PIERRE, S.D- The South Dakota Supreme Court has denied a convicted murderer’s bid to stop his execution inset for as soon as next Sunday.
Charles Russell Rhines had asked the court for a delay in his execution, saying that the method of execution follow the procedure from 1993, the year he was convticted and sentenced. He had also filed a lawsuit arguing that the Department of Corrections written policy on the execution is invalid because it wasn’t made through the rule-making requirements of South Dakota’s Administrative Procedure Act, or APA.
“These decisions by the South Dakota Supreme court bring us two steps closer to both justice and closure for the family of Donnivan Schaeffer,” South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg said.
Rhines was convicted in 1993 for the murder of 22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer of Black Hawk during a burglary at a Rapid City doughnut shop in March 1992.
