South Carolina Supreme Court Decisions 2011
Date: December 28, 2011
Docket Number: 27081
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Jerry Inman pled guilty to murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and kidnapping of a Clemson University student. The judge sentenced Appellant to death for murder and two…
Date: December 28, 2011
Docket Number: 27082
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) appealed the circuit court order relieving Respondent Jeremy Lane Edwards from registering as a sex offender registration. In 1998, Respondent pled guilty to two counts of…
Date: December 28, 2011
Docket Number: 27083
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue on appeal before the Supreme Court was whether Respondent South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and its agent, the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN), "properly…
Date: December 28, 2011
Docket Number: 27084
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Kevin Odems appealed the Court of Appeals' decision that affirmed his 2005 convictions for first degree burglary, grand larceny, criminal conspiracy, and malicious injury. The State's case against Petitioner…
Date: December 19, 2011
Docket Number: 26805
Justia Opinion Summary: This case returned to the South Carolina Supreme Court from the United States Supreme Court for reconsideration in light of "AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion." The underlying action originally came to the Court on appeal…
Date: December 19, 2011
Docket Number: 27077
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Willard Farr owned seven gaming machines seized from a Union business. The magistrate issued an order to destroy the machines, and Appellant timely sought a post-seizure hearing in an attempt to block their…
Date: December 12, 2011
Docket Number: 27073
Justia Opinion Summary: Emerson Electric Company and its subsidiaries timely filed consolidated tax returns for South Carolina in fiscal years 1999 through 2002. The periods at issue in this appeal were tax years 1999, 2000, and 2001 (license…
Date: December 12, 2011
Docket Number: 27074
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner All Things Possible, Inc. (ATP) sold an undeveloped lot to Respondents Michael and Marsha Moseley. The lot was burdened by an underground, surface-water drainage easement running diagonally across the entire…
Date: December 12, 2011
Docket Number: 27075
Justia Opinion Summary: The property which was the subject of this appeal was owned by Appellant Peggy McMaster and located in the City of Columbia in the immediate vicinity of the University of South Carolina. Pursuant to the Ordinance, only…
Date: December 12, 2011
Docket Number: 27076
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jose Lozada appealed the circuit court's order denying his petition for a declaratory judgment to be removed from the Sex Offender Registry. Defendant argued that the crime to which he pled guilty in…
Date: December 5, 2011
Docket Number: 27072
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Karen Cole, on behalf of her husband David, sued the Boy Scouts of America, Indian Waters Council Pack 48 after David was injured during a father-son softball game at a family camping trip. Respondent Jeff…
Date: November 22, 2011
Docket Number: 27069
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Beaufort County and several officials from county boards of elections and registration sought a declaration from the Supreme Court in its original jurisdiction that the General Assembly has neither authorized…
Date: November 21, 2011
Docket Number: 27064
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Alexander Michau appealed a ruling by the Appellate Panel of the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission (Commission) denying his claim for repetitive trauma injuries to his shoulders. Specifically,…
Date: November 21, 2011
Docket Number: 27065
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Coastal Conservation League (League) and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) appealed an administrative law judge's (ALJ) order that allowed Respondent Kiawah…
Date: October 24, 2011
Docket Number: 27059
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Carolyn Holmes began working for linen company Respondent National Service Industries (National). According to Petitioner, the work environment at the facility was "very hot" and "sticky" with "a lot of lint…
Date: October 17, 2011
Docket Number: 27055
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Deborah Spence alleged that attorney Kenneth Wingate breached a fiduciary duty to her as a former client in its handling of her late husband's life insurance policy. Mr. Spence was a member of United States…
Date: October 10, 2011
Docket Number: 27054
Justia Opinion Summary: In the summer of 1999, Petitioner Gerald Bass was a guest at the Super 8 Motel (Super 8) in Orangeburg while he and several co-workers performed refrigeration work at a local grocery store. Gopal, Incorporated…
Date: October 3, 2011
Docket Number: 27048
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Defendant William Dickerson of first degree murder, kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct, for which he was sentenced to death. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Defendant argued the circuit court…
Date: October 3, 2011
Docket Number: 27049
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Sean Taylor appealed an order which terminated his parental rights to his six-year-old daughter on three grounds: willful failure to visit, willful failure to support, and because the child had been in foster…
Date: September 26, 2011
Docket Number: 27044
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Atlantic Coast Builders & Contractors, LLC brought an action against Petitioner Laura Lewis for negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract. In 2003, Petitioner, acting through a…
Date: September 26, 2011
Docket Number: 27047
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Jason Dickey appealed a court of appeals' decision that affirmed his conviction of voluntary manslaughter. Petitioner worked as a security guard at an apartment building when on the night of April 29, 2004,…
Date: September 19, 2011
Docket Number: 27041
Justia Opinion Summary: Before the Supreme Court was whether an action for separate maintenance and support could be pursued when the parties were still living together. Eileen (Wife) and Clifford (Husband) Theisen were married in 1980. At the…
Date: September 19, 2011
Docket Number: 27042
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court accepted the certified question from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina on whether the South Carolina Solid Waste Policy and Management Act, (SWPMA) preempted Horry…
Date: September 19, 2011
Docket Number: 27043
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Thomas Jennings was convicted of two counts of committing a lewd act upon a minor and was sentenced to fifty-five months' imprisonment for the first charge and fifteen years, suspended upon the service of fifty…
Date: September 6, 2011
Docket Number: 27037
Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas Skinner received an award of benefits from the Workers' Compensation Commission for asbestosis under the scheduled loss provisions of Section 42-9-30 of the South Carolina Code. Westinghouse Electric Corporation,…
Date: August 29, 2011
Docket Number: 27032
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Sherry Ray formed CFRE, a single-member limited liability company with herself as the sole member. CFRE conducts no business and was formed solely for estate planning and asset protection purposes. To that end,…
Date: August 29, 2011
Docket Number: 27033
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Gary DuBose Terry was sentenced to death for murder, life imprisonment for first-degree burglary, thirty years' imprisonment for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and ten years' imprisonment for malicious…
Date: August 29, 2011
Docket Number: 27034
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Stivers Automotive of Lexington, Inc. (Stivers) and Respondent South Carolina Federal Credit Union (SCFCU) were parties to a Dealer Agreement (Agreement), under which SCFCU agreed to purchase sales contracts…
Date: August 29, 2011
Docket Number: 27035
Justia Opinion Summary: This case invoked the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction. Plaintiff Board of Trustees of the School District of Fairfield County (Board), Defendants State of South Carolina and the Legislative Delegation of Fairfield…
Date: August 29, 2011
Docket Number: 27036
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Foreign Academic & Cultural Exchange Services, Inc. (FACES) instituted this action against Respondent Daniela Tripon for breach of contract, breach of the duty of loyalty, and injunctive relief. FACES recruits…
Date: August 22, 2011
Docket Number: 26909
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant/Respondent Harleysville Mutual Insurance Company ("Harleysville") issued a series of standard CGL policies to the Respondent developers or their predecessors (collectively "Crossmann") for a series of…
Date: August 22, 2011
Docket Number: 27029
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Theresa Clea filed suit to recover for personal injuries sustained by her son (Trevon) after he was bitten by Respondent Essix Shannon's dog. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Respondent.…
Date: August 22, 2011
Docket Number: 27030
Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2002, Respondent Eagle Windows & Doors, Inc.’s predecessor purchased Eagle & Taylor Company’s assets (Eagle I) from Eagle I's bankruptcy estate. In 2000, homeowners constructed a residence using defective windows…
Date: August 22, 2011
Docket Number: 27031
Justia Opinion Summary: This case was a direct appeal in a workers' compensation matter from a master's order reversing the Full Commission and finding respondent's decedent was totally disabled as the result of an occupational disease. On…
Date: August 15, 2011
Docket Number: 27024
Justia Opinion Summary: Employee-Petitioner Melenia Trotter was awarded workers' compensation benefits for a back injury by the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission ("Commission"). Petitioner worked at "the turb and trim station,"…
Date: August 15, 2011
Docket Number: 27025
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant-Respondent Tykat, Inc. appealed an Administrative Law Court's (ALC) decision that upheld Clarendon County's tax assessment on real property Tykat leased from the South Carolina Public Service Authority. Tykat…
Date: August 15, 2011
Docket Number: 27026
Justia Opinion Summary: In response to population growth and business development along U.S. Highway 278 in Beaufort County, the South Carolina Department of Transportation ("the Department") engaged experts for the purpose of streamlining the…
Date: August 15, 2011
Docket Number: 27027
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Roy Tennant challenged the trial court's rulings on several evidentiary issues in his trial for first degree kidnapping, and assault and battery. In particular, Petitioner argued the trial court erred in…
Date: August 8, 2011
Docket Number: 26859
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Matthew Kundinger received a default judgment against Louis and Linda Frazer (the Frazers) before the Frazers closed a refinance mortgage with Matrix Financial Services Corporation (Matrix). In Matrix's…
Date: August 8, 2011
Docket Number: 27023
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Municipal Court Judge Sheryl Polk McKinney's sister, who was the Clerk of the Town of Varnville, was arrested and charged with embezzlement of public funds, forgery, and misconduct in office. Respondent's…
Date: August 1, 2011
Docket Number: 27016
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Bon Secours-St. Francis Xavier Hospital (the Hospital) was a defendant at trial in the underlying civil case. On the morning of the trial, Appellants removed the case to federal court for the second time on…
Date: August 1, 2011
Docket Number: 27017
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Brian DiMarco sought a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision that affirmed, as modified, a family court's contempt order against him. Petitioner was subject to a court order to make…
Date: August 1, 2011
Docket Number: 27018
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Glenda Barron began working for Respondent Labor Finders of South Carolina in Respondent's Charleston office around 1990. During petitioner's employment, Respondent planned to open a second office location in…
Date: July 25, 2011
Docket Number: 27011
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Charleston County School District (School District) appealed a circuit court's order that granted a Rule 12(b)(6) SCRCP motion to dismiss its complaint that alleged the unconstitutionality of Act. No. 189 of…
Date: July 25, 2011
Docket Number: 27012
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to review a circuit court's order granting post-conviction relief (PCR) to Defendant Kelle Holden as to her guilty plea. The State contended the…
Date: July 25, 2011
Docket Number: 27013
Justia Opinion Summary: Carolina Chloride, Inc. sued Richland County alleging the County incorrectly advised it of the legal zoning classification of its property and that it lost a potential sale of the property due to the zoning issue. The…
Date: July 25, 2011
Docket Number: 27014
Justia Opinion Summary: After Appellant Donald Brandt produced a fraudulent document in a civil proceeding, a circuit court held Appellant in civil and criminal contempt. In turn, the court dismissed Appellant's legal malpractice action with…
Date: July 25, 2011
Docket Number: 27015
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Abel Jacobs appealed a circuit court's decision holding that a sentence for burglary in the first degree cannot be suspended under the language of South Carolina Code section 24-21-410. In January 2010,…
Date: July 18, 2011
Docket Number: 27007
Justia Opinion Summary: The South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) initiated termination of parental rights (TPR) proceedings against M.R.C.L. (mother) and R.L. (father). Child was removed from mother and father's home in May 2007…
Date: July 11, 2011
Docket Number: 26997
Justia Opinion Summary: Albert Epstein sued Coastal Timber Co., Inc. (Coastal) for damages, alleging that Coastal cut and removed standing timber that was subject to mortgages he held on property he owned. The circuit court found Mr. Epstein…
Date: July 11, 2011
Docket Number: 26998
Justia Opinion Summary: The State appealed the trial court's grant of Respondent Robert Nance's pre-trial motion to suppress the testimony of the victim in Respondent's new trial after the Supreme Court granted post-conviction relief (PCR) in…
Date: July 11, 2011
Docket Number: 27003
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants A & A Taxi, Inc. and the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Uninsured Employers' Fund appealed a circuit court order that found Respondent Robert Pikaart was an employee of A & A Taxi, Inc. at the time he…
Date: July 11, 2011
Docket Number: 27004
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' analysis and disposition of Petitioner Jamey Reid's conviction and sentence for attempted second-degree criminal sexual contact (CSC) with a…
Date: July 11, 2011
Docket Number: 27005
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Mount Pleasant (Town) appealed the circuit court's order reversing and dismissing Defendant Treva Roberts's municipal court conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) on the ground the arresting…
Date: July 11, 2011
Docket Number: 27006
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Georgetown County League of Women Voters appealed an order that dismissed its action that sought a declaration that Respondent Smith Land Company had unlawfully filled wetlands and dismissed its request for an…
Date: July 7, 2011
Docket Number: 26996
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a dispute over the results of a town council election in Atlantic Beach, South Carolina, held on November 3, 2009. Carolyn Cole and Windy Price (Appellants) appealed the circuit court order that…
Date: June 27, 2011
Docket Number: 26992
Justia Opinion Summary: The State alleged Defendant Sammyeil Barber and three others (Blake Kimbrell, Kenneth Walker, and Marcus Kiser) conspired to rob a drug dealer, Alan Heintz. The men gathered together and discussed the plans for the…
Date: June 27, 2011
Docket Number: 26993
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant "J. Doe" brought an action against Respondent Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) alleging various theories of negligence. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Wal-Mart. This case arose from the…
Date: June 27, 2011
Docket Number: 26995
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant James Miller appealed the circuit court's order committing him to the custody of the Department of Mental Health under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA), asserting that the State failed to try the case…
Date: June 21, 2011
Docket Number: 26991
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Appellant-Attorney James Brown was appointed to represent Alfonzo Howard. Mr. Howard was charged with multiple crimes, including first degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of…
Date: June 20, 2011
Docket Number: 26987
Justia Opinion Summary: Following the resolution of his partition action in probate court, Petitioner James Judy (James) filed a "waste" suit in circuit court against his brother, Respondent Ronnie Judy (Ronnie), for the destruction of a pond…
Date: June 20, 2011
Docket Number: 26988
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent optometrist Steven Hobbs sublet space leased by Cole Vision Corporation (Cole Vision) from Sears Roebuck and Company (Sears) for his optometry practice. The sublease agreement between Hobbs and Cole Vision…
Date: June 20, 2011
Docket Number: 26989
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal was the culmination of the Town of James Island's (Town) third attempt to incorporate into its own municipal body. The two previous attempts were invalidated by the Supreme Court. In this case, the Court…
Date: June 20, 2011
Docket Number: 26990
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), and the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League appealed a final order of…
Date: June 13, 2011
Docket Number: 26984
Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a class action lawsuit brought by Appellants John Doe #53, John Doe #66, John Doe #66A, John Doe #67, Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2 and Rachel Roe. The plaintiffs in the underlying class action consisted…
Date: June 13, 2011
Docket Number: 26985
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Rockville is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Appellant Marc Merrill owns a historic home in Rockville. The property abuts a marsh. Appellant obtained a permit from the state Office of…
Date: June 13, 2011
Docket Number: 26986
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Friends of the Hunley, Inc., (Friends) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the recovery and conservation of the H.L. Hunley Confederate submarine. In 2001, Petitioner Edward Sloan submitted a Freedom of…
Date: June 6, 2011
Docket Number: 26981
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Larry and Jeannie Boiter were injured when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a car driven by Nancy Kochenower at an intersection. The red light signal bulb for the road Ms. Kochenower was traveling…
Date: May 31, 2011
Docket Number: 26978
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Martha Argoe's husband had her committed to Three Rivers Behavioral Health, LLC (Three Rivers). In June 2005, the probate court accepted the petition, and issued an order to have Mrs. Argoe involuntarily…
Date: May 31, 2011
Docket Number: 26980
Justia Opinion Summary: In March 2000, Theodora Miles sought a divorce from James Miles. Prior to the final hearing, the parties reached an agreement on many issues pertaining to the division of the marital property, health insurance, child…
Date: May 23, 2011
Docket Number: 26976
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Najjar Byers unsuccessfully appealed the circuit court's denial of his motion to strike a witness' testimony at trial. On an evening in June 2005, a bingo hall was robbed at gunpoint. Police stopped a car…
Date: May 23, 2011
Docket Number: 26977
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Terrance Edwards appealed a circuit court order that denied him post conviction relief. Petitioner was indicted for murder, robbery, and grand larceny. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Petitioner alleged that…
Date: May 9, 2011
Docket Number: 26970
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Essie Simmons and Respondent Rubin Simmons divorced in 1990. The parties entered into a settlement agreement that was approved by the family court. Central to the agreement was the requirement that Mr. Simmons…
Date: May 9, 2011
Docket Number: 26971
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Kenneth Justus was sentenced to death for the murder of Justin Bregenzer. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Appellant argued that the trial court abused its discretion when it disqualified one of his two…
Date: May 9, 2011
Docket Number: 26973
Justia Opinion Summary: In this divorce action, the Supreme Court was asked to review two decisions of the appellate court involving the valuation of the marital home and an award of expert witness fees. Both issues involve determinations of…
Date: May 9, 2011
Docket Number: 26974
Justia Opinion Summary: The State appealed a circuit court order dismissing its case against Respondent Gregory Duncan. Respondent was indicted for murder after he shot and killed Christopher Spicer at his home. The court ruled that Respondent…
Date: May 9, 2011
Docket Number: 26975
Justia Opinion Summary: After his conviction for homicide, Petitioner Lucas Bailey filed an unsuccessful application for post conviction relief. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Petitioner argued that he received ineffective assistance of…
Date: May 2, 2011
Docket Number: 26966
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves the State's "working retiree program," and the propriety of its withholding retirement contributions from eligible members who returned to work with the state prior to July, 2005. Before that time, the…
Date: May 2, 2011
Docket Number: 26967
Justia Opinion Summary: Craig Reeves was the biological father of "Baby Boy Roe." The biological mother of the child was sixteen when she found out she was pregnant. She attempted to include Mr. Reeves in the pregnancy from the onset, but he…
Date: May 2, 2011
Docket Number: 26968
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) and three of its officers appealed a circuit court order enjoining them from forwarding certain information regarding Respondent James Compton to the Department…
Date: April 25, 2011
Docket Number: 26964
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