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Supreme Court Seal
South Carolina
Judicial Department
Court of Appeals Published Opinions - October 2003

Note: Beginning in June 2012, opinions will be posted as Adobe PDFs. You can download a free copy of Adobe Reader here.

The summary following each opinion is prepared to offer lawyers and the public a general overview of what a particular opinion decides. The summary is not necessarily a full description of the issues discussed in an opinion.


10-13-2003 - Opinions

3681 - Yates v. Yates

In this appeal from a family court order granting Mr. Yates a divorce on the grounds of physical cruelty, the court of appeals considers whether the family court (1) abused its discretion by allowing Mr. Yates to amend his complaint; (2) erred in finding Mr. Yates was entitled to a divorce on the grounds of the habitual use of alcohol; (3) erred in declining to let the parties’ child testify on Mrs. Yates’s behalf; and (4) issued a divorce order resulting from an ex parte communication between Mr. Yates’s counsel and the family court judge.

10-20-2003 - Opinions

3682 - State v. Keith

Billy Jason Keith appeals his convictions for possession of methamphetamine, cocaine, and ketamine arguing there was insufficient probable cause to issue the search warrant that led to the seizure of illegal drugs from his home and the trial court therefore erred in admitting the evidence obtained during the search.

3683 - Cox v. BellSouth Telecommunications

This workers' compensation case involves the issue of whether an employee may receive a partial lump sum payment when she was awarded weekly benefits for life for a compensable brain injury.

3684 - State v. Sanders

Discusses whether admission of testimony from a prior criminal trial violated the defendant's confrontation rights under the Sixth Amendment.

3685 - Wooten v. Wooten

This case considers a request to require a supporting spouse to secure his alimony support obligation with a life insurance policy.

10-27-2003 - Opinions

3686 - Slack v. James

Mary and Stephen Slack sued Lonnie and Shannon James concerning a real estate contract. The Jameses appeal from the circuit court’s order dismissing and striking their counterclaims.

3687 - Livingston v. Town of Mt Pleasant

Mary Livingston appeals an order upholding the Town of Mt. Pleasant's imposition of a special assessment on her property to fund the widening and improvement of Patriots Point Blvd.