNA test and the statements made by Merino. Both motions were denied by Judge Jennifer Fischer.
VERMILLION — The University of South Dakota football team opened its conference slate with a bang on Saturday with a dominant 42-13 victory over Southern Illinois in the DakotaDome.
Aidan Bouman had yet another big performance with a season-high 247 yards and two touchdowns on 11-for-17 passing. Travis Theis was the leading rusher with 147 yards and two touchdowns. Charles Pierre had 126 yards and two touchdowns. JJ Galbreath was the first receiver to eclipse the 100-yard mark this season with 100 yards and a score.
With that, here are three observations from the game …
USD won the trenches on both sides of the ball
The battle in the trenches was one to watch in this one. Coming into the matchup, SIU led the Missouri Valley Football Conference in sacks but also led the league in sacks allowed. So the Coyotes needed to stand firm on both sides of the ball, and they did just that with high efficiency.
On the defensive side, the front four especially looked good throughout the game. The Coyotes were getting consistent pressure in the passing game and forced Saluki quarterback Hunter Simmons to get rid of the ball quickly on numerous occasions. In the run game, SIU couldn’t get anything rolling as the USD defense was plugging holes and forcing the running back to switch direction at the line. The defense finished with two sacks and six tackles for loss on the day. SIU only averaged 2.4 yards per rush.
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
Offensively, the line held up extremely well. In pass protection, Bouman had plenty of time to throw and didn’t force the ball out of his hands due to pressure very often. In the run game, the line opened up holes and set the edge on the outside for efficient gains. In the end, the line gave up no sacks and helped the run game average 6.4 yards per attempt.
It’s an encouraging game for both the offensive and defensive line. This was a tone-setting matchup to open up the conference season and both sides of the ball were up for the challenge.
The offense looked explosive
Throughout the offseason and heading into this season, coaches and players alike talked about how they needed the offense to create explosive plays. The offense showed some flashes through three games of underlying explosivity, but Saturday resembled the type of offense the Coyotes have been looking for.
First, Bouman was dropping passes right into the receivers’ breadbasket. He was especially finding success over the top of the Saluki secondary. His two first-half touchdown passes came on plays over the top of the defense and went for 80 and 61 yards. He finished the first half with a season-high 220 yards and two touchdowns.
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
But the run game was having plenty of success as well. Like usual, Theis was a workhorse and Pierre complemented him nearly perfectly. The Coyote offense averaged over 11 yards per play in the first half and scored a touchdown on five of their seven possessions.
In the end, the Coyotes averaged 8.58 yards per play, a season-high. They also amassed a season-high 549 total yards of offense. In terms of explosiveness, this is a monumental step in the right direction and hopefully signals similar performances going forward.
A perfect conference start
When you looked at this game on paper, this was a huge game. It’s the conference opener against the No. 17 team in the country. This was a game that the Coyotes looked likely to win and ended up doing so in a dominant fashion.
It was a complete performance on both sides. The offense was explosive as mentioned previously and the defense was very solid overall. The Coyotes outgained the Salukis 549-366 despite running fewer overall plays. The offense was in sync, the defense was flying around and no mistakes were made on special teams. Overall, it’s almost as good a performance to open the Missouri Valley slate as one could ask for.
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
This adds up to a few different things. One, it’s always important to open up conference play with a victory, especially in a conference where one game could make all the difference. Two, a blowout victory against a top-20 team will look good on the resume when it comes time for playoff seeding. Finally, it’s a huge momentum and confidence boost as the Coyotes embark on what is sure to be a long and grueling conference schedule.
Nathan Swaffar is a sports reporter for the Mitchell Republic. He joined the Mitchell Republic in July 2024 after graduating from the University of Kansas in May of 2024 with a degree in journalism and a minor in history. He covers a variety of prep and collegiate sports throughout South Dakota including USD Football.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KELO.com) — It’s a “hat trick” for a South Dakota wildlife artist.
Adam Grimm of Wallace, South Dakota this week won the 2024 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest with an acrylic painting of a pair of spectacled eiders.
The Stamp will go on sale in late June of next year.
The Federal Duck Stamp raises approximately $40 million a year, which helps conserve wetland habitats in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
This is Grimm’s third time winning the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest.
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