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• Daugaard said Monday he sent a letter to the director of the National Park Service offering personnel and resources if the government shuts down at midnight.
• The letter included an attachment outlining how the state would operate the Black Hills tourist attraction. Private donations would pay for the lighting of the memorial and state personnel would provide security. The visitor center wouldn't be open, but the concessions and gift shop would be.
• Park Service spokeswoman Maureen McGee-Dallinger said she hasn't seen the letter, but that the agency couldn't hand control of the park to the state.
• "It's not open for state or private entities to operate since it is a federal entity," she said. "If there is a federal lapse in funding, we would be closed."
• Tourists would still be able to see the memorial if the park closes. It's visible from the road in front of it, and nearby Iron Mountain Road offers some of the best views available of the four faces.
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Prosecutors ask court to allow alleged confession
DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Prosecutors asked the South Dakota Supreme Court on Monday to allow them to introduce a teenager's alleged police confession at her upcoming murder trial, saying she understood her right to remain silent when she decided to talk to investigators.
• Maricela Diaz, 19, is charged with murder in the November 2009 killing of 16-year-old Jasmine Guevara. Prosecutors contend that Diaz, who was 15 at the time, and her boyfriend Alexander Salgado, who was then 20, lured Guevara to a remote site near Mitchell, stabbed her and left her to die in the trunk of a burning car. They allege that Diaz had become jealous of a developing relationship between Salgado and Guevara.
• An autopsy determined that Guevara had been burned alive.
• Salgado pleaded guilty to murder in the case three years ago and is serving life in prison, but Diaz, a native Spanish speaker who moved to the U.S. at age 11, opted to fight the case in court, where she'll stand trial as an adult.
• A circuit court judge threw out Diaz's alleged confession to police, saying although she was informed of her Miranda rights, she didn't understand them and didn't expressly waive her right to remain silent. Her trial is on hold pending the outcome of the state's appeal of that decision.
• Salgado has refused to testify against Diaz, and prosecutors have not indicated what other evidence they'll introduce at her trial.
• Diaz's attorney, Chris Nipe, said Diaz was an inexperienced and confused girl when she spoke to detectives soon after the killing, and that detectives downplayed the importance of her Miranda rights by saying they were "not a big deal at all." He said her confusion was evident in a statement later given to a judge during a temporary custody hearing.
• "She felt if she didn't speak, it would be held against her," Nipe said.
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