THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

James Willie Elkins, Appellant.


Appeal from Newberry County
Edward W. Miller, Circuit Court Judge


Unpublished Opinion No. 2010-UP-161
Submitted January 4, 2010 – Filed February 24, 2010   


APPEAL 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, of Columbia, and Solicitor, Eighth Judicial Circuit, Jerry W. Peace, of Greenwood, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  James Willie Elkins appeals his conviction for two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree.  Elkins argues the trial court erred in "failing to determine whether the child witness was competent to testify in the case after it became clear that said witness was apparently under considerable stress from the events which led to the trial and the trial itself."  Elkins's counsel attached to the brief a petition to be relieved as counsel, stating that she had reviewed the record and concluded that the appeal is without legal merit sufficient to warrant a new trial.  Elkins filed a pro se brief.

After a thorough review of the record, the pro se brief, and counsel's brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and State v. Williams, 305 S.C. 116, 406 S.E.2d 357 (1991), we dismiss the appeal and grant counsel's motion to be relieved.[1]

APPEAL DISMISSED.

HUFF, J., GEATHERS, J., and CURETON, A.J., concur.


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