If the sentencing court determines the defendant is mentally competent to be executed, the sentencing court shall certify the fact to the Governor, the secretary of corrections, and the warden having custody of the defendant. The sentencing court, upon determination the defendant is mentally competent to be executed, shall issue a warrant of death sentence and execution appointing a week beginning within a period of not less than thirty nor more than ninety days from the date of the warrant, for the execution of the defendant pursuant to the defendant’s sentence unless the sentence has been commuted or the defendant pardoned. In no case may the appointed week of execution be sooner than the week appointed by the sentencing court pursuant to § 23A-27A-15.

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Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 23A-27A-26

  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.

Source: SL 1939, ch 135, § 8; SDC Supp 1960, § 34.37A08; SDCL § 23-49-14; SL 1979, ch 160, § 28; SL 2008, ch 117, § 16.