## Facts

- Justin Lloyd Bult, age 18, forcibly kidnapped a five-year-old girl and attempted to sexually assault her after transporting her to a rural location.
- A jury convicted Bult of kidnapping and sexual contact with a child under fifteen.
- A presentence report reflected limited juvenile history, learning disabilities, self-image problems, and some positive response to counseling.
- The sentencing court imposed the statutory maximums: life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for kidnapping and a consecutive ten-year term for sexual contact.

## Issues

1. Whether a life-without-parole sentence for an 18-year-old convicted of kidnapping a five-year-old for sexual purposes constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment and the state constitutional analogue.
2. Whether the sentence was so disproportionate to the offense and offender characteristics that it was “grossly disproportionate” and therefore unconstitutional.
3. Whether habeas corpus relief is available to disturb a sentence within statutory limits based on a proportionality challenge.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of South Dakota affirmed the denial of habeas corpus relief.
- The court held that life imprisonment without parole for the kidnapping conviction did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
- The court concluded the sentence, authorized by statute, was not grossly disproportionate given the gravity of kidnapping a young child for sexual purposes.
- The accompanying ten-year sentence for sexual contact remained intact.

## Legal Principles

- A sentence within statutory limits is generally presumed constitutional and not cruel and unusual.
- The Eighth Amendment does not require strict proportionality; it prohibits only extreme punishments that are grossly disproportionate to the crime.
- Kidnapping of a young child to facilitate sexual assault is an exceptionally serious offense for which the legislature may authorize the harshest penalties, including life without parole.
- On habeas review, courts do not reweigh sentencing factors or substitute their judgment for the sentencing court absent a fundamental constitutional violation; the inquiry is limited to constitutionality.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Bult’s life-without-parole kidnapping sentence on collateral review, finding that the punishment—though severe for a young offender—was statutorily authorized and not grossly disproportionate to the violent, sexually motivated abduction of a five-year-old child.


Bult v. Leapley, 507 N.W.2d 325 (S.D. 1993)