THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State,        Respondent,

v.

Leroy Deon Hemingway,        Appellant.

Appeal From Horry County
James E. Brogdon, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2003-UP-002
Submitted October 22, 2002 – Filed January 6, 2003

AFFIRMED

Assistant Appellate Defender Tara S. Taggart, of Columbia, for appellant.

Attorney General Charles M. Condon, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of Columbia; & Solicitor J. Gregory Hembree, of Conway, for respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Affirmed pursuant to Rule 220(b)(2), SCACR, and the following authorities: As to Issues I and II: State v. Kelsey, 331 S.C. 50, 62, 502 S.E.2d 63, 69 (1998) (“In reviewing the denial of a motion for a directed verdict, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the State, and if there is any direct evidence or any substantial circumstantial evidence reasonably tending to prove the guilt of the accused, an appellate court must find that the case was properly submitted to the jury.  In ruling on a motion for a directed verdict, the trial court is concerned with the existence of evidence, not its weight.” (internal citations omitted)); State v. Green, 350 S.C. 580, 585, 567 S.E.2d 505, 508 (Ct. App. 2002) (“A motion for directed verdict, therefore, contests the sufficiency of the State’s properly admitted evidence.  On the other hand, the appropriate vehicle for challenging the admissibility of evidence based on an alleged search and seizure violation is a motion to suppress.”); see State v. Ballenger, 322 S.C. 196, 200, 470 S.E.2d 851, 854 (1996) (holding there was sufficient evidence of possession where defendant appeared to be involved in drug transaction, fled from police, drugs were found on ground in location where defendant fell, these drugs were not hidden, and no other people were in the area).

AFFIRMED. ^[1]

CONNOR, STILWELL, and HOWARD, JJ., concur.