DEADWOOD, S.D. (AP) – The South Dakota Supreme Court has reversed a drug conviction after determining the defendant was stopped illegally in Deadwood. In a decision issued Wednesday, the court wrote an officer stopped the man’s vehicle because his brake light was emitting a white light.
Curtis Tenold was convicted of possessing and ingesting methamphetamine after police found evidence of the drug. Tenold argued an officer didn’t have any reason to stop him because his brake lights were properly working. The high court agreed, reversed the conviction and remanded the case back to a lower court.