City Hall: Federal court can't overturn previous mansion demolition rulings

Judge deferred ruling after day-long hearing in February

Halting the planned demolition of a mansion would be an end around of the South Dakota Supreme Court, something only the nation’s highest court is entitled to do.

That’s the leading argument the city of Sioux Falls made Friday in a court filing, asserting Judge Roberto Lange and the South Dakota Federal District Court lack jurisdiction to block it from razing the 8,000-square-foot house in southern Sioux Falls. The Prairie Hills neighborhood structure at 6800 S. Westfield Trail has been the subject of years of litigation between its owners — Vitaliy and Nataliya Strizheus — and the city, which has twice won court rulings authorizing a 2017 notice-to-demolish issued for the property.

In asking for the case to be dismissed, William C. Garry, an attorney with the Cadwell Law Firm representing the city, wrote in the 19-page brief that the Strizheus’ request for an injunction by a federal district court runs counter to what’s known as the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, a legal standard that state court judgements can only be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

NEWS: Delayed ruling forces postponement of demolition in Prairie Hills neighborhood