State v. Clarkson

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Supreme Court

The State, Petitioner,

v.

Edward M. Clarkson, Respondent.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

Appeal From York County
Daniel F. Pieper, Circuit Court Judge

Opinion No. 25365
Submitted September 18, 2001 - Filed October 1, 2001

REVERSED

Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Dudek, of South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for respondent.

Attorney General Charles Molony Condon, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Thomas E. Pope, of York, for petitioner.

PER CURIAM: Respondent was indicted for assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct against a minor in the second degree (ACSC) and pled guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (ABHAN). The Court of Appeals vacated his guilty plea. State v. Clarkson, 337 S.C. 518, 523 S.E.2d 817 (Ct. App. 1999). The State has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Court of Appeals' opinion. We grant the petition for a writ of certiorari, dispense with further briefing and reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals.

Relying on its opinion in State v. Elliott, 335 S.C. 512, 517 S.E.2d 713 (Ct. App. 1999), the Court of Appeals determined respondent's guilty plea should be vacated because ABHAN is not a lesser-included offense of ACSC. This Court recently reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals in Elliott and held that ABHAN is a lesser-included offense of ACSC. State v. Elliott, Op. No. 25356 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed September 4, 2001)(Shearouse Adv. Sh. No. 32 at 55). Accordingly, the Court of Appeals erred in vacating respondent's guilty plea.

REVERSED.

TOAL, C.J., MOORE, WALLER, BURNETT and PLEICONES, JJ., concur.