![]() |
September 2008 |
NEXT
![]() |
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.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | |
09:30 a.m. | |
4605 Thomas E. Skinner, Respondent, v. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Appellant. Donald L. Van Riper, of Collins & Lacy, of Greenville, for Appellant. Jeffrey T. Eddy, of Charleston, for Respondent. This case involves the dismissal of a workers’ compensation appeal by the circuit court because of a delay with service of the appeal on the Workers Compensation Commission.
|
|
10:00 a.m. | |
4606 Drury Development Corporation, Plaintiff, v. Foundation Insurance Company, Clarendon National Insurance Company, Tarheel Insurance Management Company, Tarheel Group, Steven M. Mariano, and Lucia Tompkins, Defendants. Allyson Torres Beckman, Gerald Michael Finkel and Sean A. O'Connor, all of Finkel & Altman, of Charleston, for Plaintiff. R. Scott Wallinger, Jr., of Clawson & Staubes, of Charleston, Eileen R. Ridley and Michael A Naranjo, both of Foley and Lardner, of San Francisco, CA, for Defendant Clarendon National Insurance Company. John Edward Cuttino, Michelle P. Clayton and Steven Wayne Ouzts, all of Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney, of Columbia, for Defendant Tarheel Insurance Management Co., et al. Geoffrey Ross Bonham, Jeffrey A. Jacobs and Rachel Y. Harper, all of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae South Carolina Department of Insurance. This case involves two certified questions from the United States District Court arising out of a situation in which the plaintiff seeks to pierce the corporate veil in order to hold a liquidated corporation’s parents and shareholders liable for the corporation’s alleged obligations. The first question asks whether a judgment against the corporation is a prerequisite to an alter-ego claim. In the event the Court answers the first question “yes,” the second question asks whether a plaintiff is precluded from bringing an alter-ego claim against shareholders and officers of a corporation if it fails to either obtain a judgment against the corporation prior to its liquidation or present its claim to the liquidator as a creditor of the corporation subject to liquidation pursuant to the South Carolina Insurers Rehabilitation and Liquidation Act, S.C. Code Ann. § 38-27-10, et seq. (“the Act”).
|
|
10:30 a.m. | |
4607 The State, Respondent, v. William R. Douglas, Petitioner. Deputy Chief Appellate Defender for Capital Appeals Robert M. Dudek, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General David Spencer, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Cecil Kelly Jackson, of Sumter, for Respondent. This case is on a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals. At issue is whether the trial court properly allowed a Victim Assistance Officer to testify as an expert in “forensic interviewing” in a lewd act on a minor case. The Court of Appeals upheld qualification of the expert and admission of her testimony.
|
|
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | |
09:30 a.m. | |
4608 Federal Financial Company, a general partnership, Respondent, v. Carol D. Hartley, individually and as Trustee for the Daniel Wayne Hartley, (a/k/a D. Wayne Hartley) Trust; et al., Defendants, of whom Carol D. Hartley, individually and as Trustee for the Daniel Wayne Hartley, (a/k/a D. Wayne Hartley) Trust; Anita Beth Hartley, individually and as Trustee for the Daniel Wayne Hartley, (a/k/a D. Wayne Hartley) Trust; Daniel Wayne Hartley, (a/k/a D. Wayne Hartley); and Thomas B. Daniels (a/k/a Thomas Daniels)are Appellants. Merrill Anthony Cox, of Cox Law Firm, of Goose Creek, for Appellants Carol Hartley, Anita Beth Hartley and Daniel Wayne Hartley. Lawrence E. Richter, Jr., of The Richter Law Firm, of Mt. Pleasant, and David K. Haller, of Charleston, for Appellant Thomas B. Daniels. Timothy A. Domin, of Clawson & Staubes, of Charleston, for Respondent. The issue is whether a pre-tax sale mortgage was cancelled when the taxpayer/mortgagee (re)purchases her property from the Forfeited Land Commission after the redemption period.
|
|
10:00 a.m. | |
4609 The State, Respondent, v. Charles Christopher Williams, Appellant. Deputy Chief Appellate Defender for Capital Appeals Robert M. Dudek, 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, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Robert Mills Ariail, of Greenville, for Respondent. In this capital case, Appellant appeals his sentence of death alleging the trial judge erred in refusing to sentence Appellant to life imprisonment where the jury, after hours of deliberation, revealed it was divided nine to three in favor or death. Alternatively, Appellant contends the trial judge erred in failing to give Appellant’s proposed Allen charge. Additionally, Appellant asserts the trial judge erred in refusing to declare a mistrial during the testimony of a forensic psychiatrist on the ground the testimony impermissibly bolstered and vouched for the solicitor’s decision to seek the death penalty.
|
|
10:30 a.m. | |
4573 Russell Laffitte, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Angela Lynn Plyler, Respondent, v. Bridgestone Corporation, Bridgestone/ Firestone North American Tire, LLC, Ford Motor Company, Bubba Windham and Chuck Horton d/b/a Vintage Motors, Defendants, of whom Bridgestone Corporation is the Petitioner. Russell Laffitte, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Justin Plyler, Respondent, v. Bridgestone Corporation, Bridgestone/ Firestone North American Tire, LLC, Ford Motor Company, Bubba Windham and Chuck Horton d/b/a Vintage Motors, Defendants, of whom Bridgestone Corporation is the Petitioner. Alania Plyler, a minor by and through her Conservator, Russell Laffitte, Respondent, v. Bridgestone Corporation, Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC, Ford Motor Company, Bubba Windham and Chuck Horton d/b/a Vintage Motors, Defendants, of whom Bridgestone Corporation is the Petitioner. Hannah Plyler, a minor by and through her Conservator, Russell Laffitte, Respondent, v. Bridgestone Corporation, Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC, Ford Motor Company, Bubba Windham and Chuck Horton d/b/a Vintage Motors, Defendants, of whom Bridgestone Corporation is the Petitioner. M. Dawes Cooke, Jr., Todd M. Musheff and John W. Fletcher, all of Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms, of Charleston, and Wallace K. Lightsey, of Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham, of Greenville, for Petitioner. John E. Parker, Ronnie L. Crosby and R. Alexander Murdaugh, all of Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, of Hampton, and F. Arnold Beacham, Jr., of Lexington, for Respondents. Erin D. Dean, of Tupper, Grimsley & Dean, of Beaufort, Henry B Smythe, Jr., David B. McCormack and David S. Cox, all of Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee, of Charleston, Elbert S. Dorn and Nicholas W. Gladd, both of Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney, of Columbia, all for Defendants. E. Warren Moise, of Gimball & Cabaniss, of Charleston, and Debora B. Alsup, of Thompson & Kinght, of Austin, TX, for Amicus Curiae Rubber Manufacturers, Inc. John G. Creech, James H. Fowles, III, and C. Victor Pyle, III, all of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. C. Mitchell Brown, William C. Wood, Jr., and A. Mattison Bogan, all of Nelson, Mullins Riley & Scarborough, for Amicus Curiae Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc. This is an original jurisdiction matter involving a discovery order compelling Bridgestone Corporation to disclose trade secret information.
|
|
Thursday, September 18, 2008 | |
09:30 a.m. | |
4610 ATC South, Inc., Appellant, v. Charleston County, Leon Stavrinakis, in his capacity as Chairman of Charleston County Council, and Charles T. Wallace, Timothy E. Scott, Curtis Inabinet, Henry Darby, Teddy Pryor, Curtis Bostic and Ed Fava, in their capacities as the duly elected council or governing body of the County of Charleston, SCANA Communications, Inc. and South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, Respondents. Ellison D. Smith, IV, and Stan Barnett, both of Smith, Bundy, Bybee & Barnett, of Mt. Pleasant, for Appellant. Joseph Dawson, III, Bernard E. Ferrara, Jr., and Bernice M. Jenkins, all of North Charleston, for Respondents Charleston County, et al. Gary C. Pennington and Jessica Clancy Crowson, both of Pennington Law Firm, of Columbia, for Respondents South Carolina Electric & Gas Company and SCANA. In this zoning case, Appellant challenges the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment due to standing.
|
|
10:00 a.m. | |
4611 In the Matter of Ernest E. Yarborough, Respondent. Lesley M. Coggiola, of Office of Disciplinary Counsel, of Columbia, Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster and Senior Assistant Attorney General James G. Bogle, Jr., both of Columbia, for Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Ernest E. Yarborough, pro se, of Columbia. In this attorney disciplinary matter, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel argues that the Full Panel’s erred in recommending that Respondent be disbarred retroactively.
|
|
10:30 a.m. | |
4612 In the Matter of Robert Patrick Lusk, Respondent. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster and Senior Assistant Attorney General James G. Bogle, Jr., both of Columbia, for Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Desa Ballard, of West Columbia, for Respondent. This is an attorney disciplinary matter where the Panel recommended no sanction and a dismissal of charges.
|
|
11:00 a.m. | |
4602 In the Matter of Denmark Municipal Court Judge Myron V. Anderson, Respondent. Senior Assistant Attorney General James G. Bogle, Jr., of Columbia, for Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Myron V. Anderson, of Denmark, pro se. This is a judicial disciplinary matter.
|
Cases to be Submitted Without Oral Argument | |
Johnny L. Cantrell, Petitioner, v. State of South Carolina, Respondent |
|
Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General Daniel E. Grigg, all of Columbia, for Respondent. |
|
Steven Roy Earley, Petitioner, v. State of South Carolina, Respondent. |
|
Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General Daniel E. Grigg, all of Columbia, for Respondent |
|
Thomas Lee Coleman, Respondent, v. State of South Carolina, Petitioner. |
|
Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General Matthew J. Friedman, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent. |
|
Marcus D. Robinson, Petitioner, v. State of South Carolina, Respondent. |
|
Deputy Chief Attorney Wanda H. Carter, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General Karen C. Ratigan, all of Columbia, for Respondent. |
|
Julie D. Garcia, Respondent, v. Matthew D. Saski, Appellant. |
|
Stephen K. Haigler and Michael D. Glenn, both of Glenn, Haigler, McClain & Stathakis, of Anderson, for Appellant. Julie D. Garcia, pro se, of Pendleton. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General Michelle J. Parsons, all of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae The State of South Carolina. |