MOODY COUNTY, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) Attorney General Marty Jackley was in court today, in the first-degree murder case of Joseph Hoek. Hoek is accused of killing Moody County Chief Deputy Ken Prorok while leading police on a high-speed chase.
The trial will begin with jury selection on April 21, 2025, and is scheduled for five weeks. Jackley says he’s confident he’ll be able to seat a jury in Moody County despite the high-profile nature of the case.
South Dakota first-degree murder trials are divided into two parts. In the first portion, evidence is introduced, heard and weighed, witnesses testify and so on. If there is a guilty verdict, the trial enters its second phase; the penalty phase. Jackley says he will leave whether or not the death penalty should be imposed, if the jury comes to a guilty verdict, up to the jury’s discretion.