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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.
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Supreme Court Courtroom
 09:30 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2021-000837   In the Matter of Estate of Paul B. Barringer, II Hampton Barringer Luzak, Appellant, v. Merrill B. Light, Merrill U. Barringer, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Paul Brandon Barringer, II, J. Randolph Light, Jr., Merrill B. Light as putative trustee of the Paul B. Barringer, II, Revocable Trust dated December 4, 1998, and Merrill B. Light as Trustee of the Merrill Barringer Light Revocable Trust, Respondents, and Hampton B. Luzak, Appellant, v. Merrill U. Barringer, Respondent, and Coastal Forest Resources Company ("CFRC"), Intervenor/Respondent.

Desa Ballard, of Ballard & Watson, of West Columbia; James R. Gilreath and William Mitchell Hogan, of The Gilreath Law Firm, PA, of Greenville; S. Alan Medlin, of Columbia; Charles B. Macloskie, III, of Macloskie Law Firm, of Beaufort; Thomas W. Traxler, of Carter, Smith, Merriam, Rogers & Traxler PA, of Greenville, all for Appellant. Merritt Gordon Abney, C. Mitchell Brown, and Robert H. Brunson, all of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, of Columbia; Alice F. Paylor and Bijan Khaladj-Ghom, of Saxton & Stump, LLC, of Charleston; Charles B. Molster, III, of The Law Offices of Charles B. Molster, III, PLLC, of Washington, D.C.; James Ashley Twombley, of Twenge & Twombley Law Firm; Harley Delleney Ruff, of Ruff & Ruff, LLC, all of Beaufort, all for Respondents. Erin DuBose Dean, of Tupper, Grimsley, Dean & Canaday, PA, of Beaufort; Edward J. Fuhr and Johnathon E. Schronce, of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, of Richmond, Virginia, all for Intervenor/Respondent Coastal Forest Resources Company.

The Court will review a circuit court order (1) granting a corporation's motion to intervene, (2) dismissing Petitioner's civil conspiracy cause of action as a derivative claim, (3) striking several categories of damages as derivative, (4) barring recovery of certain damages due to res judicata, and (5) declaring Petitioner may not litigate any derivative claims on behalf of the corporation in this action. The Court will also consider whether the order is immediately appealable.

 10:30 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2021-001296   Vanessa Williams, Vanessa Williams as Conservator and Guardian of Sandra P. Perkins, and Vanessa Williams as Personal Representative of the Estate of Sandra P. Perkins, Respondent, v. Bradford Q. Jeffcoat, Jr. and Blue Heron Builders, LLC, Defendants, Of whom Bradford Q. Jeffcoat, Jr. is the Petitioner.

Jason Scott Luck, of Bennettsville, for Petitioner. Timothy Alan Domin, of Clawson and Staubes, LLC, of Charleston, for Respondent.

We granted Petitioner's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Williams v. Jeffcoat, 434 S.C. 461, 863 S.E.2d 822 (Ct. App. 2021), in which the court of appeals affirmed the master-in-equity's order granting summary judgment in Respondent's favor and compelling the partition and sale of certain real property. Specifically, this Court will determine whether the court of appeals erred in: (1) holding Petitioner was not entitled to notice of Respondent's petition in the Alabama probate court to appoint herself as guardian and conservator of her mother, a joint tenant of the subject property; (2) refusing to consider Petitioner's counterclaims because they were not preserved for appellate review; and (3) holding S.C. Code section 27-7-40 permitted Respondent to sever the joint tenancy between Respondent's mother and Petitioner.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Supreme Court Courtroom
 09:30 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2022-000271   Dale Brooks, Employee, Respondent, v. Benore Logistics System, Inc., Employer, and Great American Alliance Insurance Company, Carrier, Petitioners.

William Franklin Childers, Jr., of Eller Tonnsen Bach, LLC, of Greenville, for Petitioners. Robert T. Usry, of Holland & Usry, P.A., of Spartanburg, for Respondent. Walter Hilton Barefoot, of McAngus Goudelock & Courie, LLC, of Mount Pleasant, for South Carolina Employers' Advocacy Association, Amicus Curiae.

The Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Brooks v. Benore Logistics System, Inc., 437 S.C. 376, 879 S.E.2d 1 (Ct. App. 2022).

 10:30 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2022-000349   The State, Petitioner, v. Montrelle Lamont Campbell, Respondent.

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Melody Jane Brown and Assistant Attorney General William Joseph Maye, of Columbia; and Solicitor Scarlett Anne Wilson, of Charleston, all for Petitioner. Appellate Defender Lara Mary Caudy and Appellate Defender David Alexander, both of Columbia, for Respondent.

We granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in State v. Campbell, 435 S.C. 528, 868 S.E.2d 414 (Ct. App. 2021). We will determine whether the court of appeals erred in (1) its analysis of malice for attempted murder, (2) its application of the harmless error standard to the inferred malice jury instruction, and (3) its application of the "any evidence" standard to the accomplice liability jury instruction.

 

Cases to be Submitted Without Oral Argument

William Bruce Justice, Petitioner, v. State of South Carolina, Respondent.

Appellate Defender Lara Mary Caudy and Pro Bono Program Director, Taylor Davis Gilliam, both of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Assistant Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka and Matthew C. Buchanan, all of Columbia, for Respondent. Matthew A. Abee and Yasmeen Ebbini, of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, LLP, of Columbia, for Root and Rebound, Amicus Curiae.