South Dakota Death Row Inmate Loses Another Appeal

An inmate on Death Row at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls has lost an appeal to the nation's highest court.

Attorney General Marty Jackley says the US Supreme Court has rejected Charles Russell Rhines' appeal of state court orders of his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence.

Rhines is awaiting execution for the March 8, 1992 stabbing death of Donnivan Schaefer, who was working at a doughnut shop in Rapid City when Rhines killed him during a break-in at the shop.

Jackley says the high court's decision "affirms that South Dakota hass taken proper precautions in drafting and implementing its death penalty statutes to assure that they meet constitutional requirements."

Rhines isn't out of appeals yet.

Jackley says the inmate has federal Habeas corpus claims that are currently pending before the federal trial court. Rhines also has the right to appeal any adverse decision of that court through the federal system.