Court of Appeals Published Opinions -
October 2011
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.
10-5-2011 - Opinions
Andre Jackson appeals his conviction of possession with intent to distribute marijuana arising out of a traffic stop. He argues the trial court erred in failing to exclude the stop and denying his motion for a directed verdict due to his mere presence. We reverse.
10-19-2011 - Opinions
4895 - King v. International Knife and Saw
After Ralph D. King, Jr., suffered work-related injuries and filed a workers' compensation claim, the single commissioner awarded him benefits. King's employer, International Knife and Saw-Florence, and its insurance carrier, Peerless Insurance Company, appealed to the Appellate Panel of the Workers' Compensation Commission (Appellate Panel). The Appellate Panel reversed. King appeals, arguing the Appellate Panel erred in concluding his repetitive trauma injury was compensable at a time when King had missed no work because of the condition, had sought no treatment for it, and had not been diagnosed as having a repetitive trauma injury. We reverse and reinstate the benefits awarded by the single commissioner.
4896 - Pugh v. Piedmont Mechanical
This is an appeal of a workers' compensation case arising from James Pugh's consolidated request for medical treatment for two injuries to his right knee. He contends the Appellate Panel of the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission (Appellate Panel) erred in failing to fairly and justly determine his average weekly wage and in ignoring the existence of exceptional circumstances, making it unfair to calculate his average weekly wage for his 2007 injury based on a seventeen-week period. Pugh also argues the Appellate Panel erred by failing to award temporary total disability for a three-month period. We reverse and remand.
10-26-2011 - Opinions
David Ray Tant appeals the decision of the South Carolina Department of Corrections to change its interpretation of his sentence from fifteen years to thirty years. SCDC claims it merely corrected the sentence to reflect the sentencing judge's intent. The Administrative Law Court affirmed SCDC's interpretation. We reverse.
Mother appeals the family court's award of custody to Father arguing the family court should not have considered Mother's abortion in making its custody determination and in applying the totality of the circumstances. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.
In this criminal matter, Jerome Chisholm, appeals his conviction of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree asserting (1) the State lacked probable cause to obtain oral swabs from him for DNA comparison, (2) the trial court erred in failing to exclude HIV test results when no chain of custody was established, (3) the trial court erred in failing to exclude HIIV test results because the probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, and (4) the trial court erred in overruling defense counsel's motion for a mistrial after the child victim's treating doctor gave improper hearsay testimony. We affirm.