Billionaire Sanford argues for power to redact affidavits issued in child porn investigation

South Dakota Supreme Court to weigh in on case for second time

Jon Arneson argued Thursday that search warrant affidavits issued in an investigation into T. Denny Sanford are public under state law. (David Bordewyk, South Dakota Newspaper Association)

BROOKINGS – The subject of a closed criminal investigation has the right to review materials from that investigation prior to the information’s public release, a lawyer for billionaire banker T. Denny Sanford argued Thursday.

Stacy Hegge, a lawyer representing Sanford, argued in front of the South Dakota Supreme Court that Sanford should have the ability to review the law enforcement affidavits that were used for five search warrants in a child pornography investigation into Sanford. State law requires that those affidavits be made public once a person is indicted by a grand jury or a case is closed.

Last year, the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office notified the judge who signed off on those warrants, Judge James Power, that the investigation had concluded and found no prosecutorial offenses against Sanford. Power was preparing to lift the seal on the affidavits when Sanford appealed their release to the Supreme Court.

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