Update: Berget’s Death Sentence Reversed

Update: South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has filed a motion requesting a new sentencing date for Rodney Berget.

Jackley's motion asks that Berget be re-sentenced "at the earliest time convenient to court and counsel."  The motion stipulates that statements Berget made to a psychiatrist during his competency hearing be stricken from the record.

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The South Dakota Supreme Court has reversed the death sentence of Rodney Berget who pleaded guilty to the murder of a corrections officer at the South Dakota State Penitentiary.

The court ruled that Berget's statements during a competency hearing were improperly considered by the judge who sentenced him.

Berget pleaded guilty to the murder of corrections officer Ronald R.J. Johnson during an escape attempt on April 12, 2011.  His co-defendant, Eric Robert was executed for the crime last October.

With the death sentence reversed, the Supreme Court remanded the case to circuit court for re-sentencing.