South Carolina Supreme Court Decisions 2018
Date: December 19, 2018
Docket Number: 27855
Justia Opinion Summary: The merits of this appeal centered on three parcels of land, serving as links in a chain necessary to satisfy contiguity requirements of annexation. The first link, the Ten-Foot Strip, was a ten-foot wide, 1.25 mile-long…
Date: December 12, 2018
Docket Number: 27854
Justia Opinion Summary: McCormick County voters elected Clarke Anderson Stearns as their Sheriff in the November 8, 2016, general election. After the election, Appellants brought this action alleging "Stearns does not possess the necessary…
Date: November 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27851
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner the Senate of the State of South Carolina, by and through its President Pro Tempore, initiated this action in the original jurisdiction of the South Carolina Supreme Court to declare Respondent Governor Henry…
Date: November 21, 2018
Docket Number: 27847
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court granted certiorari on the narrow question of whether a creditor may execute on a judgment more than ten years after its enrollment when the time period has expired during the course of…
Date: October 17, 2018
Docket Number: 2018-MO-034
Date: October 17, 2018
Docket Number: 27843
Justia Opinion Summary: Darrell Goss was convicted of kidnapping, assault and battery with intent to kill (ABWIK), and armed robbery in connection with the armed robbery of a clothing store in North Charleston. In this post-conviction relief…
Date: September 26, 2018
Docket Number: 27842
Justia Opinion Summary: Harold Cartwright, III was convicted of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), eight counts of first-degree CSC with a minor, two counts of second-degree CSC with a minor, one count of third-degree CSC,…
Date: September 5, 2018
Docket Number: 27840
Justia Opinion Summary: The underlying dispute arose following a deadly motor vehicle accident in Bamberg County, South Carolina in January 2008. At the time of the accident, decedent James Buchanan was driving a tractor trailer traveling…
Date: September 5, 2018
Docket Number: 27841
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal involved the South Carolina Home Builders Self Insurers Fund (Fund), which was created by the Home Builders Association of South Carolina, Inc. "for the purpose of meeting and fulfilling an employer's…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 27833
Justia Opinion Summary: Palmetto Mortuary Transport, Inc. sued Knight Systems, Inc. and Robert Knight (collectively, Knight) for breach of an asset purchase agreement executed in connection with the sale of Knight's mortuary transport business…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 27834
Justia Opinion Summary: On the night of April 10, 2010, Shannon Scott and his fiancé Rosalyn were asleep at Scott's home. Scott's daughter Shade and three of Rosalyn's daughters were at a party at a teen nightclub with friends. Shade had a…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 27835
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Ronnie and Jeanette Dennis purchased property on Callawassie Island. At that time, the Dennises joined a private club known as the Callawassie Island Club, and paid $31,000 to become "equity members." The Club's…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 27836
Justia Opinion Summary: A restaurant in Goose Creek, South Carolina, was robbed by two males wearing ski masks and gloves while carrying a gun and knife, around midnight on Christmas Eve. During the robbery, an employee was shot by one of the…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 27837
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent David Repko, the owner of two lots in Harmony Phase 2-D-1, commenced this action against the County alleging that the County negligently and grossly negligently failed to comply with or enforce its rules,…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 27838
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court accepted two certified questions from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina arising from a dispute over uninsured motorist (UM) coverage: (1) whether a…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 27839
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue before the South Carolina Supreme Court in this case was an appeal of a circuit court's decision to impose sanctions against Pee Dee Health Care, P.A., and its attorney for conduct that occurred before the…
Date: August 22, 2018
Docket Number: 27831
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, homeowners Renaul and Karen Abel contracted with Gilliam Construction Company, Inc. for the construction of a house in an upscale Landrum subdivision. In constructing the house, Gilliam used windows manufactured…
Date: August 22, 2018
Docket Number: 27832
Justia Opinion Summary: A municipal police officer responded to a 911 call received through his dispatch center regarding a report of a disabled vehicle. After arriving on the scene, the officer found the vehicle slightly off the roadway in a…
Date: August 8, 2018
Docket Number: 27827
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue before the South Carolina Supreme court was the propriety of the grant of partial summary judgment in a condemnation action. The court of appeals affirmed the circuit court's ruling that the landowner, David…
Date: August 8, 2018
Docket Number: 27829
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Goose Creek (the City) collected a business license fee on persons doing business within the city limits. The amount of the fee was based upon a business's gross income from the preceding year. The issue on…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Number: 27826
Justia Opinion Summary: Tyrone King was convicted of murder, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, third-degree assault and battery, and pointing and presenting a firearm. The trial court sentenced King to life…
Date: July 5, 2018
Docket Number: 27821
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina certified a question of law to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Jack Poole and his wife, Jennifer, were riding in a vehicle owned by Doris Knight,…
Date: July 5, 2018
Docket Number: 27822
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Roy Jones appealed his convictions for first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor, second-degree CSC with a minor, and two counts of committing a lewd act on a minor. The issues Jones raised on…
Date: July 5, 2018
Docket Number: 27823
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Mark and Larkin Hammond built and operated several successful restaurants in Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina. The Hammonds hired Respondent Kyle Pertuis to manage the restaurants,…
Date: June 27, 2018
Docket Number: 27817
Justia Opinion Summary: Melissa Spalt was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. When she refused to submit to a breath test, the arresting officer issued a "notice of suspension" of her driver's license. Spalt requested a hearing…
Date: June 27, 2018
Docket Number: 27818
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. This wrongful death action arose from the death of a minor. The deceased was a…
Date: June 27, 2018
Docket Number: 27819
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner James Simmons Jr. was convicted of criminal sexual conduct (CSC) involving two minors. The minors were Petitioner's twin sons. A key feature of the State's case was the challenged testimony of a pediatrician…
Date: June 20, 2018
Docket Number: 27816
Justia Opinion Summary: James Dill Jr. was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine, and the trial court sentenced him to a prison term of ten years. Dill appealed his conviction, and the court of appeals affirmed. Sheriff's deputies searched…
Date: June 13, 2018
Docket Number: 27814
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue before the South Carolina Supreme Court was whether the digital information stored on a cell phone may be abandoned such that its privacy is no longer protected by the Fourth Amendment. The victim contacted…
Date: June 13, 2018
Docket Number: 27815
Justia Opinion Summary: David Ross pled guilty in 1979 to lewd act upon a child. Thirty-two years later, he was convicted in magistrate's court of misdemeanor failure to register as a sex offender. Ross argued the automatic imposition of…
Date: June 6, 2018
Docket Number: 27810
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court granted cross-petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the Court of Appeals' unpublished decision in South Carolina v. Perez, Op. No. 2015-UP-217 (S.C. Ct. App. filed May 8, 2015),…
Date: June 6, 2018
Docket Number: 27811
Justia Opinion Summary: Timothy Pulley appealed after he was convicted for trafficking cocaine base (cocaine) of ten grams or more, but less than twenty-eight grams in violation of section 44-53-375(C)(1) of the South Carolina Code (2018).…
Date: May 30, 2018
Docket Number: 27725
Justia Opinion Summary: This case represented a challenge to the registration provisions in the South Carolina Surface Water Withdrawal Act. The plaintiffs claimed those provisions were an unconstitutional taking, a violation of due process,…
Date: May 30, 2018
Docket Number: 27806
Justia Opinion Summary: Sentry Select Insurance Company brought a legal malpractice lawsuit in federal district court against the lawyer it hired to defend its insured in an automobile accident case. The federal court certified two questions of…
Date: May 30, 2018
Docket Number: 27807
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court ruled Appellant Kim Murphy was not qualified to be a candidate for election to a Richland County seat on the District 5 Richland-Lexington School Board of Trustees (School Board). The circuit court…
Date: May 30, 2018
Docket Number: 27808
Justia Opinion Summary: After Randy Horton won this action seeking the production of documents under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the circuit court awarded him attorneys' fees at a rate of $100 per hour. On appeal, the…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 27800
Justia Opinion Summary: Overland, Inc., filed this lawsuit against Lara Nance, Bank of America, SunTrust Banks, and other defendants seeking damages arising out of Nance's embezzlement of $1,282,000 from the Land Rover dealership Overland…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 27801
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Darryl Frierson pled guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, and armed robbery for his role in masterminding a $9.8 million heist from an armored truck.…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 27802
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Stephanie Irene Greene appeals her convictions and sentences for homicide by child abuse, involuntary manslaughter, and unlawful conduct toward a child for the death of her infant daughter, Alexis. Appellant…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 27803
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue before the South Carolina Supreme Court in this appeal was a question of whether Appellant Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) was subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) due to…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 27804
Justia Opinion Summary: This cross-appeal primarily concerned the amount of compensation owed to Petitioner-respondent Edward Sullivan as personal representative (PR) of Marion Kay's estate. Sullivan filed a petition to settle the estate and…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 27805
Justia Opinion Summary: Jerome Buckson and Tiffany Foggie lived together in Foggie's apartment until January 2006. At approximately three o'clock in the morning on Monday, January 30, 2006, Buckson entered the apartment through a kitchen…
Date: May 9, 2018
Docket Number: 27796
Justia Opinion Summary: Samuel Brown Jr. filed a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking appellate review of an order granting summary judgment to the State in his application for post-conviction relief (PCR). Brown pled guilty to possession…
Date: May 9, 2018
Docket Number: 27797
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Edward and Tammy Dalsing (Foster Parents) sought to adopt a young girl (Child). Foster Parents' private action for termination of parental rights (TPR) and adoption was consolidated with the South Carolina…
Date: May 9, 2018
Docket Number: 27798
Justia Opinion Summary: Jonathan Miller appealed his conviction for possession of crack cocaine. He argued the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress drug evidence seized during an inventory search of his vehicle after he was…
Date: April 25, 2018
Docket Number: 27792
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, d/b/a Carolinas Medical Center-Fort Mill sought a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Amisub of South Carolina, Inc. v. South Carolina…
Date: April 25, 2018
Docket Number: 27793
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals certified a question of South Carolina law to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Sarah Hartsock was killed in an automobile crash on Interstate 26 in Calhoun County, South Carolina. Her…
Date: April 25, 2018
Docket Number: 27794
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Brandon Garren pled guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (ABHAN) and criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature (CDVHAN) in connection with a series of brutal attacks…
Date: April 25, 2018
Docket Number: 27795
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Michael Beaty Jr. was convicted of murdering Emily Asbill (Victim), for which he received a life sentence. The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's conviction on December 29, 2016. In affirming…
Date: April 18, 2018
Docket Number: 27790
Justia Opinion Summary: This litigation arose after Respondent Kiawah Development Partners, II (KDP) applied for a permit to build an erosion control structure consisting of a bulkhead and revetment along the Kiawah River on Captain Sam's Spit…
Date: April 11, 2018
Docket Number: 27786
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Nila Collean Carter sought to revoke her consent to the adoption of her two biological children. Throughout the proceedings, Petitioner was never provided an opportunity to be heard on the merits of her claim…
Date: April 4, 2018
Docket Number: 27789
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Otis Nero filed a workers' compensation claim alleging he sustained injuries to his back and shoulder while on the job. The single commissioner found respondent suffered an injury by accident arising out of…
Date: March 21, 2018
Docket Number: 27785
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Petitioner Yancey Thompson was convicted of first degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor, second degree CSC with a minor, and disseminating obscene material to a minor. He was sentenced to concurrent…
Date: March 21, 2018
Docket Number: 27786
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Nila Carter sought to revoke her consent to the adoption of her two biological children. Petitioner was never provided an opportunity to be heard on the merits of her claim before the adoption was finalized.…
Date: March 14, 2018
Docket Number: 27782
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the South Carolina Supreme Court’s review centered on whether Petitioner David Gooldy was entitled to an implied easement where his deed incorporated by reference a plat that indicated a…
Date: March 14, 2018
Docket Number: 27783
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal presents the South Carolina Supreme Court with the opportunity to revisit Roddey v. Wal-Mart Stores E., LP, 784 S.E.2d 670 (2016), wherein the Court reversed and remanded for a new trial after determining the…
Date: March 14, 2018
Docket Number: 27784
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Michael Milledge was arrested and convicted of multiple drug-related offenses in Greenville County following a traffic stop. Milledge applied for post-conviction relief (PCR), arguing his defense counsel was…
Date: March 7, 2018
Docket Number: 27774
Justia Opinion Summary: Stepheno Alston was tried in absentia and convicted by a jury of trafficking in cocaine. The trial judge sentenced Alston to twenty-five years' imprisonment. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed Alston's conviction…
Date: March 7, 2018
Docket Number: 27775
Justia Opinion Summary: This direct cross-appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court involved the scope of the authority the Department of Revenue (DOR) to enforce various provisions of state law relating to the imposition of a transportation…
Date: March 7, 2018
Docket Number: 27776
Justia Opinion Summary: Florence County challenged the validity of the West Florence Fire District, arguing that it violated the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision in Wagener v. Smith, 71 S.E.2d 1 (1952) and conflicted with the state's…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27765
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was a question of who could bring a civil action on behalf of the estate of a deceased person when the personal representative of the estate is also a potential defendant in the action. Alice…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27766
Justia Opinion Summary: David Ledford was indicted for inflicting great bodily injury upon a child. The jury was sworn, and the case was tried up to the point of the charge conference between the trial court and the attorneys. During the charge…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27767
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Marshall Collins of trafficking methamphetamine (third offense), and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. The trial judge sentenced Collins to an aggregate twenty-five years'…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27768
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court clarified the proper scope of a circuit judge's inquiry under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), when a criminal defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives his…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27769
Justia Opinion Summary: This case appeal presented a post-conviction relief (PCR) matter in which Petitioner Gregg Taylor, a Jamaican citizen, pled guilty to a drug offense. Petitioner resided in South Carolina for years with his wife and two…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27770
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnny Eades sought treatment from numerous healthcare providers, including Petitioners Palmetto Primary Care Physicians, LLC and Trident Emergency Physicians, LLC, for a blockage and aneurysm of the left iliac artery in…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27771
Justia Opinion Summary: The court of appeals affirmed a jury verdict for Jacklyn Donevant in her wrongful termination action against the Town of Surfside Beach, finding her cause of action fit within the public policy exception to the at-will…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27772
Justia Opinion Summary: Kenneth Hilton appealed the denial of post-conviction relief (PCR), claiming the PCR court did not obtain a knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to counsel before allowing him to represent himself at his PCR…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 27773
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Supreme Court addressed the novel issue of whether an email that provides written notice of entry of an order or judgment triggers the time for serving a notice of appeal for purposes of Rule 203(b)(1)…
Date: February 7, 2018
Docket Number: 27762
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Michael Robinson was indicted in 2013 on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor. The alleged offenses occurred between 1998 and 2000. However, between 2001 and 2012, the CSC statute…
Date: February 7, 2018
Docket Number: 27763
Justia Opinion Summary: Elias Walker killed his father by repeatedly stabbing him with a sword in a motel room where they were living. Walker was twenty-two years old at the time of the crime. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Walker pled guilty…
Date: February 7, 2018
Docket Number: 27764
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Stephen Smalls was convicted by jury of armed robbery for the 2007 robbery of a Bojangles restaurant in Columbus. The trial court sentenced him to twenty-five years in prison. Smalls filed an application for…
Date: January 10, 2018
Docket Number: 27761
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Marion Bowman sought post-conviction relief (PCR) from his sentence of death for the 2001 murder of Kandee Martin. Essentially, petitioner argued his trial counsel was deficient in failing to object to the…
Date: January 3, 2018
Docket Number: 27759
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the South Carolina Supreme Court had to decide whether Petitioners Edward and Tammy Dalsing had standing to pursue a private action to adopt a child who had been placed in their foster care by the South…
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