THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State,        Respondent,

v.

Sylvester Batts,        Appellant,


Appeal From Richland County
James C. Williams, Jr., Circuit Court Judge


Unpublished Opinion No. 2003-UP-643
Submitted August 20, 2003 – Filed November 4, 2003


APPEAL DISMISSED


Assistant Appellate Defender, Tara S. Taggart, Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Deputy Director for Legal Services Teresa A. Knox, Legal Counsel Tommy Evans, Jr., and Legal Counsel J. Benjamin Aplin, S.C. Dept. of Probation, Parole & Pardon Services, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Sylvester Batts appeals from his probation revocation, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion by acting arbitrarily and capriciously in revoking Batts’s probation.  Batts’s counsel attached to the brief a petition to be relieved as counsel, stating that she had reviewed the record and concluded this appeal lacks merit.  After a thorough review of the record and counsel’s brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and State v. Williams, 305 S.C. 116, 406 S.E.2d 357 (1991), we dismiss [1] Batts’s appeal and grant counsel’s motion to be relieved.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

HEARN, C.J., ANDERSON, J., and CURETON, A.J., concur.


[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.