THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

Steven A. Hardeman, Appellant

Appeal From Lexington County
James W. Johnson, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2009-UP-496
Submitted October 1, 2009 – Filed October 21, 2009  

APPEAL DISMISSED

Deputy Chief Appellate Defender for Capital Appeals Robert M. Dudek, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Donald V. Myers, of Lexington, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Steven A. Hardeman appeals his pleas pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), for first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and committing a lewd act upon a child.  Hardeman argues the trial court erred by accepting his Alford plea because the pleas did not comply with the mandates set forth in Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969).  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 the appeal and grant counsel's motion to be relieved.[1]

APPEAL DISMISSED. 

SHORT, WILLIAMS, and GEATHERS, JJ., concur.

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