South Dakota Upholds Death Sentence:  In a decision announced last week, the South Dakota Supreme Court upheld the death sentence given to an Alaska man convicted of a 2000 torture and murder during a burglary.  The Associated Press reports that, hoping for sympathy from the court, Briley Piper plead guilty to the kidnap and brutal torture murder of Chester Poage in a remote area outside of Spearfish, North Dakota.  Piper and two accomplices were high on drugs when they decided to burglarize Poage's home on March 12, 2000.  The trio attacked Poage, beating and kicking him, then forcing him to drink a mixture of pills and hydrochloric acid.  They then stripped him naked and buried him in the snow.  But Poage was still alive and attempted to escape.  The murderers then threw their naked victim into a creek and stabbed him multiple times as he begged for his life, finally killing him by smashing his scull with a bowling ball sized rock.  A more complete discussion of the facts is provided in the direct appeal here.  In his second state habeas corpus petition Piper argued that his guilty plea was involuntary and that his attorney was incompetent.  The court unanimously rejected those claims