THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals


APPEAL FROM RICHLAND COUNTY
Court of Common Pleas
G. Thomas Cooper, Jr., Circuit Court Judge


Case No. 2003-CP-40-2175




Frank w. Kerr, as personal representative
for the Estate of Marta Butler Kerr, deceased,........................... Appellant,

v.

Richland Memorial Hospital, ................................................... Respondent.



REPLY BRIEF OF APPELLANT


 

CHARLES L. HENSHAW, JR.
FURR, HENSHAW & OHANESIAN
1534 Blanding Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
Telephone (803) 252-4050
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Table of Contents

Table of Cases, Statutes, Authorities........................................................................................................... 3

Statement of Issues on Appeal..................................................................................................................... 3

Argument......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Issue II.................................................................................................................................................... 3

Is the six year statute of repose of S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-545(A) applicable to a governmental hospital?............................................................................................................................................... 3

Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................... 3

Table of Cases, Statutes, Authorities

Cases

Glover v. County of Charleston, 361 S.C. 634, 606 S.E.2d 773 (2004)................................................ 6

United States v. Cooper Corp., 312 U.S. 600 (1941)............................................................................. 5

Constitutional Provisions

S.C. Const. Ann. Art. I, § 3.......................................................................................................................... 5

U.S. Const. Amend. 14, § 1....................................................................................................................... 5

Statement of Issues on Appeal

I.  Did the governmental hospital have a duty of care for which it could be liable in the presence of acts or omissions of an independent contractor?
II.  Is the six year statute of repose of S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-545(A) applicable to a governmental hospital?

III.              

Argument

Issue II

Is the six year statute of repose of S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-545(A) applicable to a governmental hospital?

Respondent asserts that failure to incorporate the medical malpractice statute of repose into the South Carolina Tort Claims Act would be an unconstitutional violation of the Equal Protection Clauses.  This constitutional defense was not raised in the court below either at the initial hearing or on motion for reconsideration.  Moreover, it raises a fundamental question of whether a constitutional provision designed to protect persons against state action can inure to the benefit of a State agency.

The South Carolina Constitution provides that no “person [shall] be denied the equal protection of the laws.” S.C. Const. Ann. Art. I, § 3 (emphasis added).  The Fourteenth Amendment similarly provides that no State shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. U.S. Const. Amend. 14, § 1. (emphasis added).  In common usage, “the term ‘person" does not include the sovereign.”  United States v. Cooper Corp., 312 U.S. 600, 604 (1941).

Having not been raised and considered in the court below, the constitutional issue is not appropriately before this court.  Constitutional issues must be raised to and ruled on by the lower court in order to be preserved for review.  Glover v. County of Charleston, 361 S.C. 634, 606 S.E.2d 773 (2004).  Moreover, the respondent lacks standing to argue that failure to incorporate the medical malpractice statute of repose would violate the requirements of equal protection.

Conclusion

The summary judgment should be reversed and the case remanded.

 

Respectfully submitted,
By:  ______________________________
CHARLES L. HENSHAW, JR.
FURR, HENSHAW & OHANESIAN
1534 Blanding Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
Telephone (803) 252-4050
Attorney for Appellant

September 4, 2008


CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this date I caused to be served a copy of the foregoing REPLY BRIEF OF APPELLANT upon the individual whose name and address are listed below by placing a copy of it in the United States Mail with proper first-class postage affixed thereon.

 

Andrew F. Lindemann
William H. Davidson
Davidson, Morrison & Lindemann, PA
1611 Devonshire Drive, Second Floor
P.O. Box 8568
Columbia, SC 29202


 

_________________________________
CHARLES L. HENSHAW, JR.

September 4, 2008