State v. Manning, decided on May 7, 2014 by the Court of Appeals, erodes the protections of our state’s “Protection of Persons and Property Act,” S.C. Code Ann. §16-11-410, et. seq., which is also known as the “Castle Doctrine.” Th… Read More

On April 23, 2014, the South Carolina Court of Appeals decided State v. Gordon. The Court held: Because the purpose of the videotaping is to create direct evidence of the arrest, if the actual tests cannot be seen on the recording, the requirement is… Read More

On April 23, 2014, the Court of Appeals decided State v. Robinson, holding that law enforcement did not provide the judge information about the informant’s credibility that is necessary to support the issuance of a search warrant. Robinson is signi… Read More

On April 23, 2014, the South Carolina Court of Appeals decided State v. Battle and ordered a new trial for a man convicted of murder because the trial judge did not instruct the jurors about involuntary manslaughter. Battle testified that the deceden… Read More

On April 9, 2014, the South Carolina Court of Appeals decided State v. Portillo. Although the Court of Appeals found two types of error, the Court concluded that error was not reversible error in this case. The Court relied on our Supreme Court’s o… Read More

The Republican Governor’s Association has launched an attack ad against South Carolina Democratic Party candidate for Governor, state Senator Vincent Sheheen. The ad can be viewed by clicking the link to this news story. Not only is this political… Read More

On March 19, 2014, the South Carolina Court of Appeals decided Abney v. State, holding trial counsel employed a legitimate trial strategy by not requesting the trial court judge instruct the jurors about the lesser-included offense. The all-or-nothin… Read More

Previous blog posts have reviewed the “History of South Carolina’s Self-Defense Jury Instruction” and explained why “South Carolina’s Self-Defense Jury Instruction is Obsolete and Inadequate.” This post recommends… Read More