South Carolina Supreme Court Decisions 2013
Date: December 18, 2013
Docket Number: 27341
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Mildred H. Shatto sought workers' compensation benefits, claiming she was an employee of Respondent McLeod Regional Medical Center when she fell in an operating room and was injured. McLeod Regional opposed…
Date: December 11, 2013
Docket Number: 27336
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Ashley Hepburn appealed her conviction for homicide by child abuse. Sixteen-month-old Audrina Hepburn became unresponsive and was admitted to the hospital one evening in 2009. No one (including appellant)…
Date: December 11, 2013
Docket Number: 27337
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Richard Jordan appealed the denial of his application for post-conviction relief. Petitioner was arrested and later indicted for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and trafficking in…
Date: December 11, 2013
Docket Number: 27340
Justia Opinion Summary: The Standard Fire Insurance Company appealed a court of appeals' decision that reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in its favor, and finding respondents Thomas, Debra, and Christopher were entitled to…
Date: December 4, 2013
Docket Number: 27335
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant James Curry, Jr. was convicted and sentenced for voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying…
Date: November 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27333
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant William Mark Brockmeyer appealed his convictions for murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, raising constitutional challenges to both the trial court's refusal to enforce a subpoena…
Date: November 20, 2013
Docket Number: 27330
Justia Opinion Summary: In December 2004, Atlantic Carolina Retail, LLC loaned $3,075,000 to Monarch Development, LLC. Atlantic collateralized the loan by taking a mortgage on three properties. Atlantic purchased a title insurance policy from…
Date: November 13, 2013
Docket Number: 27329
Justia Opinion Summary: Hard Hat Workforce Solutions, LLC (Hard Hat) appealed a circuit court order granting summary judgment in favor of Great American Insurance Company (GAI). Hard Hat argued it was entitled to make a claim against a payment…
Date: October 30, 2013
Docket Number: 27328
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner contended that the court of appeals erred by applying common law principles of accomplice liability to affirm his conviction for aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse for which he was not indicted.…
Date: October 23, 2013
Docket Number: 27324
Justia Opinion Summary: Donald Austin filed suit against Stokes-Craven, an automobile dealership, after he experienced problems with his used vehicle and discovered the vehicle had sustained extensive damage prior to the sale. The resolution of…
Date: October 17, 2013
Docket Number: 27323
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners the State and the South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) requested the Supreme Court declare a proposed tax referendum invalid under the Capital Project Sales Tax Act, sections 4-10-300 to -380 of the…
Date: October 16, 2013
Docket Number: 27322
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Steven Barnes was convicted on kidnapping and murder charges. The jury found two aggravating circumstances and recommended the death sentence. The judge sentenced appellant to death for the murder, but no…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 27316
Justia Opinion Summary: Samuel W. Rhodes and Piedmont Promotions, Inc. sued Marion L. Eadon, (d/b/a C&B Fabrication), for damages arising out of the faulty construction of three outdoor advertising billboard signs after one of the signs fell…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 27317
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Clinton Brantley was the pastor of St. Matthew Baptist Church. Respondents Ira Banks, James Bell, and Vernon Holmes served as trustees of the Church. At a congregational meeting, Brantley stated that without…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 27320
Justia Opinion Summary: Father appealed his conviction for sexually abusing his two young daughters. He challenged the trial court's order requiring that he be entered on the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect, and that prohibited him…
Date: September 11, 2013
Docket Number: 27313
Justia Opinion Summary: In a matter of first impression, the Supreme Court was asked to determine if an unsuccessful party in an arbitration proceeding could prevent the confirmation of an award by paying the award prior to the confirmation…
Date: September 11, 2013
Docket Number: 27315
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the respondents in this case. The case was dismissed after respondents moved for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c), SCRCP. Because the Supreme Court…
Date: September 4, 2013
Docket Number: 27311
Date: August 28, 2013
Docket Number: 27303
Justia Opinion Summary: A twelve-year-old Child was sexually assaulted and murdered. The Child's father, Billy Wayne Cope was convicted of murder, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), criminal conspiracy, and unlawful…
Date: August 28, 2013
Docket Number: 27304
Justia Opinion Summary: Kenneth Poch and Kevin Key were temporary workers contracted through Personnel Resources of Georgia, Inc. and Carolina Staffing, Inc. d/b/a Job Place of Conway, to work for Bayshore Concrete Products/South Carolina, Inc.…
Date: August 28, 2013
Docket Number: 27305
Justia Opinion Summary: Carl Aten, Jr. appealed the circuit court's order finding him personally liable for torts he committed as a member of a limited liability company (LLC). Although this case presented a novel question of whether the…
Date: August 28, 2013
Docket Number: 27306
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Justin B. challenged the active electronic monitoring requirements of section 23-3-540 of the South Carolina Code. Appellant argued that because he was a juvenile, the imposition of lifetime monitoring under…
Date: August 28, 2013
Docket Number: 27307
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Ervin C. Gamble challenged his conviction for heroin trafficking. The Supreme Court found that record in this case did not demonstrate that probable cause supported Petitioner's arrest. The officer's testimony…
Date: August 28, 2013
Docket Number: 27308
Justia Opinion Summary: This action involved competing claims to the retirement benefits of the late Thomas Sullivan, a former National Football League (NFL) running back for the Philadelphia Eagles. Thomas married Lavona Hill in Maryland in…
Date: August 21, 2013
Docket Number: 27302
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Greg Issac appealed a trial court ruling that denied his request for a hearing to determine whether he was immune from prosecution under the Protection of Persons and Property Act. Appellant was indicted for…
Date: August 14, 2013
Docket Number: 27295
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Francina Bardsley's home was hit by a speeding car. The car ran through the house, struck and killed her husband, Frederic Bardsley, and caused substantial property damage. The liability coverage of the…
Date: August 14, 2013
Docket Number: 27296
Justia Opinion Summary: Clarence Logan appealed his conviction of attempted criminal sexual misconduct in the first degree. He argued that the trial court erred in providing the circumstantial evidence charge the Supreme Court articulated in…
Date: August 14, 2013
Docket Number: 27297
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a Court of Appeals opinion that affirmed the convictions and sentence of Karriem Provet for trafficking cocaine and resisting arrest. Petitioner argued the Court of Appeals…
Date: August 14, 2013
Docket Number: 27298
Justia Opinion Summary: The contract between the general contractor and subcontractor provided for arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act. When a complaint was filed, the general contractor Appellant Sean Barnes and property owner…
Date: August 14, 2013
Docket Number: 27299
Justia Opinion Summary: Five questions of South Carolina law were certified to the State Supreme Court by the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina: (1) when a plaintiff seeks recovery for a temporary trespass or…
Date: August 14, 2013
Docket Number: 27300
Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute arose from the construction of a commercial building. Before the property was purchased, Respondent Bryan Causey hired GS2 Engineering and Environmental Consulting, Inc. (GS2) to perform an engineering…
Date: August 7, 2013
Docket Number: 27293
Justia Opinion Summary: Automobile insurer Progressive Max Insurance Co. brought a contribution action against Floating Caps, Inc., d/b/a Silver Dollar Cafe (Silver Dollar), a Charleston bar, under South Carolina's Uniform Contribution Among…
Date: August 7, 2013
Docket Number: 27294
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Sue Taylor Colson Widenhouse sued Appellant Tammy Batson Colson in North Carolina state court for alienation of affections and criminal conversation. Respondent received a judgment for $266,000 plus interest…
Date: July 24, 2013
Docket Number: 27288
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Centex International filed consolidated income tax returns for three of its corporate affiliates. It appealed an Administrative Law Court order that upheld the state Department of Revenue's denial of its claim…
Date: July 17, 2013
Docket Number: 27283
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Decedent Robert L. Gilmore executed his Will, which was filed with the probate court upon his death in August of 2010. He bequeathed his entire estate to Respondents Francis D. Daniels and Patricia C. Daniels,…
Date: July 17, 2013
Docket Number: 27284
Justia Opinion Summary: In a declaratory judgment action, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether the circuit court erred when it found a commercial general liability (CGL) policy provided coverage when a brick face was damaged by…
Date: July 17, 2013
Docket Number: 27285
Justia Opinion Summary: Following Appellant Darren Pollack's injury on the job, his employer accommodated his work restrictions by providing him light duty employment. Later, Appellant was discharged for violating a company policy by failing to…
Date: July 17, 2013
Docket Number: 27286
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) is a non-profit corporation. In 2009, Rocky Disabato sent SCASA a request for information pursuant to the FOIA. The Executive Director of SCASA refused the…
Date: July 17, 2013
Docket Number: 27287
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Applicant Gregory McHam appealed the denial of his application for post-conviction relief. He contended that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel because counsel failed to renew a motion to…
Date: July 10, 2013
Docket Number: 27282
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue on appeal before the Supreme Court in this case was a court of appeals' finding that Wachovia Bank, N.A. committed the unauthorized practice of law in closing a home equity loan in 2001. In 2001, Michael Coffey…
Date: July 3, 2013
Docket Number: 27280
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999 and 2001, Respondent John Hollman went to Appellants TLC Laser Eye Centers, LLC and the TLC Laser Center (the Centers) for a series of eye surgeries. In the several years following the surgeries, respondent's…
Date: July 3, 2013
Docket Number: 27281
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Thalma Barton appealed an Administrative Law Court's order that affirmed the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services' (DPPPS) decision to deny her parole. Although two-thirds of the…
Date: June 26, 2013
Docket Number: 27276
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the failure to complete a mediation conference in a timely manner does not divest a trial court of jurisdiction, and dismissal is not mandated. South Carolina Code 15-79-125 requires a…
Date: June 26, 2013
Docket Number: 27277
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was one of first impression centering on the foreclosure on a member of a limited liability company's (LLC) interest under the South Carolina Uniform Limited Liability…
Date: June 26, 2013
Docket Number: 27278
Justia Opinion Summary: Employee-claimant Cathy Bone filed a workman's compensation claim for a work-related injury. The employer, U.S. Food Service, and its carrier Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America disputed the claim. The single…
Date: June 26, 2013
Docket Number: 27279
Justia Opinion Summary: Lawton Limehouse, Sr. ("Father") and Lawton Limehouse, Jr. ("Son") each sued attorney Paul Hulsey, and his law practice (collectively, "Hulsey") for defamation arising out of statements Hulsey made about L&L Services,…
Date: June 19, 2013
Docket Number: 27271
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001, Petitioner James Miller pled guilty to committing a lewd act on a child under sixteen, and criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature. He was sentenced for the lewd act to fifteen years in…
Date: June 19, 2013
Docket Number: 27272
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Robert Taylor appealed the post-conviction relief court's denial of relief on the grounds that he did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel though his plea counsel failed to advise him of the…
Date: June 19, 2013
Docket Number: 27273
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners' properties were in danger of foreclosure. Prior to any foreclosure action, Petitioners obtained loan modifications from their respective lenders to extend their loans' maturity dates and receive additional…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27263
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Health Promotion Specialists, LLC sued the state Board of Dentistry based on the Board's enactment and enforcement of regulations relating to certain procedures performed by dental hygienists in school…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27264
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Shannon Hutchinson was the beneficiary of a mortgage life insurance policy. She sued Liberty Life Insurance Company after it denied her benefits under a policy exclusion for injury resulting from the insured's…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27265
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted Dana Medlock's petition for certiorari to determine whether a non-attorney who files a claim in probate court for a business entity engages in the unauthorized practice of law. Upon review, the…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27266
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Edward Sloan and the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation filed suit in the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction for a determination of whether the South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank was…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27267
Justia Opinion Summary: Suits were filed in Alabama and South Carolina in this divorce case. In 2007, the husband filed for divorce in Alabama, alleging he was a resident of Alabama, and his wife was a resident of South Carolina. Wife accepted…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27268
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court centered on the grant of summary judgment in favor of Respondent Action Concrete Contractors, Inc. in a mechanic's lien foreclosure action. Owners Elvira Chappelear, Craig Chappelear,…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27269
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant John Rainey sued the Honorable Nikki Haley, Goveror of South Carolina, seeking a declaration that the Governor violated the State Ethics Act when she was a member of the House of Representatives. The circuit…
Date: June 12, 2013
Docket Number: 27270
Justia Opinion Summary: Alea London Limited (insurer) appealed a circuit court's denial of its motion to set aside an order of a special referee that granted Respondent Elisa Narruhn an assignment of rights in supplemental proceedings held in…
Date: June 5, 2013
Docket Number: 27261
Justia Opinion Summary: Edward William Hunt (Father) appealed a jury verdict in favor of Don Gause which found him liable under the family purpose doctrine for damages caused by the negligence of his son Edward Raymond Hunt. Gause, a police…
Date: May 29, 2013
Docket Number: 27256
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue on appeal before the Supreme Court in this case centered on the interplay between the Subcontractors' and Suppliers' Payment Protection Act (SPPA), the Tort Claims Act (TCA), and the Court's opinion in "Sloan…
Date: May 29, 2013
Docket Number: 27257
Justia Opinion Summary: This matter began as a contested case in the administrative law court (ALC) brought by Amisub of South Carolina, Inc., (d/b/a Piedmont Medical Center (Piedmont)). The dispute arose out of Piedmont's contention that an…
Date: May 29, 2013
Docket Number: 27259
Justia Opinion Summary: This case was one of two heard by the Court that presented the question of whether a pre-breath test videotape recording was required upon an arrest for driving under the influence (DUI) if the arrestee refused the…
Date: May 29, 2013
Docket Number: 27260
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1988, Respondents the Barnwell County Council passed an ordinance creating the Board of Trustees for the Barnwell County Hospital. The ordinance stated the Board was created "for the purposes of operating and…
Date: May 22, 2013
Docket Number: 27124
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Jennifer Dykes appealed a circuit court's order requiring that she be subject to satellite monitoring for the rest of her life pursuant to sections 23-3-540(C) and (H) of the South Carolina Code of Laws (Supp.…
Date: May 22, 2013
Docket Number: 27229
Justia Opinion Summary: Palmetto Hardwood, Inc., employed Petitioner Clifton Sparks as a saw operator. Petitioner suffered three work-related injuries during this employment, the first two of which injured Petitioner's lower back. In the third…
Date: May 22, 2013
Docket Number: 27254
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Brian Menezes served as the chief financial officer and interim chief executive officer of Safety Components International, Incorporated (SCI), from 1999 until 2006. SCI was a publicly traded Delaware company…
Date: May 22, 2013
Docket Number: 27255
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Myron Samuels was romantically involved with two women, Patricia Speaks and Carla Daniels, among others, but told each woman he was involved with her alone. Eventually, Speaks and Daniels learned of the other's…
Date: May 15, 2013
Docket Number: 27252
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Hollywood filed suit against William Floyd, Troy Readen, and Edward McCracken (collectively, the developers) seeking a declaration that the developers could not subdivide their property without approval from…
Date: May 15, 2013
Docket Number: 27253
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the denial of petitioner Clarence Gibbs's second application for post-conviction relief (PCR). After being convicted by a jury of kidnapping, armed robbery, and…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27222
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties lived together as husband and wife for thirty years, enjoying a comfortable standard of living and raising two sons. Following the onset of serious health problems for both, they ultimately separated, and it…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27227
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants were initially appointed by the circuit court in March 2007 as Special Administrators with limited duties to oversee the handling of entertainer James Brown's estate after petitions were filed by some of…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27233
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Brad Keith Sigmon of two counts of murder and burglary in the first degree, and it subsequently sentenced him to death. His convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal. The Supreme Court…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27244
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court was presented with policy dispute: whose policy choice concerning health insurance premiums for State employees controlled, the General Assembly's or the Budget and Control Board's? The Court found that…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27246
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the court of appeals decision affirming the circuit court's order that upheld an arbitration award. The underlying dispute arose from a construction contract whereby general…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27248
Justia Opinion Summary: In an original jurisdiction action, Petitioner alleged that the sheer number of exemptions to and caps on South Carolina's sales and use tax removed any rational relationship they have to the underlying tax itself. He…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27249
Justia Opinion Summary: In this declaratory judgment action, the Tourism Expenditure Review Committee (TERC) appealed a circuit court's declaration of the meaning of section 6-4-10 of the South Carolina Code. At issue was the South Carolina…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27250
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant John Herndon appealed a circuit court's order imposing lifetime sex offender registration for his failure to complete sex abuse counseling required by the terms of his probation. Upon review, the Supreme Court…
Date: May 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27251
Justia Opinion Summary: In March of 2007, Mother gave birth to Child. Five months later, the Pickens County Department of Social Services (DSS) received a report of neglect from a sheriff's deputy. Three families (six adults and eleven…
Date: April 24, 2013
Docket Number: 27244
Justia Opinion Summary: "At its most basic level, this case presents a policy dispute: whose policy choice concerning health insurance premiums for State employees controls—the General Assembly's or the Budget and Control Board's?" The issue…
Date: April 10, 2013
Docket Number: 27241
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, petitioner was adjudicated delinquent on charges of first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and disturbing the schools,1 and committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) for an indeterminate…
Date: April 3, 2013
Docket Number: 27238
Justia Opinion Summary: In October 2009, Appellant Serria Dawson was observed making false refunds to an accomplice while working as a cashier at Walmart. Appellant later confessed to making false refunds on multiple occasions, and with the…
Date: March 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27236
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Thomas and Vera Gladden appealed the trial court's order granting summary judgment to Respondent Palmetto Home Inspection Services, alleging the limit of liability provision in a home inspection contract was…
Date: March 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27237
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants owned property in North Myrtle Beach bounded by water on the west and north. In early 2007, they applied to the Department of Health and Environmental Control ("DHEC") for a critical area permit to construct a…
Date: March 20, 2013
Docket Number: 27233
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant Brad Sigmon of two counts of murder and burglary in the first degree, and it subsequently sentenced him to death. His convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal. Upon review of…
Date: March 20, 2013
Docket Number: 27234
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Steven Barnes was convicted of throwing urine on a jailor and received a fifteen-year sentence consecutive to the sentence he was then serving. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to review an unpublished…
Date: March 20, 2013
Docket Number: 27235
Justia Opinion Summary: Sarah W. (Mother) is the biological mother of a minor boy and a minor girl. In 2007, Mother and the children's father, Vaughn S. (Father; parents collectively, defendants), and the children resided in a home without…
Date: March 13, 2013
Docket Number: 27231
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Lawrence Brown challenged his conviction for grand larceny of two motor vehicles. On appeal, he argued: (1) whether the amendment to section 16-13-30 of the South Carolina Code should be applied retroactively…
Date: March 8, 2013
Docket Number: 27232
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was whether former foster parents had standing to petition to adopt a child placed for adoption by the Department of Social Services (DSS) with a different family. Upon…
Date: March 6, 2013
Docket Number: 27229
Justia Opinion Summary: Palmetto Hardwood, Inc. employed Petitioner Clifton Sparks as a saw operator. Petitioner suffered three work-related injuries during this employment, the first two of which injured Petitioner's lower back. In the third…
Date: March 6, 2013
Docket Number: 27230
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Michael Crisp, Jr. worked for Employer SouthCo, Inc., seeding grass and performing odd construction jobs. In 2004, Petitioner and other workers were installing silt fencing to combat ground erosion. Petitioner…
Date: February 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27065
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case arose from an administrative law court's (ALC) decision authorizing Respondent Kiawah Development Partners to construct a bulkhead and revetment on Captain Sam's Spit (the…
Date: February 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27223
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case concerned the scope of an arbitration clause under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Respondent Christopher Landers served as Appellant Atlantic Bank & Trust's executive…
Date: February 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27224
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Stephen Christopher Stanko appealed his conviction and death sentence for murder and armed robbery. A grant jury indicted him for the death of Henry Turner in 2005. At trial, he relied on an insanity defense,…
Date: February 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27225
Justia Opinion Summary: From 2002 through 2004, George Harper and his law firm at that time, Jackson Lewis, represented EnerSys Delaware, Inc. in a variety of employment and labor law matters. Harper served as EnerSys' attorney of record in at…
Date: February 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27226
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent James Farmer operated a retail store in Florence County. In 2007, Petitioner Florence County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant and seized the store's inventory, consisting of clothing, shoes, movie…
Date: February 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27227
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Robert Buchanan, Jr. and Adele Pope, formerly personal representatives for The Estate of James Brown and trustees of The James Brown 2000 Irrevocable Trust, appealed circuit court orders that: (1) approved a…
Date: February 27, 2013
Docket Number: 27228
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Andrew Lee Harrison contended on appeal that the trial court erred in refusing to find that the penalty portion of section 56-5-1210 violated the Eighth Amendment. In 2009, appellant was traveling along the…
Date: February 20, 2013
Docket Number: 27222
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties in this case were married for thirty years. Following the onset of serious health problems (for both), they separated. A family court judge was tasked with identifying and dividing the marital estate upon…
Date: February 13, 2013
Docket Number: 27219
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States District Court certified the following question to the South Carolina Supreme Court: "Does the 'dual persona' doctrine allow an injured employee to bring an action in tort against his employer as a…
Date: February 13, 2013
Docket Number: 27220
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Raymondeze Rivera directly appealed his death sentence to the Supreme Court. Although Appellant raised multiple challenges, the Court was "constrained to reverse and grant a new trial based on one - the trial…
Date: February 6, 2013
Docket Number: 27214
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner John Curtis McCoy appealed the summary dismissal of his second post-conviction relief (PCR) application on the grounds it was successive, untimely, and failed to prove a newly discovered evidence claim.…
Date: February 6, 2013
Docket Number: 27215
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case concerned the question of when tax liability for property is determined. Appellant Hampton Friends of the Arts challenged the Administrative Law Court's (ALC) finding that…
Date: January 23, 2013
Docket Number: 27212
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Miama Kromah was convicted of: (1) infliction of great bodily injury upon a child; and (2) unlawful neglect of a child. She appealed, arguing the trial court abused its discretion in permitting two of the…
Date: January 23, 2013
Docket Number: 5076
Justia Opinion Summary: Shenandoah Life Insurance Company brought an action to void an insurance policy it issued on the life of Lorenzo Smallwood. The circuit court granted partial summary judgment to Shenandoah, and narrowed the issue for…
Date: January 23, 2013
Docket Number: 5077
Justia Opinion Summary: A group of retired firefighters and police officers who worked for the City of Columbia all elected to have group health insurance provided to them by the city. Prior to July 2009, the City paid all costs to fund the…
Date: January 16, 2013
Docket Number: 27210
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Jarmel Rice was charged as a juvenile when he was fifteen years old for a series of violent crimes. Following a contested waiver from family court to general sessions court, Appellant pled guilty to three…
Date: January 16, 2013
Docket Number: 27211
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Derrick Cheeks was convicted of trafficking in crack cocaine in excess of 400 grams and possession of crack with intent to distribute within proximity to a school and received concurrent sentences of…
Date: January 9, 2013
Docket Number: 27207
Justia Opinion Summary: The State appealed the court of appeals' decision which held that the police search and seizure of Respondent Sylvester Taylor was improper under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Respondent was…
Date: January 9, 2013
Docket Number: 27208
Justia Opinion Summary: In a direct appeal to the Supreme Court, Appellant Dunes West Golf Club, LLC, challenged the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Respondent Town of Mount Pleasant. In 2006, the Town of Mount Pleasant…
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