Acting Chief Attorney Joseph L. Savitz, III, Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Dudek, both of Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, and Beattie Inglis Butler, of Charleston, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General William Edgar Salter, III, of Columbia, and Solicitor Warren Blair Giese, of Columbia, for Respondent.

Appellant was convicted of two counts of homicide by child abuse under the State's theory of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. She appeals on several grounds including the joinder of charges, evidentiary issues, and the jury charge.

C. Mitchell Brown, Elizabeth Herlong Campbell, both of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia, and Douglas A. Churdar, of Greenville, for Appellant. Woodrow H. Gooding, Mark B. Tinsley, both of Gooding & Gooding, of Allendale, and Robert N. Hill, of Newberry, for Respondents.

The respondents filed an action against the appellant and sent the summons and complaint to the appellant's registered agent by certified mail. A clerical employee picked up the summons and complaint and signed the certified mail receipt. The appellant's registered agent testified he never received it. A default judgment was entered by the circuit court and the speical referee awarded $350,000 in damages. The appellant moved to set aside the default judgment. The special referee refused to set aside the default judgment. The issues are: 1) whether the special referee erred in refusing to set aside the default judgment and 2) whether the special referee erred in denying the appellant’s motion to remand to the circuit court its Rule 60(b) motion to set aside the default judgment.

Kimberley Elizabeth Campbell, of Patrick Law Firm, of Surfside Beach, for Appellant. Celeste Moore, of South Carolina Department of Social Services, of Columbia, for Respondent. Melissa Meyers Frazier, of Wiley and Frazier, of North Myrtle Beach, for Guardian Ad Litem.

This case involves, among other things, whether the trial court erred in terminating the appellant's parental rights.

Alex B. Cash, of Rosen, Rosen & Hagood, of Charleston, and Donald Bruce Clark, of Charleston, for Petitioner. Ronald L. Richter, Jr., of Charleston, for Respondent.

In this divorce case, the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the family court to vacate its qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) under Rule 60(b)(4), SCRCP. The issue is whether a federal statute, the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA), pre-empts state-court subject-matter jurisdiction to distribute more than half of certain military retirement benefits to the non-military spouse.

Deputy Director Teresa A. Knox, Legal Counsel J. Benjamin Aplin and Legal Counsel Lovee McKinney Watts, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. William M. Hagood, III, of Love, Thornton, Arnold & Thomason, of Greenville, for Respondent.

This case is on certiorari from the Court of Appeals. At issue is whether prior out-of-state convictions are to be considered violent crimes for purposes of determining parole eligibility under S.C. Code Ann. 24-21-640.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Deputy Attorney General T. Stephen Lynch and Senior Assistant Attorney General C. Havird Jones, Jr., all of Columbia, for Appellant. Gregory G. Williams, of Columbia, for Respondent Epworth Children's Home. J. Anthony Floyd, of Floyd & Gardner, of Hartsville, for Respondent W. F. Beasley. Bryan W. Braddock, of Saleeby & Cox, of Hartsville, for Respondent Prospect United Methodist Church.

This case involves the validity and interpretation of a testamentary trust established in a will. The South Carolina Attorney General, acting under his statutory authority to enforce charitable trusts, has appealed the rulings of lower courts which approved the immediate distrubution of trust assets to the beneficiaries, Epworth Children's Home and Prospect Methodist Church. The issues are whether the lower courts erred in interpreting a will provision, or in applying the doctrines of equitable deviation or merger, to allow immediate distribution of trust assets.

Jack B. Swerling, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Harold W. Gowdy, III, of Spartanburg, for Respondent.

Appellant was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. The issue is whether the circuit court committed reversible error by admitting extrinsic evidence of a witness's prior inconsistent statement.

V. Clark Price, Carroll H. Roe, Jr., and Dana M. Lahey, all of Roe Cassidy Coates & Price, PA, of Greenville, for Appellant-Respondent. Raymon E. Lark, Jr., of Austin, Lewis & Rogers, P.A., of Columbia, for Respondents-Appellants Marion R. McMillan, M.D. and Blue Ridge Medical Specialties. D. Randle Moody, of Roe Cassidy Coates & Price, PA, of Greenville, for Respondent-Appellant Anesthesiology Consultants of the Upstate, P.A. Stuart M. Andrews, Jr., and Merrit G. Abney, both of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae South Carolina Hospital Association.

This case involves, among other things, whether the trial court erred in reducing the amount of the jury award pursuant to statutory charitable immunity provisions and in granting injunctive relief. Additionally, this Court is asked to determine if the statutory cap provisions for charitable organizations are unconstitutional.

Robert H. Gwin, III, of Gwin Law Offices, of Myrtle Beach, for Petitioner. Robert H. O'Donnell, of O'Donnell Law Firm, of Georgetown, for Respondents.

This case raises the issue of whether a jointly owned parcel of land should be subject to partition by allotment or to a judicial sale.

John Dennis Delgado, Kathrine Haggard Hudgins, and John S. Nichols, of Bluestein and Nichols, all of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey A. Jacobs, and Solicitor Warren Blair Giese, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

This is a murder case in which the defendant was tried and convicted of murder some forty years after the shooting death of a taxi-cab driver in Columbia in March 1961. Freiburger raises numerous evidentiary issues.

Melvin L. Roberts, of Roberts & D'Agostino, of York, for Petitioner. John E. James, III, of Lee, Erter, Wilson, James, Holler & Smith, LLC, of Sumter, for Respondent County of Sumter. Harry C. Wilson, Jr., and David C. Holler, both of Lee, Erter, Wilson, James, Holler & Smith, LLC, of Sumter, for Respondent City of Sumter.

The Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari from the Court of Appeals to consider whether a municipality or county may be held liable in tort or contract for damages sustained by a homeowner due to the improper construction of a private residence, which allegedly resulted in part from building inspectors’ negligent failure to timely discover and prevent building code violations. Petitioner, the homeowner, argues the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment to City of Sumter and County of Sumter because (1) the public duty rule does not bar her lawsuit and, further, the public duty rule should be abolished; (2) exceptions to the waiver of immunity contained in the South Carolina Tort Claims Act do not bar her lawsuit; and (3) the governmental defendants are liable for damages under a breach of contract theory.