Victoria Wicks
Former SDPB Freelance Reporter/ProducerRapid City freelancer Victoria L. Wicks has been producing news for SDPB since August 2007. She Retired from this position in March 2023.
She has been a newspaper reporter, and she spent about 14 years advocating for crime victims in Rapid City and Aberdeen.
Victoria is also a creative writer; several of her short stories have been published, one of them in an anthology titled Fishing for Chickens: Short Stories about Rural Youth.
In addition, Victoria is a visual artist, creating pottery, watercolors, oil and acrylic paintings, and photographs. She holds a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of South Dakota.
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A federal inmate found guilty by a jury of conspiring to sell methamphetamine is appealing his verdict. Stanley Schily Sr. says the trial judge should have acquitted him for lack of evidence. But a federal prosecutor says Schily had meth, baggies, and written sales records in his house, and he confessed to detectives. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Wednesday, May 11, in St. Paul. -
Parents of five special education students sued the Aberdeen School District in 2018 in federal court. The parents allege that a teacher subjected the students to physical restraint, seclusion as punishment, and unnecessary force, among other offenses. The parents also accuse administrators of ignoring complaints. The federal circuit judge presiding over the case issued an order last October and held that the case can continue to a jury. The employees appealed, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case on Wednesday, May 11. -
The Rapid City School Board heard from about a dozen teachers, parents, and community members on Tuesday, May 3, who weighed in on a plan to destroy more than 300 copies of five books. Those opposed to the books said they’re pornographic; those opposed to destroying them cited academic freedom and the unconstitutionality of book banning. -
Justices will decide whether to overturn the conviction but noted that doing so would send the same set of facts back to the same judge who found Krouse guilty. -
The South Dakota Supreme Court is deliberating an appeal from a man denied total disability benefits. Justices heard arguments this week at their April term held at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. The appellant sustained head injuries after he was assaulted by patients in a psych ward. The state says the man is still able to work certain jobs. But mental health experts say he cannot. -
A woman charged with murdering her three-year-old daughter plans to introduce evidence at trial that a ten-year-old boy might have caused the death. Lawyers for the state and defense told the South Dakota Supreme Court earlier this week that the trial has been tied up for two and a half years over the logistics of presenting third-party perpetrator evidence to a jury. -
A man found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of a two-year-old boy is appealing his conviction to the South Dakota Supreme Court.
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The South Dakota Supreme Court has overturned the felony convictions of a Sioux Falls couple for robbing and assaulting an undocumented immigrant. The divided court found that the co-defendants should have been able to tell the jury that the man was motivated to lie about being a victim to gain legal immigration status. Two justices dissented from that opinion.
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An Indigenous rights group has filed a federal lawsuit against owners of a Rapid City hotel and lounge for discrimination. The civil suit was filed on Wednesday, March 23, by NDN Collective of Rapid City and two named individuals who were turned away when they tried to check into the hotel. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a Saturday night shooting at the hotel and racist public statements made afterward by the hotel’s owner. This report for SDPB relies on contents of the civil complaint. -
Three juveniles prosecuted for driving under the influence lost their consolidated appeal before the South Dakota Supreme Court. The teens were charged in magistrate courts, but they contend their cases should have been heard in juvenile court. The Supreme Court disagrees, saying prosecutors have the option of charging them under the statute that applies to all intoxicated drivers regardless of age.
