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South Carolina
Judicial Branch
Supreme Court - Roster of Cases for Hearing

   
The summary below each case is prepared to offer lawyers and the public a general overview of what issues are included in a case which will be argued. The summary is not a limit on what issues a party to a case may present at oral argument.
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Supreme Court Courtroom
 09:30 a.m. (Time Limits: 30-30-10 primary appeal, then 10-10-5 cross-appeal.)  
2022-001280   Freddie Eugene Owens, Brad Keith Sigmon, Gary DuBose Terry, and Richard Bernard Moore, Respondents-Appellants, v. Bryan P. Stirling, in his official capacity as the Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections; South Carolina Department of Corrections; and Henry McMaster, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of South Carolina, Appellants-Respondents.

Chief Legal Counsel Thomas Ashley Limehouse, Jr., Senior Legal Counsel William Grayson Lambert, and Deputy Legal Counsel Erica Wells Shedd, all of Columbia, for Appellant-Respondent Governor Henry D. McMaster; Daniel Clifton Plyler and Austin Tyler Reed, both of Smith Robinson, of Columbia, for Bryan P. Stirling, Director and the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Appellants-Respondents. Lindsey Sterling Vann, Emily C. Paavola, and Allison Ann Franz, all of Justice 360; John Christopher Mills, of J. Christopher Mills, LLC, of Columbia; Joshua Snow Kendrick, of Kendrick & Leonard, P.C., of Greenville; and John H. Blume, III, of Ithaca, NY, for Respondents-Appellants. John Laffitte Warren, III, of Law Offices of Bill Nettles, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae Concerned Public Health Professionals, et al. Howard Walton Anderson, III, of Truluck Thomason LLC, of Greenville, for Amicus Curiae Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.

In this cross-appeal, the Court reviews an order finding the firing squad and the electric chair, two of South Carolina's methods of imposing the death penalty under S.C. Code Ann. ยง 24-3-530 (Supp. 2023), are unconstitutional.

 11:00 a.m. (Time Limits: 20-20-10)  
2022-000272   Beverly Dale Jolly and Brenda Rice Jolly, Respondents, v. General Electric Company, et al., Defendants, Of whom Fisher Controls International, LLC, and Crosby Valve, LLC are the Petitioners.

C. Mitchell Brown and Allen Mattison Bogan, of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. Theile Branham McVey and John D. Kassel, of Kassel McVey Attorneys at Law, of Columbia; Lisa White Shirley and Jonathan Marshall Holder, Pro Hac Vice, of Dean Omar Branham, LLP, of Dallas, TX, all for Respondents. Caroline Marie Gieser, of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. of Atlanta, GA, for American Tort Reform Association, Amicus Curiae .

We granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Jolly v. Gen. Elec. Co., 435 S.C. 607, 869 S.E.2d 819 (Ct. App. 2021). We will review the trial court's grant of a new trial nisi additur and its calculation of setoff based on a third-party settlement.

 12:00 p.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2022-001574   Stephen R. Edwards, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Steven Redfearn Stewart, Respondent, v. Scapa Waycross, Inc., Petitioner.

C. Mitchell Brown, of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, of Columbia; William Peele Early, of Pierce, Sloan, Wilson, Kennedy & Early, LLC, of Charleston; and S. Christopher Collier, of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP, of Atlanta, GA, all for Petitioner. Kathleen Chewning Barnes, of Barnes Law Firm, LLC, of Hampton; Gregory Lynn Hyland and Thomas H. Hart, III, of Hart, Hyland, Shepherd, LLC, of Summerville; Frederick John Jekel, of Leventis & Ransom, of Columbia; and William M. Graham and Mona Lisa Wallace, of Wallace & Graham, P.A., of Salisbury, NC, all for Respondent. Caroline Marie Gieser, of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P., of Atlanta, GA, for American Tort Reform Association, National Association of Manufacturers, National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, Inc., National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, American Property Casualty Insurance Association, and American Coatings Association, Amici Curiae. Stephen M. Cox, of Rock Hill, and Erik R. Zimmerman, of Chapel Hill, NC, both of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., for The Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America and The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Amici Curiae.

We granted Scapa Waycross, Inc.'s petition for a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Edwards v. Scapa Waycross, Inc., 437 S.C. 396, 878 S.E.2d 696 (Ct. App. 2022). We will determine whether (1) the trial court erred in denying Scapa Waycross, Inc.'s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict; (2) the trial court erred in granting additur the plaintiff's motion for a new trial nisi additur; and (3) the court of appeals erred in refusing to reverse the trial court's settlement proceeds allocation ruling.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Supreme Court Courtroom
 09:30 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2022-000571   The State, Respondent, v. Adam Rowell, Petitioner.

Clarence Rauch Wise, Billy J. Garret, Jr., of The Garrett Law Firm, and Jane Hawthorne Merrill, of Hawthorne Merrill Law, LLC, all of Greenwood, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Attorney General Joshua Abraham Edwards, of Columbia; and Solicitor David Matthew Stumbo, of Greenwood, all for Respondent.

This Court granted Rowell's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals opinion in State v. Rowell, 436 S.C. 54, 870 S.E.2d 182 (Ct. App. 2022), in which the court of appeals affirmed Rowell's convictions for felony driving under the influence resulting in death and felony driving under the influence resulting in great bodily injury. The Court will consider whether the trial court erred in denying, without first holding an evidentiary hearing, Rowell's motion for a new trial on the ground that a juror failed to disclose his pending criminal charges when asked during voir dire.