Pennington County Court Calendar – After serving nearly four decades in prison for the murders of his estranged wife and mother-in-law, 74-year-old George Luna is eligible for a new trial based on a DNA test, Circuit Court Judge Matt Brown ordered Tuesday afternoon.
mtDNA testing can trace maternal ancestry but cannot match samples to a specific person like nuclear DNA testing. Testing determined that the hair belonged to Lynn herself, Helen or a maternal relative, and it excluded Luna and other men.
Pennington County Court Calendar
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Juvenile Delinquency In Pennington Sd
Pennington County Court is located in the new Justice Center at 141 Main Ave South, Thief River Falls, MN. District Courts have original jurisdiction in all civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic cases filed in Pennington County.
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Unfortunately, in much of Pennington County, juvenile delinquency is on the rise. There are many reasons for inflation in juvenile delinquency. Juvenile sentences in South Dakota often depend on the crime rate, number of charges, and other family issues.
The threshold for a judge to decide on a new trial based on a DNA test is significant. Under state law, after considering the DNA results and all other evidence, a judge must find “convincing evidence” that a new trial will result in an acquittal.
The judge ruled before trial in 1983 that he could present no defense, and the South Dakota Supreme Court upheld the judge’s decision on appeal, citing “a lack of motivation, opportunity or facts to support any of these individuals to the best of their ability to commit the crime.”
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.” Brown wrote in his decision that the new trial would allow jurors to hear evidence that the relative was a beneficiary of one of the women’s life insurance and trusts, that he threatened both victims and once fired a gun while they argued, that he was mentally unstable.
, and his alibi may have been contrived. Many counties, including Pennington County, focus on family and relationship counseling rather than punishment for juvenile crimes. Pennington County’s future juvenile delinquency tallies will show whether this approach works or not.
Since then Luna has turned to the court system several times to have her sentence overturned with no success. He appealed his case in 1985 on the grounds that he could not present a third-party perpetrator’s theory that another female or male relative killed the two women.
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Following a trial at the Pennington County Courthouse in June 1984, a jury found then 35-year-old Luna guilty of both murders. Days later, he was sentenced to two mandatory life sentences without parole. He has since remained in the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
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The court was aware of the information prior to the first trial, but “the mtDNA results strongly reinforce its importance,” wrote Brown, and after considering the results and other testimony, a new trial was required. Lynn Luna – Luna’s 26-year-old wife who was in the process of divorcing him – and her mother, 59-year-old Helen Thomas, were both found beaten to death in their home on Fairview Street in Rapid City on May 1, 1983. Luna and Lynn’s baby girl
and Helen’s old mother was found alive in the house. Brown’s ruling doesn’t mean Luna will be released. He will be held on initial charge for the time being. Dollison Decker said the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office is reviewing the court decision and the statute to determine next steps.
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