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Supreme Court Seal
South Carolina
Judicial Branch
Supreme Court - Roster of Cases for Hearing

   
The summary below each case is prepared to offer lawyers and the public a general overview of what issues are included in a case which will be argued. The summary is not a limit on what issues a party to a case may present at oral argument.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
 09:30 a.m.
3885   Lemon Island Marina, Inc. and E. Legrand Lowther, Respondents v. Beaufort County and Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority, Defendants, Of Whom Beaufort County is Appellant.

James S. Gibson, Jr., and Mary Bass Lohr, both of Howell Gibson & Hughes, P.A., of Beaufort, for Appellant. H. Fred Kuhn, Jr., of Moss, Kuhn & Fleming, P.A., of Beaufort, for Respondent.

This case involves the review of a summary judgment motion granting Respondent's request for sewer service to properties in Beaufort County.

 10:00 a.m.
3886   Carolina Travel Consultants, Inc. and Ray V. Damani, d/b/a Carolina Travel Consultants, Petitioners v. Milliken and Company, Respondent.

Edward R. Cole, of the Ward Law Firm, Michael B.T. Wilkes and Duane Alan Lazenby, both of the Wilkes Law Firm, PA, all of Spartanburg, for Petitioners. Henry L. Parr, Jr. and Troy A. Tessier, both of Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham, PA, of Greenville, for Respondent.

This is a review of the Court of Appeals’ decision to affirm summary judgment for respondent on causes of action for breach of contract, promissory estoppel, breach of contract accompanied by a fraudulent act, and intentional interference with a prospective contractual relationship.

 10:30 a.m.
3887   South Carolina Department of Social Services, Respondent v. Russell A. Miller, Petitioner.

Jay Bender and Holly Palmer Beeson, both of Baker, Ravenel & Bender, L.L.P., of Columbia, for Petitioner. W. Carole Holloway, of Florence, for Respondent.

This domestic case involves the application of URESA to a 1986 order modifying the amount of child support due under a foreign state's order and the determination of which state has continuing exclusive jurisdiction.

Thursday, May 13, 2004
 09:30 a.m.
3888   Gloria Y. Leevy and Gregory K. Leevy, Appellants v. Robert F. Anderson, Esquire, Dana Elizabeth Wilkinson, Esquire, and Anderson and Associates, P. A., Respondents.

Gloria Y. Leevy, of Leevy Law Firm, and Mr. Gregory K. Leevy, both of Columbia, Pro Se Appellants. Susan Taylor Wall, of Parker, Poe, Adams and Bernstein; and John A. Massalon, of Wills & Massalon, both of Charleston, for Respondents.

This is a legal malpractice case. The Leevys assert their attorneys were negligent in handling the bankruptcy proceedings of their funeral home, and in failing to advise them that the law firm did not represent the Leevys personally, but only the funeral home.

 10:00 a.m.
3889   The State, Petitioner v. Robert Brown, Respondent.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, and Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of the Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia; and Solicitor Edgar Lewis Clements, III, of Florence, for Petitioner. Assistant Appellate Defender Tara S. Taggart, of the Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent.

The Court of Appeals affirmed several criminal sexual conduct (CSC) convictions in which the defendant, Robert Brown, was convicted of sexually assaulting his minor daughters, but reversed three convictions for first-degree CSC. The Supreme Court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to decide whether the Court of Appeals, after reversing the first-degree CSC convictions due to a lack of evidence on one element of the crime, erred in not sending the case back to the circuit court for entry of judgment and sentencing on the lesser included offense of second-degree CSC.

 10:30 a.m.
3890   In the Matter of Lyndon B. Jones, Respondent.

Disciplinary Counsel Henry B. Richardson, Jr. and Michael S. Pauley, Esquire, both of Columbia for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Lyndon B. Jones, of Florence, Pro Se Respondent.

This matter is an attorney disciplinary action.

Tuesday, May 25, 2004
 09:30 a.m.
3891   Scratch Golf Company, Respondent v. Dunes West Residential Golf Properties, Inc.; Dunes West Property Owners Association, Inc.; Allan Feker A/K/A Ali Daghighfekr; Melinda McDonald; Julian Michael Murrin; Larry Schultz; Wilbur "Bill" Upson; Kathy Merritt; William "Bill" Fellers; Charles V. Cuddeback; and John Does and Jane Does, as past and current directors and officers of Dunes West Property Owners Association, Inc., Defendants, of whom Dunes West Residential Golf Properties, Inc., and Allan Feker, A/K/A Ali Daghighfekr, are Appellants.

John A. Massalon, of Wills & Massalon, LLC and Joseph E. DaPore, of Young Clement Rivers & Tisdale, both of Charleston, for Appellants. Richard S. Rosen and H. Brewton Hagood, both of Rosen, Rosen & Hagood, LLC, of Charleston, for Respondent.

Appellant asserts that the Master-in-Equity erred in granting a preliminary injunction, which poured $4.5 million of Appellant's assets into an escrow account, in favor of Respondent.

 10:00 a.m.
3892   The State, Respondent v. Ricky Dennis Gentry, Appellant.

John Dennis Delgado and Kathrine Haggard Hudgins, both of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson and Assistant Attorney General Deborah R.J. Shupe, all of the Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia and Solicitor Harold W. Gowdy, III, of Spartanburg, for Respondent.

This criminal case involves issues regarding the sufficiency of the accessory before the fact indictments and whether the trial court erred by failing to direct a verdict on the accessory charges.

 10:30 a.m.
3893   In the Matter of William Yon Rast, Jr., Respondent.

Disciplinary Counsel Henry B. Richardson, Jr. and Assistant Disciplinary Counsel Barbara M. Seymour, both of Columbia for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. William Yon Rast, Jr., of West Columbia, Pro Se Respondent.

This matter is an attorney disciplinary action.

Wednesday, May 26, 2004
 09:30 a.m.
3894   ORAL ARGUMENT CANCELLED - CASE SETTLED AND DISMISSED - Lewis Branham and Alice Branham, Respondents v. Columbia Neurosurgical Assoc., P.A., Brett Gunter, M.D. and Lisa Smith, R.N., Appellants.

John Hamilton Smith, Sr. and Stephen L. Brown, both of Young Clement Rivers & Tisdale, of Charleston, and James E. Parham, Jr., of Irmo, for Appellants. Chad A. McGowan, of McGowan & Hood, of Rock Hill, Joseph G. Wright, III, of Wright Law Offices of Anderson, and F. Patrick Hubbard, of Columbia, for Respondents.

Lewis Branham and Alice Branham won jury verdicts in a medical malpractice action. Appellants's issues on appeal include (1) whether the trial judge erred in refusing to allow Appellants to enter into evidence an exhibit prepared by defense counsel at trial based on the cross-examination of the Branhams' economic loss expert; (2) the propriety of the trial judge's jury instruction on Mr. Branham's life expectancy; (3) whether the trial judge improperly allowed the Branhams' attorney to argue the jury could consider the defendant physician's failure to testify; (4) whether the trial judge erred in instructing the jury that reduced life expectancy could be considered as an element of damages; (5) whether the trial judge erred by admitting the hospital's bylaws and regulations as evidence; and (6) whether the trial judge erred in declining to reduce or set off the malpractice award by the amount the Branhams obtained in settlement with the at-fault driver in the vehicle wreck and the amount the Branhams obtained in settlement from their own underinsured motorist coverage.

 09:30 a.m.
3895   Builders FirstSource-Southeast Group, Inc., Respondent v. Sea Coast Builders, L.L.C. a/k/a Sea Coast Builders, Inc., and Harold Cecil, Defendants, Of Whom Harold Cecil is the Appellant.

C. Scott Masel, of Newby, Pridgen & Sartip, LLC, of Myrtle Beach, for Appellant. Joseph F. Singleton, of Singleton Burroughs & Young, PA of Conway, for Respondent.

This case involves whether Appellant is liable for a guaranty, and whether Appellant is liable for attorney's fees and costs incurred in collecting the guaranty.

 10:00 a.m.
3896   In the Matter of Arthur Cecil McFarland, Respondent.

Disciplinary Counsel Henry B. Richardson, Jr. and Assistant Disciplinary Counsel Barbara M. Seymour, both of Columbia for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Coming B. Gibbs, Jr., of Gibbs & Holmes, of Charleston, for Respondent.

This is a lawyer discipline case.

Thursday, May 27, 2004
 09:30 a.m.
3897   The State, Respondent v. Jemal Grubbs, Appellant.

Assistant Appellate Defender Aileen P. Clare, of the Office of Appellate Defense, 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 Deborah R. J. Shupe, all of the Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia, and Solicitor John Gregory Hembree, of Conway, for Respondent.

This appeal involves a jurisdictional challenge to an indictment for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

 10:00 a.m.
3898   Edward Lee Elmore, Petitioner v. Parker Evatt, Director, Department of Corrections, Respondent.

Diana L. Holt, John H. Blume, III, of Blume & Weyble, both of Columbia; J. Christopher Jensen, of Cowan Lebowitz & Latman and Barry C. Scheck, of The Innocence Project, both of New York, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, all of the Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This is a death penalty PCR matter. The Court granted a writ of certiorari to review numerous allegations.

 10:30 a.m.
3899   Charlotte Latimer, Stuart Latimer, and Michelle L. Farmer, Appellants v. Daniel W. Farmer, Respondent.

Raymond William Godwin, of Greenville, for Appellants. Robert M. Rosenfeld, of Porter & Rosenfeld, of Greenville, for Respondent. Kelvin R. Kearse, of Easley, Guardian Ad Litem.

This child custody case involves, among other things, the custodial parent's relocation of the child out of state, whether the Guardian ad Litem followed appropriate standards in conducting the investigation, and whether grandparents should receive autonomous visitation rights.

 

Cases to be Submitted Without Oral Argument

Heyward Branham, Petitioner v. State of South Carolina, Respondent.

Assistant Appellate Defender Aileen P. Clare, of the Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Chief, Capital and Collateral Litigation Donald J. Zelenka, Assistant Deputy Attorney General B. Allen Bullard, Jr. and Assistant Attorney General David A. Spencer, all of the Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia, for Respondent.

In the Matter of Thomas E. Elliott, Jr., Respondent.

Disciplinary Counsel Henry B. Richardson, Jr. and Assistant Disciplinary Counsel Barbara M. Seymour, both of Columbia for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Thomas E. Elliott, Jr., of The Elliott Law Firm, of Columbia, Pro Se Respondent.

Robert W. Hagins, Sr., Petitioner v. State of South Carolina, Respondent.

Assistant Appellate Defender Eleanor Duffy Cleary, of the Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, all of the Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia, for Respondent.

Jason Roberts, Respondent v. State of South Carolina, Petitioner.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, and Senior Assistant Attorney General William Edgar Salter, III, all of the Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, of the Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent.