» Lewd Act

2013 was a major year in criminal law for the South Carolina Supreme Court. Interviews in Child Sexual Abuse Cases – In January 2013, our Supreme Court decided State v. Kromah, hopefully putting to rest prosecution attempts to improperly bolster ch… Read More

A prior blog post, “Satellite Monitoring of Sex Offenders Requires Judicial Review,” discussed the South Carolina Supreme Court’s opinion in State v. Dykes. On July 24, 2013, our Supreme Court denied rehearing in Dykes and issued a… Read More

According to the Supreme Court of the United States, the authority of the state to require sex offender registration flows from a conviction. Connecticut Dep’t of Pub. Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003) (“the law’s requirements turn on a… Read More

Defense counsel should consider requesting an independent mental evaluation of a child alleging sexual abuse in two circumstances. The first is when the prosecution might seek to introduce through the counselor opinion evidence about rape trauma. For… Read More

“Forensic interviewers might be useful as a tool to aid law enforcement officers in their initial investigative process, but this does not make their work appropriate for use in the courtroom.” State v. Kromah, 401 S.C. 340, 357 (fn. 5), 737 S.E.… Read More

On June 19, 2013, in State v. Miller, the South Carolina Supreme Court held that probation is not tolled while a person is involuntarily committed as a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP). In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Donald Beatty, the Cou… Read More

On June 19, 2013, the South Carolina Supreme decided the Post Conviction Relief (PCR) case of Taylor v. State and, in the process, approved a life without parole (LWOP) sentence for a man who would have been better served to resolve all of his charge… Read More

On Friday, July 12, 2013, the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers will host the 8th Blues, Bar-B-Q, and Bar CLE at the Arts Center at the Federal Building, in Greenwood, South Carolina. This seminar coincides with the 13th Annual S… Read More