THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS 
PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Supreme Court

Levi Brown, Appellant,

v.

State of South Carolina, Respondent.

Appeal From Richland County
 L. Casey Manning, Circuit Court Judge

Memorandum Opinion No.  2006-MO-039
Submitted November 14, 2006 – Filed November 20, 2006

APPEAL DISMISSED

Deputy Chief Attorney Wanda H. Carter, South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, Division of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry D. McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Assistant Attorney General Lakesha W. Jeffries, and Assistant Attorney General Arie D. Bax, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Appellant was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.  His conviction and sentence were upheld on direct appeal.  State v. Brown, Op. No. 87-MO-164 (S.C. Ct. App. filed March 30, 1987). 

Appellant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which was denied by the circuit court.  Counsel for appellant has now filed an appeal from the denial of the petition, along with a petition to be relieved as counsel.[1]  Appellant has filed a pro se response. 

The appeal is dismissed under Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, after consideration of appellant’s pro se brief and review pursuant to Anders v. California, supra.  Counsel’s motion to be relieved is granted.

TOAL, C.J., MOORE, WALLER, BURNETT and PLEICONES, JJ., concur.

[1] Counsel filed a petition for a writ of certiorari pursuant to Johnson v. State, 294 S.C. 310, 364 S.E.2d 201 (1988).  However, because this is a direct appeal from the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, we have construed the petition as a brief filed pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).