THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Supreme Court
The State, Respondent,
v.
Michael Jerrod Gill, Petitioner.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF APPEALS
Appeal From York County
John C. Hayes, III, Judge
.Opinion No. 24670
Heard October 1, 1996 - Filed August 11, 1997
AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED
Chief Attorney Daniel T. Stacey, of South Carolina Office of Appellate
Defense, of Columbia, for petitioner.
Attorney General T. Travis Medlock, Chief Deputy Attorney General
Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General Harold M.
Coombs, Jr. and Assistant Attorney General Rakale Buchanan Smith,
all of Columbia; and Solicitor Thomas E. Pope, of York, for
respondent.
PER CURIAM: We granted certiorari to review the Court of Appeals'
decision denying petitioner relief, by a vote of two-to-one, on his Batson1 claim.
State v. Gill, 319 S.C. 283 , 460 S.E.2d 412 (Ct. App. 1995). We find the Court of
Appeals erred in reaching the Batson "mixed motive" issue because it was not
properly preserved for appeal, never having been raised to or ruled upon by the
trial judge. see, e.g., Smith v. Phillips, 318 S.C. 453, 458 S.E.2d 427 (1995).
___________________________
1Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986).
p38
STATE v. GILL
Accordingly, we vacate the decision of the Court of Appeals, and affirm petitioner's
conviction.