This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Police sent a nineteen-year-old college student into a D store to attempt to purchase liquor. Wearing a college sweatshirt and football jacket, he carried a bottle of whiskey to the checkout counter. The cashier asked an older employee to scan the item because she was too young to sell liquor. The cashier then took the purchase money and rang up the sale. Neither employee asked for identification to verify the purchaser's age. D was charged with and found guilty in magistrate court and fined $200. Neither employee was charged with committing a crime. D appealed to circuit court seeking to have the statute declared unconstitutional. The circuit court upheld the conviction. D appealed again contending conviction under SDCL 35-4-78 violates its substantive due process rights by imposing vicarious criminal liability on the company for the illegal acts of its employees.

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