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

In the Interest of Dion M., a minor under the age of seventeen (17), Appellant.

Appeal From Edgefield County
Richard W. Chewning, III, Family Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2009-UP-034
Submitted January 2, 2009 – Filed January 14, 2009

DISMISSED

Deputy Chief 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, Assistant Attorney General William M. Blitch, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor Donald V. Myers, of Lexington, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Dion M. appeals from the family court’s order finding him delinquent of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, second-degree, and ordering him committed for an evaluation. 

“An order adjudicating a juvenile to be a delinquent is not immediately appealable.  Instead, an appeal may only be taken after the imposition of final judgment at the dispositional hearing.”  In the Interest of Lorenzo B., 307 S.C. 439, 439, 415 S.E.2d 795, 795 (1992) (citing Ex parte Murray, 261 S.C. 255, 199 S.E.2d 718 (1973)).  Where the family court finds a minor guilty as a matter of law, but withholds sentencing, “[t]his Court is confined to the consideration of questions presented after final judgment has been rendered.  The appellant has never been sentenced and until he is sentenced there is no final judgment.”  Ex parte Murray, 261 S.C. at 256, 199 S.E.2d at 718.

Accordingly, we find this appeal is premature, and it is dismissed without prejudice to Dion M.’s right to appeal from the family court’s dispositional hearing. 

DISMISSED. [1]

WILLIAMS, PIEPER, and GEATHERS, JJ., concur.

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