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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.

28177 - State v. Jeroid J. Price

We issued a common-law writ of certiorari to review a "sealed" order of the circuit court reducing the prison sentence of Jeroid John Price and releasing him from prison after he served only nineteen years of his thirty-five-year sentence on his conviction for murder. We previously issued an order unsealing all documents in the case. We now vacate the order for two reasons: (1) the circuit court did not have the authority to reduce the sentence because the solicitor and the circuit court did not comply with any of the requirements set forth in the applicable statute, and (2) the circuit court did not have the authority to close the proceedings to the public or seal the order. We remand the defendant to the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

28178 - State v. Robert Lee Miller, III

The Court affirms the decision of the court of appeals, holding that Petitioner's confession to law enforcement was voluntary and, thus, admissible.

28142 - State v. Stewart Jerome Middleton

At Stewart Jerome Middleton's trial for criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, the State introduced a police detective's testimony that Middleton was evasive in response to her attempts to get Middleton to come in for a voluntary interview. The trial court admitted this testimony over Middleton's relevance objection. We hold the trial court erred in finding the testimony relevant because the State did not establish the required nexus between Middleton's conduct and a consciousness of his guilt. We reverse Middleton's conviction and remand for a new trial.