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October 2013 |
NEXT
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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, October 1, 2013 | |
Supreme Court Courtroom
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09:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-195606 The State, Respondent,
v.
Freddie Edwards, Appellant. Thomas Micah Leddy, of The Leddy Law Firm, LLC, of Columbia, and Marta K. Kahn, of Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka and Senior Assistant Attorney General Melody Jane Brown, all of Columbia, and Solicitor David Matthew Stumbo, of Greenwood, for Respondent. In this direct appeal, Appellant Freddie Edwards challenges the trial court's denial of his directed verdict motion and the form and manner of the State's closing argument. |
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10:00 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-195246 The State, Respondent,
v.
Joseph Davis, Appellant. Appellate Defender Breen Richard Stevens and Appellate Defender Benjamin John Tripp, both of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Assistant Attorney General J. Anthony Mabry and Assistant Attorney General Alphonso Simon, Jr., all of Columbia, and Solicitor Isaac McDuffie Stone, III, of Bluffton, for Respondent. Joseph Davis appeals his convictions for murder, armed robbery, and second degree burglary alleging the trial court erred in failing to suppress his confession as involuntarily given. |
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10:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-182548 Clarence Robinson, Petitioner,
v.
State of South Carolina, Respondent. Appellate Defender LaNelle Cantey DuRant, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General Julie Kate Keeney, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, of Charleston, for Respondent. This case concerns whether reasonable suspicion existed to justify a search and seizure under the 4th amendment. |
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11:00 a.m. | (Time Limits: 15-15-5) |
2013-001868 The State of South Carolina and the South Carolina Department of Revenue, Petitioners,
v.
County of Florence, Florence County Council, and the Florence County Registration and Elections Commission, Respondents. Milton Gary Kimpson, Harry T. Cooper, Jr., Solicitor General Robert D. Cook and Deputy Solicitor General J. Emory Smith, Jr., all of Columbia, for Petitioners. Wade Stackhouse Kolb, III, of Wyche, PA, of Greenville, D. Malloy McEachin, Jr., of McEachin & McEachin, P.A., of Florence and John Carroll Moylan, III, of Wyche, PA, of Columbia, for Respondents. The Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in its original jurisdiction to consider whether a proposed tax referendum scheduled to be held in Florence County on November 5, 2013 is valid under the Capital Project Sales Tax Act, sections 4-10-300 to -380 of the South Carolina Code. |
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Wednesday, October 2, 2013 | |
Supreme Court Courtroom
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09:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-188568 The State, Respondent,
v.
George L. Chavis, Appellant. Chief Appellate Defender Robert Michael Dudek, of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Deputy Attorney General David A. Spencer, both of Columbia, for Respondent. This case concerns the qualification and testmony of two experts in the field of child abuse assessment. |
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10:00 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-195886 The State, Respondent,
v.
Desmond J. Sams, Petitioner. Appellate Defender Susan Barber Hackett, of Columbia, and Tristan Shaffer, of Chapin, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Attorney General Mark Reynolds Farthing, both of Columbia, for Respondent. Petitioner challenges the decision of the Court of Appeals in State v. Sams, Op. No. 2011-UP-205 (S.C. Ct. App. filed May 4, 2011), which affirmed his conviction and sentence for voluntary manslaughter. Petitioner was convicted of the charge after he strangled the victim during an altercation. Petitioner contends the Court of Appeals erred in finding he was not entitled to a jury charge on involuntary manslaughter. |
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10:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 15-15-5) |
2011-201186 Mildred H. Shatto, Petitioner,
v.
McLeod Regional Medical Center and
Key Risk Management Services, Inc., Respondents,
and Staff Care, Inc. and Travelers Insurance, Defendants. Blake Alexander Hewitt and Margaret Miles Bluestein, both of Bluestein Nichols Thompson & Delgado, LLC, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Walter Hilton Barefoot, of Turner Padget Graham & Laney, PA of Florence, and Carmelo Barone Sammataro, of Turner Padget Graham & Laney, PA, of Columbia, for Respondent. This Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the court of appeals in Shatto v. McLeod Reg'l Med. Ctr., 394 S.C. 552, 716 S.E.2d 446 (Ct. App. 2011), which reversed the Workers Compensation Commission and remanded the matter to the Commission for a determination of claimant's entitlement to benefits under an alternate theory. |
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Thursday, October 3, 2013 | |
Supreme Court Courtroom
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09:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-199386 Ronald E. Price and Diana R.B. Price, Respondents,
v.
Investors Title Insurance Company, Petitioner. Hamilton Osborne, Jr., James Y. Becker and Emily H. Farr, all of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, PA, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Tobias Gavin Ward, Jr. and James Derrick Jackson, both of Tobias G. Ward, Jr., PA, of Columbia, for Respondents. In this case, the Court must decide whether Rule 43(k), SCRCP, as amended effective April 29, 2009, applies retroactively to a settlement agreement made and revoked prior to the amendment taking effect. |
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10:00 a.m. | (Time Limits: 15-15-5) |
2011-201706 Engaging and Guarding Laurens County's Environment ("EAGLE"), Petitioner,
v.
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and MRR Highway 92, LLC, Defendants,
of whom MRR Highway 92, LLC, is Respondent. Amy Elizabeth Armstrong, of S.C. Environmental Law Project, of Pawleys Island, for Petitioner. W. Thomas Lavender, Jr. and Joan Wash Hartley, both of Nexsen Pruet, LLC, of Columbia, for Respondents. In this appeal, Appellants now assert the court of appeals erred in reversing the Administrative Law Court's (ALC) decision to reinstate the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's (DHEC) issuance of a landfill permit because (1) the court of appeals erred in overturning the ALC's order concluding that there is no need for the proposed landfill, (2) the court of appeals erred in according deference to DHEC's interpretation of Regulation 61-107.17, and (3) DHEC's decision to grant the "demonstration of need" required by S.C. Code 44-96-290 was arbitrary and capricious because DHEC should have applied the "additional factors" section of Regulation 61-107.17. |
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10:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-203166 Team IA, Inc., Respondent,
v.
Cicero Lucas, George Lawson, IV and 5 Point Solutions, LLC, Defendants,
Of whom Cicero Lucas is, Petitioner.
Cicero Lucas and George Lawson, IV, Third-Party Plaintiffs,
v.
Brent Yarborough and Team IA, Inc., Third-Party Defendants. Terry E. Richardson, Jr., Daniel Scott Haltiwanger and Christopher James Moore, all of Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman, LLC, of Barnwell, for Petitioner. Robert Fredrick Goings, of Goings Law Firm, LLC, of Columbia, for Respondent. The Court granted certiorari to review a Court of Appeals decision which reversed the grant of summary judgment to employee on issues involving a non-compete clause and a non-solicitation clause in his employment contract with respondent. |
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013 | |
Supreme Court Courtroom
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09:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 15-15-5) |
2011-197686 In the Matter of the Estate of Charles Galen Rider, a/k/a C.G. Rider.
Carolyn S. Rider, Petitioner,
v.
Estate of Charles Galen Rider, Thomas M. Grady, Personal Representative, Respondent,
and
Deborah Rider McClure, Ginger C. Rider, Christian James McClure and Austin Patrick McClure, Respondents. Laurel R. S. Blair and William C. Cleveland, both of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP, of Charleston, and Terry A. Finger, of Finger & Fraser, P.A., of Hilton Head Island, for Petitioner. Douglas Whitsett MacNeille, of Ruth, MacNeille & Knudsen, P.A., Kelly McPherson Jolley, of McNair Law Firm, P.A., and Stephen Edward Carter, of Carter Law Firm, all of Hilton Head Island, and Daphne A. Burns, of Weatherford, Oklahoma, for Respondents. Petitioner, the wife of the decedent Charles Rider, appeals from the decision of the Court of Appeals in In re Estate of Charles Galen Rider, 394 S.C. 84, 713 S.E.2d 643 (Ct. App. 2011). Prior to his death, the decedent had signed written instructions directing the transfer of $2,000,000 in specified securities to the wife in accordance with an investment agency agreement he had with the bank, but the bank did not transfer the entire amount to the wife prior to his death. In Rider, the Court of Appeals held the decedent's bank did not have the authority to transfer securities after it learned of the decedent's death, and it concluded any such transfers were invalid and remained the property of the decedent's estate. The wife contends the transfers should be deemed complete as of the date the decedent directed the transfer under the agency agreement and under the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, and she further argues the transfers qualify as completed gifts, so they are not properly included in the decedent's estate. |
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10:00 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-202268 Raquel Martinez, Employee, Petitioner,
v.
Spartanburg County, Employer, and S.C. Association of Counties Self-Insurance Fund, Carrier, Respondents. James K. Holmes and David T. Pearlman, both of The Steinberg Law Firm, LLP of Charleston, and Chadwick D. Pye, of Spartanburg, for Petitioner. Richard B. Kale, Jr. and Mitchell K. Byrd, Jr., both of Willson Jones Carter & Baxley, P.A. of Greenville, for Respondents. In this workers' compensation case, the Court must first decide whether the court of appeals erred in holding a crime scene investigator did not experience unusual or extraordinary employment conditions sufficient to create a compensable mental injury. Additionally, the Court must decide whether the record contains substantial evidence to support the Workers' Compensation Commission's decision that the claimant failed to establish that the unusual or extraordinary employment conditions were the proximate cause of her injury. |
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10:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 15-15-5) |
2011-199666 Elizabeth O'Meara, Respondent,
v.
Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., Southern Assisted Living, LLC, and Sonia S. King, Defendants,
Of whom, Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. and Southern Assisted Living, LLC, are the Appellants.
Appellate Case No. 2011-199666
Lower Court Case No. 2011-CP-07-01610
AND
Yvonne Carrie Pruett, Respondent,
v.
Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., Southern Assisted Living, LLC, and Sonia S. King, Defendants,
Of whom Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. and Southern Assisted Living, LLC are the Appellants.
Appellate Case No. 2011-199687
Lower Court Case No. 2011-CP-07-01700
AND
Janet Sue Scheerle, Respondent,
v.
Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., Southern Assisted Living, LLC, and Sonia King, Defendants,
Of Whom Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. and Southern Assisted Living, LLC, are Appellants.
Appellate Case No. 2012-212948
Lower Court Case No. 2011-CP-07-02654 Manton M. Grier, Jr. and Marcus Angelo Manos, both of Nexsen Pruet, LLC, of Columbia, for Appellants. Kelly McPherson Jolley and Kathleen Gillespie Chewning, both of McNair Law Firm, of Hilton Head Island, Susan Taylor Wall, of McNair Law Firm, of Charleston and Amber B. Martella, of McNair Law Firm, of Columbia, for Respondents. In this consolidated appeal, the appellants appeal the circuit court's denials of motions to dismiss and compel arbitration despite the presence of an arbitration agreement in the parties' contracts. Appellant now asserts the circuit court erred because (1) arbitration is proper under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), (2) the arbitration agreement is not unconscionable, (3) the outrageous and unforeseeable torts exception to arbitration does not apply when dealing with arbitration under the FAA, and (4) respondents are intended third-party beneficiaries of the contract such that they may not claim they did not agree to arbitrate. |
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013 | |
Supreme Court Courtroom
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09:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 15-15-5) |
2011-198286 Larius G. Woodson and Maurissa Woodson, Petitioners,
v.
DLI Properties, LLC, Allen Tate Co., Inc., Melia C. Faile and Alan L. Cauthen, Defendants,
of whom Allen Tate Co. and Melia C. Faile, are Respondents. John Martin Foster, of Rock Hill, for Petitioners. Thomas Lynn Ogburn, III, of Poyner Spruill, LLP, of Charlotte, North Carolina, for Respondents. Petitioners appeal the court of appeals' decision affirming the circuit court's grant of summary judgment on the grounds that Petitioners failed to provide an adequate record for review and there is a genuine issue of material fact. |
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10:00 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-195272 The State, Petitioner,
v.
Robert Watkins, Respondent. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Attorney General William M. Blitch, Jr., both of Columbia, for Petitioner. Appellate Defender David Alexander, of Columbia, for Respondent. The Court granted certiorari to review an unpublished decision of the Court of Appeals that reversed respondent's convictions and sentences finding the trial judge erred in denying respondent's request that the judge recuse himself. |
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10:30 a.m. | (Time Limits: 10-10-5) |
2011-194288 The State, Respondent,
v.
Lawrence Burgess, Petitioner. Appellate Defender Kathrine Haggard Hudgins, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Deborah R.J. Shupe, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Donald V. Myers, of Lexington, for Respondent. This Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Court of Appeals in State v. Burgess, 393 S.C. 396, 712 S.E.2d 1 (Ct. App. 2011), which affirmed Petitioner's conviction for possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Petitioner raises issues regarding the validity of a multijurisdictional enforcement agreement and the admissibility of an arresting officer's employment records. |
Cases to be Submitted Without Oral Argument | |
Richard G. Jordan, Petitioner, v. State of South Carolina, Respondent. |
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Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan Wilson and Assistant Attorney General Megan E. Harrigan, both of Columbia, for Respondent. |
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Sylvester Toomer, Petitioner, v. State of South Carolina, Respondent. |
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Deputy Chief Appellate Defender Wanda H. Carter, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Attorney General Ashleigh Rayanna Wilson, both of Columbia, for Respondent. |