Former Employee of South Dakota Secretary of State Office
Charged with Theft in Original State Flag Case
PIERRE, S.D – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Garrett Darwin Devries, 26, Washington D.C., has been charged with one count of theft having a value in excess of four hundred dollars, class one misdemeanor.
“As with any charging decision and potential resolution, I am balancing the nature of the crime with the level of cooperation and acceptance of responsibility. Our ‘Original State Flag’ is an important part of our history, and its recovery without damage or further incident is an important consideration,” said Jackley.
This charge stems from Devries employment at the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office during the time between December 2012-November 2013 and the theft of an ‘Original State Flag’from his place of employment.
A tentative plea hearing is anticipated for November 23, 2015, in Hughes County.
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Wow, Bosworth a convicted felon for her sister’s signature and a misdemeanor for a clear felony theft of a relic. What?
He is a thief and should be charged with a felony. Everyone knows that he is only getting off easy because he was a state GOP as* kisser
Isn’t it about the value of the item as the article says?
umm…..how about a grand theft charge? We will throw the book at Boz for a signature, but let someone off on a misdemeanor for grand theft? Jackley just lost my vote….
22-30A-17. Grand theft–Felony. Grand theft is a Class 6 felony, if the property stolen:
(1) Exceeds one thousand dollars in value but is less than or equal to two thousand five hundred dollars;
Grand theft is a Class 5 felony if the value of the property is more than two thousand five hundred dollars but less than or equal to five thousand dollars.
Grand theft is a Class 4 felony if the value of the property is more than five thousand dollars but less than or equal to one hundred thousand dollars.
Grand theft is a Class 3 felony if the value of the property is more than one hundred thousand dollars but less than or equal to five hundred thousand dollars.
Like Marty ever had your vote if you believe ONE THING that Lora I’m crazy as a Bat” Hubbell and Annette “I’m as phony as a 3 dollar bill” Bosworth say.
Take some Darn personal responsibility for your actions–She was guilty as all heck! She wasted tons of money by forcing a jury trial where she had no defense whatsoever.
Sick and tired of this crowd!
Sorry pat–I toned it don from the first version; but disgusted and sick and tied of these GUILTY whiners!
come on Marty.
The value wasn’t over $1,000, therefore cannot be a felony. That’s the law plain and simple. This guy will have to deal with the consequences if he pleads or is proven guilty.
The original South Dakota state flag is only worth $400? I figured it would be worth more than that. Who determined its value?
As someone who has been involved in the auction business (for 20+ years) as well as buying and selling antiques, trust me when I say the provenance of an item is important.
Unless someone can produce iron clad documentation that it’s “the” flag, which I never saw evidence of, it’s just an antique flag.
That’s not saying it isn’t the original flag, you just have to prove it. There might be a chain of custody that can be produced, but that could also be an impossible hurdle.
If it can’t be proved, $400 is probably not out of line for a collector.
Please Pat….You know this flag original or not is worth a lot more than $400. It has been in the Secretary of State’s Office for how long? like forever. It shouldn’t be to hard to track the history if it has been sitting in the SOS’s office.
South Dakota’s original flag (adopted in 1909) had an image of the sun on the front and the state’s seal on the back. In 1963, the state’s seal and the sun’s rays were both placed on the front of the flag (with nothing on the back of the flag). In 1992 the old motto, “The Sunshine State,” was changed to “The Mount Rushmore State” (this is because Florida is commonly known as the Sunshine State). The original flag’s design was by Senator Ernest May and Doane Robinson, secretary of the State Historical Society. Will Robinson, Doane Robinson’s son, redesigned the flag in 1963. BOOM!!!
Please stop trying to defend Jackley for undercharging a criminal…
So… Describing the design of the flag warrants “Boom?” You do realize you sound like a fool, don’t you?
I’m not and have no need to defend anyone. If it’s original, yes, I’d agree that it’s a possibility that it’s worth more than $400. Maybe. But you have to prove it. You actually have to have evidence of it, otherwise known as the provenance of the item. Don’t believe me? Fine. Watch any episode of Antique Roadshow. They often talk about the provenance of items, and it matters.
When I was in the auction (and appraisal) business, we (as in the family’s auction firm) sold Gutzon Borglum’s original sketch book when he came to the Dakotas to scope out the mountain. I even wrote about it long ago, and so did South Dakota Magazine based off of my article. Priceless? In cultural terms, yes. But in monetary terms, not really. We had a clear provenance, but I don’t recall the sale price being astronomical at all.
If it was an old, early flag, it’s not worth as much as you think. If it’s an original? On the open market…. anyone’s guess is valid. Could be a few hundred. Could be a few thousand.
I’m really surprised by the penalty. I would have thought this would be a bigger deal.
I guess the main thing is the flag was returned. Let’s look forward to seeing it put on display in a museum.
Well, from the point of view of a prosecutor who has to prove every element, “beyond a reasonable doubt,” to the satisfaction of 12 unanimous jurors, this discussion is exactly the point. To some, a historic state flag has great value – even they would say essentially, “priceless.” On the other hand, someone might not agree or otherwise feel you can’t really put a price on that symbolic value. A smart defense attorney might convince one juror that all you can really say is it’s $15 in cloth and gold braid, or perhaps not much different than a $10 old flag that you’d get at a flea market or rummage sale. How do you value the flag that draped your coffin of your deceased father who was a veteran? These are real concerns to any working prosecutor. All it takes is one juror with an eccentric point of view and you have a hung jury and no conviction. I expect some of these, “proving value” factors entered into the charging decision.
Absurd comments that the theft of the flag is not a felony. The GOP in Pierre is so cronyfied that it cannot even make it look good, like making a sweat-heart plea deal after the initial charge. Talk about undercharged!
I was hoping for a stiffer penalty. It’s the original state flag and South Dakotan’s are outraged.