South Carolina Supreme Court Decisions 2019
Date: December 18, 2019
Docket Number: 27934
Justia Opinion Summary: Homeowners Devery and Tina Hale purchased their home (the Property) twenty-one years ago and made timely mortgage payments ever since, accruing over $60,000 in equity in the Property, which had a fair market value of…
Date: December 18, 2019
Docket Number: 27935
Justia Opinion Summary: On the evening of April 12, 2013, Petitioner Marquez Glenn was invited to the Spring Grove apartment complex in Taylors, South Carolina by tenants Shelricka Duncan and Kiana Grayson. Once there, Glenn drove one of…
Date: December 4, 2019
Docket Number: 27932
Justia Opinion Summary: The State of South Carolina charged Oscar Fortune with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection with a shooting in the parking lot of the Huddle House in Cheraw, South…
Date: November 20, 2019
Docket Number: 27928
Justia Opinion Summary: Four months shy of his eighteenth birthday, petitioner Terrell Smith stabbed his friend Brandon Bennett (the victim) to death. When the victim's father Darryl Bennett walked in on the stabbing, Smith laughed at Bennett's…
Date: November 20, 2019
Docket Number: 27930
Justia Opinion Summary: Horry County, South Carolina filed an action in magistrates court to eject Skydive Myrtle Beach, Inc., from a hangar at the Grand Strand Airport in North Myrtle Beach. The magistrates court found Skydive did not have any…
Date: November 6, 2019
Docket Number: 27927
Justia Opinion Summary: Zachariah and Amie Lord Cooper, and Arlene Palazzo were foster parents of three sibling children placed in their care by the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS). The Coopers fostered one of the children,…
Date: October 30, 2019
Docket Number: 27925
Justia Opinion Summary: Stacey and Tammie Bazen married in 1999 and lived in Myrtle Beach. The marriage was unstable, with frequent separations and accusations that Stacey was unfaithful. Their first daughter was born in 2004. In 2008, they had…
Date: October 2, 2019
Docket Number: 27920
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court granted Scott Ledford’s petition for review of the Court of Appeals’ decision to affirm the outcome of a Workers’ Compensation Commission hearing. Ledford was a former lance corporal with…
Date: October 2, 2019
Docket Number: 27921
Justia Opinion Summary: Korey Love moved at the outset of his PCR hearing to amend his application for relief to add four additional grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel. The appeal before the South Carolina Supreme Court focused…
Date: September 25, 2019
Docket Number: 27919
Date: September 18, 2019
Docket Number: 27917
Justia Opinion Summary: An industrial park was built in an unincorporated area in Laurens County, South Carolina, between the City of Laurens (Laurens) and the City of Fountain Inn (Fountain Inn). Both municipalities provided natural gas…
Date: August 7, 2019
Docket Number: 27912
Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2008, the Anderson County, South Carolina Council (2008 Council) approved a $1.1 million Severance Agreement for county administrator Joey Preston (Preston). In January 2009, a new county council (2009…
Date: August 7, 2019
Docket Number: 27913
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Antrell Felder of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. Following a hearing on Felder's application for post-conviction relief ("PCR"), the PCR court issued an…
Date: August 7, 2019
Docket Number: 27914
Justia Opinion Summary: Wadette Cothran incurred approximately $40,000 in medical expenses from injuries she received in an automobile accident. Her employer's workers' compensation carrier paid all of her medical expenses. She was also covered…
Date: August 7, 2019
Docket Number: 27915
Justia Opinion Summary: Vladimir Pantovich killed his former girlfriend, Sheila McPherson, with a baseball bat during an argument in his home. He hit her with the bat more than ten times, breaking ribs, damaging internal organs, and causing…
Date: July 31, 2019
Docket Number: 27910
Justia Opinion Summary: Shane Burdette shot and killed Evan Tyner (Victim). Victim died from a single shotgun pellet wound to the back of his neck. After the shooting, Burdette gave several inconsistent statements to law enforcement. The…
Date: July 31, 2019
Docket Number: 27911
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from the post-conviction relief (PCR) court's denial of relief to Derrick Fishburne. Because the PCR court's order contained no findings of fact as to one of Fishburne's primary PCR claims, the South…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27901
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was candidate Glenn Odom’s contest of a McBee Town Council election. The McBee Municipal Election Commission ruled on the contest, and Odom appealed the Commission's decision to the circuit court.…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27902
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, a bus driven by Defendant Asia Partman struck Respondent Andrew Neumayer while he was a pedestrian in Cayce, South Carolina. EMS transported Neumayer to Lexington Medical Center where he was diagnosed with a…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27903
Justia Opinion Summary: James Cross was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor and committing a lewd act on a minor. The trial court sentenced Cross to an aggregate prison term of twenty-five years. Cross appealed,…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27904
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals certified two questions of law to the South Carolina Supreme Court. John Wickersham, Jr. was seriously injured in an automobile accident. After months of severe pain from the injuries…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27905
Justia Opinion Summary: Daufuskie Island Utility Company, Inc. (DIUC) filed an application with the Public Service Commission for a rate increase for the water and sewer service it provides to residents of Daufuskie Island in Beaufort County.…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27906
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnny Tucker injured his shoulder on May 2, 2011, while working at the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The commission found he "sustained 5% permanent partial disability . . . for which he is entitled to…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27907
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, taxpayer University Ventures, LLC purchased a vacant lot in Charleston County, South Carolina (the Property). In 2008, Taxpayer received building permits to construct a hotel and pool on the Property.…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27908
Justia Opinion Summary: This case initially came to the South Carolina Supreme Court for consideration of whether an order from a bifurcated hearing determining the existence of a common-law marriage was immediately appealable. The Court held…
Date: July 24, 2019
Docket Number: 27909
Justia Opinion Summary: The federal district court for the District of South Carolina certified a question of law to the South Carolina Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was asked to construe section 38-77-350(C) of the South Carolina Code…
Date: July 17, 2019
Docket Number: 27900
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Anthony Martin was convicted of armed robbery and criminal conspiracy in Aiken County, South Carolina. Petitioner alleged in his PCR application that his trial attorneys were ineffective for failing to elicit…
Date: June 26, 2019
Docket Number: 27898
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Kenneth Campbell met the statutory definition of a sexually violent predator (SVP) under South Carolina's SVP Act, S.C. Code Ann. sections 44-48-10 to -170 (2018). Campbell appealed, and the court of appeals…
Date: June 19, 2019
Docket Number: 27894
Justia Opinion Summary: The State of South Carolina petitioned for certiorari review of the Court of Appeals' decision in South Carolina v. Andrews, 818 S.E.2d 227 (Ct. App. 2018). After a fatal shooting at Respondent's home, Respondent was…
Date: June 19, 2019
Docket Number: 27895
Justia Opinion Summary: Jalann Williams was convicted for murder, shooting and killing his victim with an unlawfully-possessed pistol defendant intentionally brought to an illegal drug transaction. Williams argued the trial court erred in…
Date: June 19, 2019
Docket Number: 27897
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Dr. John Roberts and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) sought a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Johnson v. Roberts, 812 S.E.2d 207 (Ct. App. 2018). Respondent…
Date: June 12, 2019
Docket Number: 27892
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit certified a question of South Carolina law to the South Carolina Supreme Court. The underlying case was an insurance bad faith action against an insurance company…
Date: June 12, 2019
Docket Number: 27893
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Gerald Williams was convicted of three counts of attempted murder related to his alleged shooting into an occupied mobile home where he knew his intended victim was present, but did not realize two other…
Date: May 29, 2019
Docket Number: 27891
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, respondent Frederick Pfeiffer pled guilty to criminal conspiracy and two counts of securities fraud. The State and Pfeiffer entered into a negotiated plea. It was uncontested that the trial court sentenced…
Date: May 15, 2019
Docket Number: 27886
Justia Opinion Summary: Daniel Hamrick appealed his conviction for felony driving under the influence resulting in great bodily injury. Hamrick argued the trial court erred in: (1) denying his motion to suppress test results from blood drawn…
Date: May 15, 2019
Docket Number: 27887
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Denzel Heyward was indicted for murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence for an incident that resulted in the death of Kadeem Chambers. The jury could not…
Date: May 8, 2019
Docket Number: 27883
Justia Opinion Summary: Stephon Robinson was convicted of first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Robinson appealed, and the court of appeals remanded the matter to the trial court to conduct…
Date: May 8, 2019
Docket Number: 27884
Justia Opinion Summary: In October of 2007, Petitioner Otha Delaney bought a 2003 Chevrolet pick-up truck from Coliseum Motors pursuant to a retail installment sales contract. The dealership subsequently assigned the contract to Respondent…
Date: May 8, 2019
Docket Number: 27885
Justia Opinion Summary: This case centered on the validity of a referendum question passed during the 2016 elections which granted the Dorchester County, South Carolina Council authority to issue up to $30 million in bonds for library…
Date: April 10, 2019
Docket Number: 27879
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose from fourteen lawsuits brought by various plaintiffs against (1) Laura Willis, an insurance agent; (2) Jesse Dantice, the insurance broker who hired Willis and made her the agent in charge of the…
Date: April 3, 2019
Docket Number: 27875
Justia Opinion Summary: Pamela Russell injured her back in 2009 while working at a Wal-Mart store in Conway, South Carolina. The worker’s compensation commission found Russell suffered a 7% permanent partial disability, and awarded her…
Date: April 3, 2019
Docket Number: 27876
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties, Stone and Thompson, met in 1983 and began a romantic relationship. Thompson was married to another man at the time and obtained a divorce in 1987. Later that year, Stone and Thompson had their first child.…
Date: April 3, 2019
Docket Number: 27877
Justia Opinion Summary: At age 13, petitioner Conrad Slocumb kidnapped and sexually assaulted a teacher before shooting her in the face and head five times and leaving her for dead. Three years later, following his guilty plea for the first set…
Date: March 27, 2019
Docket Number: 27871
Justia Opinion Summary: This matter stemmed from the administrative law court's (ALC) decision to uphold the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's (DHEC) renewal of the license under which Chem-Nuclear Systems, LLC…
Date: March 27, 2019
Docket Number: 27872
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court granted Dennis Cervantes-Pavon's petition for a writ of certiorari to determine whether the court of appeals erred in affirming the circuit court's denial of immunity from prosecution…
Date: March 27, 2019
Docket Number: 27873
Justia Opinion Summary: Virginia Marshall and her husband filed a medical malpractice claim against Dr. Kenneth Dodds (a nephrologist), Dr. Georgia Roane (a rheumatologist), and their respective practices, alleging negligent misdiagnosis…
Date: March 27, 2019
Docket Number: 27874
Justia Opinion Summary: On May 16, 2010, seventy pounds of copper wire and fifty pounds of aluminum tie wire were stolen from Aiken Electric Cooperative, Inc. In total, the stolen wire was worth $463.19. The following day, Mark Goss, Aiken's…
Date: March 20, 2019
Docket Number: 27868
Justia Opinion Summary: Denise Wright was abducted and robbed at gunpoint by two unknown assailants in a common area of an apartment complex (Wellspring) in which she resided. Wellspring was owned by Respondent Franklin Pineridge Associates and…
Date: March 20, 2019
Docket Number: 27869
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina certified a question of state law to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Plaintiff was a former employee of BMW at its manufacturing facility in…
Date: March 20, 2019
Docket Number: 27870
Justia Opinion Summary: Although the trial court acknowledged Respondent Irene Sweeney would receive substantial income from her share of an investment account, it granted her alimony. The court of appeals affirmed, noting the family court…
Date: March 13, 2019
Docket Number: 27867
Justia Opinion Summary: Skydive Myrtle Beach, Inc. brought this lawsuit alleging Horry County, the Horry County Department of Airports, and several of their individually named employees improperly attempted to remove Skydive from the space it…
Date: March 6, 2019
Docket Number: 27865
Justia Opinion Summary: Sentry Select Insurance Company brought a legal malpractice lawsuit in federal district court against the lawyer it hired to defend an insured in an automobile accident case. The district court requested the South…
Date: March 6, 2019
Docket Number: 27866
Justia Opinion Summary: Robert Osbey pled guilty to criminal charges without counsel. He later applied for post-conviction relief (PCR) on the ground he did not waive his right to counsel. After review, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed…
Date: January 30, 2019
Docket Number: 27861
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Petitioner Daniel Herrera was convicted of "trafficking in" (meaning, possessing) between ten and 100 pounds of marijuana, which carried a substantial term of imprisonment. The penalty for possessing fewer…
Date: January 23, 2019
Docket Number: 27860
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Sarah Cardwell appealed her convictions of two counts of unlawful conduct towards a child and two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, arguing the trial court erred in denying her motion to…
Date: January 16, 2019
Docket Number: 27858
Justia Opinion Summary: Daryl Snow appealed his commitment as a sexually violent predator under the Sexually Violent Predator Act. He argued his diagnosis of Other Specified Personality Disorder was legally insufficient to meet the…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: 27856
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court accepted a certified question of South Carolina law from the federal district court, which stemmed from the construction of a home near Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Mark Lawrence…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: 27857
Justia Opinion Summary: Edward Sloan and the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation (collectively, Appellants) filed suit alleging Act 275 of 2016 violated article III, section 17 of the South Carolina Constitution (the One Subject Rule).…
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