THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

Melvin Jerome Nelson, Jr., Appellant.


Appeal From York County
 Marc H. Westbrook, Circuit Court Judge
Edward W. Miller, Circuit Court Judge


Unpublished Opinion No. 2008-UP-699
Submitted December 1, 2008 – Filed December 15, 2008  


AFFIRMED


Appellate Defender Wanda H. Carter, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Assistant Attorney General Julie M. Thames, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Kevin S. Brackett, of Spartanburg, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Melvin Jerome Nelson, Jr. appeals his conviction for possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine arguing the trial judge erred in admitting the opinion of a lay witness inferring he was a crack cocaine dealer.  We affirm[1] pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following authorities: Pye v. Estate of Fox, 369 S.C. 555, 564, 633 S.E.2d 505, 510 (2006) (finding an “issue cannot be raised for the first time on appeal, but must have been raised to and ruled upon by the trial court to be preserved”); State v. McCray, 332 S.C. 536, 542, 506 S.E.2d 301, 303 (1998) (finding where an appellate argument differs from the argument made at trial, the argument is unpreserved for appeal); Hunt v. S.C. Forestry Comm’n, 358 S.C. 564, 573, 595 S.E.2d 846, 851 (Ct. App. 2004) (finding “[i]ssues raised in a brief but not supported by authority are deemed abandoned and will not be considered on appeal”).

AFFIRMED.

HEARN, C.J., SHORT and KONDUROS, JJ., concur.


[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.