Deputy Chief Appellate Defender for Capital Appeals Robert M. Dudek, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, and Beattie Inglis Butler, of Charleston, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Scarlett Anne Wilson, of Charleston, for Respondent.

In this case, the Court granted certiorari to review the court of appeals’ decision in State v. Washington, 367 S.C. 76, 623 S.E.2d 836 (Ct. App. 2006), in which the court of appeals held the trial court did not err in admitting out of court statements under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule.

Marvin P. Jackson, of Florence, for Petitioner. Andrew F. Lindemann, of Davidson Morrison & Lindemann, of Columbia, and Marian Williams Scalise, of Richardson, Plowden & Robinson, of Myrtle Beach, for Respondents.

This is a medical malpractice case involving several evidentiary issues regarding proof of negligence and the grant of summary judgment in the doctors' favor.

Timothy E. Madden and Reid T. Sherard, both of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, of Greenville, for Petitioner. Thomas M. Neal, III, of Law Office of Thomas M. Neal, III, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case is on certiorari from the Court of Appeals. This was a divorce case. The wife was granted a divorce on grounds of adultery; the family court found husband had condoned wife’s adultery, and awarded wife 68% of the marital property, including the marital residence, home furnishings, and her car. Husband was also ordered to pay $4000 per month alimony, pay wife $30,000 attorney’s fees, $9000 expert witness fees, and maintain medical insurance and a life insurance policy naming wife as beneficiary. The Court of Appeals reversed, finding husband had not condoned wife’s adultery, and husband had sufficiently proved the defense of recrimination. The Court of Appeals reversed the award of alimony and order to maintain health and life insurance, but affirmed the equitable distribution of marital property. Wife’s petition for certiorari was granted.

Chief Appellate Defender Joseph L. Savitz, III, and Appellate Defender LaNelle C. DuRant, both of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 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 J. Anthony Mabry, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Robert M. Ariail, of Greenville, for Respondent.

This is an appeal from a resentencing proceeding following which appellant received a death sentence.

R. David Massey and E. Zachary Horton, both of Brown Massey Evans McLeod & Haynsworth, of Greenville, James R. Thompson, of Saint-Amand, Thompson & Brown, of Gaffney, and William E. Winter, Jr., of Winter & Rhoden, of Gaffney, all for Petitioner. Randall Scott Hiller, of Greenville, for Respondent.

Petitioner appeals a court of appeals’ decision affirming a circuit court order that set aside a probate court’s order appointing two mental health examiners to evaluate Petitioner’s competency for purposes of appointing a conservator. The circuit court found that the probate court abused its discretion in by failing to appoint disinterested examiners which the relevant provision in the Probate Code “inherently” required.

Richard S. Rosen, of Rosen, Rosen and Hagood, of Charleston, for Petitioner. Thomas A. Pendarvis, of Pendarvis Law Offices, of Beaufort, for Respondent.

This case is on certiorari from the Court of Appeals. The underlying claims are legal malpractice claims against petitioner which alleged causes of action for negligence, fraud, civil conspiracy, and breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court granted petitioner summary judgment and dismissed all of respondent’s claims as having been filed outside the statute of limitations and barred by collateral estoppel. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal as to the fraud and conspiracy claims, but reversed the grant of summary judgment on the negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims, finding those claims were not barred by the statute of limitations, and were not barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel.

C. Mitchell Brown, William C. Wood, Jr., and A. Mattison Bogan, all of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia, for Appellant. Robert Francis McMahan, Jr., of Harris & Graves, of Columbia, for Respondent Dorothy Merritt, as Personal Representative for the Estate of Jonah C. Merritt. A. Glenn Greene, Jr., of Greene & Huggins, of Dillon, for Respondent Kenneth G. Lane. William Jones Rivers, III, of Schurlknight & Rivers, of Florence, for Respondents Kenny Campbell and Neil R. Campbell, Jr.

This is an appeal from an order finding automobile insurance policy coverage.

Evans T. Barnette and Susan F. Campbell, both of McCutchen Blanton Johnson & Barnette, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Joel W. Collins, Jr., Eric G. Fosmire and Christian Stegmaier, all of Collins & Lacy, of Columbia, for Respondent.

NationsWaste appeals from the Court of Appeals’ opinion upholding the jury verdict against it for civil conspiracy, arguing: (1) there was no evidence of a civil conspiracy; (2) the civil conspiracy claim was based on the same facts as other claims; (3) Roddey failed to establish special damages; and (4) the Court of Appeals found special damages that were not pled.

Evans T. Barnette and Susan F. Campbell, both of McCutchen, Blanton, Johnson & Barnette, of Columbia, for Appellant. Richard S. Rosen and Daniel F. Blanchard, III, both of Rosen, Rosen and Hagood, and George J. Kefalos, all of Charleston, for Respondent.

In this case, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Respondents. Specifically, Appellant argues the trial court erred in ruling that it had a duty to defend Respondent pursuant to Respondent’s insurance policy and in ruling that Appellant waived the notice requirements contained in the policy.

Stephen P. Groves, Sr., Bradish J. Waring and Paul A. Dominick, all of Nexsen Pruet, LLC, of Charleston, for Appellant Beachfront Entertainment. John F. Martin, of The Martin Law Firm, of Charleston, for Appellants John Elder, Mary Lynn Sheppard and Cole Charles. Frances I. Cantwell and William B. Regan, both of Regan & Cantwell, of Charleston, Mark C. Tanenbaum and John P. Algar, both of Mark C. Tanenbaum, PA, of Charleston, for Respondent. Charles W. Patrick, Jr., Gregory A. Lofstead and Matthew D. Hamrick, all of Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman, of Charleston, for Amicus Curiae Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, et al.

This appeal is from an order finding a local smoking ban valid.

Carl B. Epps, III, Stephen G. Morrison, Laura Callaway Hart, Shelby K. Leonardi, Elizabeth Scott Moise, Rachel Atkin Hedley and D. Kay Tennyson, all of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, for Appellants-Respondents. Robert E. Stepp, Elizabeth Van Doren Gray, A. Jackson Barnes and Roland M. Franklin, Jr., all of Sowell, Gray, Stepp & Laffitte, for Respondents-Appellants. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Assistant Deputy Attorney General J. Emory Smith, Jr., and Swati Shah Patel, all of Columbia, for Respondents. Susan J. Rose and Susan B. Berkowitz, both of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Edward W. Laney, IV and R. Hawthorne Barrett, both of Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae South Carolina Association of School Nurses. Matthew T. Richardson, of Wyche, Burgess, Freeman & Parham, of Columbia and Ellen M. Boylan, of Education Law Center, of Newark, New Jersey, for Amici Curiae The League of Women Voters of South Carolina and the South Carolina State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Joel W. Collins, Jr., of Collins & Lacy of Columbia, and Molly A. Hunter, of Education Law Center, of Newark, New Jersey, for Amici Curiae Education Justice at Education Law Center, The National School Boards Association, the National Access Network, Teachers College and Columbia University. Amanda Gibson Adler, of Columbia, for Amici Curiae South Carolina Rural Education Grassroots Group and the Rural School and Community Trust. Stephen K. Benjamin and Tina N. Herbert, both of McAngus, Goudelock & Courie, of Columbia, for Amici Curiae South Carolina Association of School Administrators and South Carolina School Boards Association.

This case involves the South Carolina Constitution’s requirement that there be a system of free public schools which affords each student the opportunity to receive a minimally adequate education. The trial court examined eight specific South Carolina school districts and held that without early childhood intervention programs designed to counter the effects of the pervasive poverty in these districts, some students who entered the public school system were not being afforded the constitutionally required opportunity. The plaintiff school districts and citizens appeal several issues, the majority of which relate to the trial court’s conclusions regarding features of the public school systems which they contend the trial court incorrectly found were adequate. The South Carolina General Assembly cross-appeals and argues that the court adopted an incorrect burden of proof at trial, that the trial court erred in ultimately concluding that students were not being afforded the constitutionally required opportunity, and that this case presents problematic justiciability issues. The Governor, a party at trial, filed no appeal from the trial court’s order.

Appellate Defenders LaNelle C. Durant and M. Celia Robinson, both of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Attorney General Deborah R. J. Shupe and Assistant Attorney General Brandy A. Duncan, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

In this direct appeal, appellant argues that the Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Act violates the state Constitution because the Act fails to provide an inmate SVP treatment during his criminal sentence.

Margaret D. Fabri, and Donald Bruce Clark, both of Charleston, for Petitioner. Peter D. DeLuca, Jr., of DeLuca & Maucher, of Goose Creek, for Respondent.

The Court granted certiorari to review a Court of Appeals decision holding the annulment of petitioner’s first marriage as void ab initio did not validate her second marriage.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka and Assistant Attorney General Melody J. Brown, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. Teresa L. Norris, of Blume, Weyble & Norris, and Theresa Lee Clement, of Clement Law Office, both of Columbia, for Respondent.

In this death penalty post-conviction relief matter, the Court granted the State’s petition for certiorari to review the PCR judge’s order vacating Respondent’s death sentence, ordering a new sentencing hearing, and continuing one of Respondent’s grounds for post-conviction relief until Respondent regained competence.