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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.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
WEBEX
 10:00 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2019-001201   Grays Hill Baptist Church, Petitioner, v. Beaufort County, and The Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals, Defendants, and The United States of America, Defendant-Intervenor, Of which Beaufort County and The United States of America are the Respondents..

H. Fred Kuhn, Jr. of Moss, Kuhn & Fleming, P.A. of Beaufort for Petitioner. Mary Bass Lohr, of Howell, Gibson & Hughes of Beaufor, Assistant United States Attorney Lee E. Berlinksy of Charleston and Environmental Counsel David M. Wunder, of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, for Respondents.

The Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals decision in Grays Hill Baptist Church v. Beaufort County, 427 S.C. 57, 828 S.E.2d 234 (Ct. App. 2019).

 11:20 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2019-001206   The State, Respondent, v. Felix Kotowski, Petitioner.

Appellate Defender Lara M. Caudy, of Columbia for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan Wilson and Senior Assistant Attorney General David Spencer, both of Columbia and Solicitor David M. Pascoe, Jr., of Summerville, for Respondent.

The Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in State v. Kotowski, 427 S.C. 119, 828 S.E.2d 605 (2019).

Thursday, May 21, 2020
WEBEX
 10:00 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2019-000705   Georgetown County, Petitioner, v. Davis & Floyd, Inc., Republic Contracting Corporation, S&ME, Inc., The South Carolina Department of Transportation and The City of Georgetown, Defendants, Of whom The South Carolina Department of Transportation and the City of Georgetown are the Respondents.

Louis H. Lang, Richard C. Detwiler and Harry A. Dixon, all of Tighe & Robinson, LLC, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. David L. Morrison, of Morrison Law Firm, LLC of Columbia and Lisa A. Reynolds of Anderson & Reynolds, LLC of Charleston, for Respondent.

The Court considers whether a county may sue another political subdivision and the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) for inverse condemnation pursuant to the Takings Clause of the South Carolina Constitution.

 11:20 a.m. (Time Limits: 15-15-5)  
2019-000693   Bradley Sanders, Petitioner, v. South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles and Columbia Police Department, Respondents below, Of whom South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles is the Respondent.

Heath Preston Taylor, of Taylor Law Firm, LLC, of West Columbia, for Petitioner. Frank L. Valenta, Jr., Philip S. Porter and Brandy Anne Duncan, all of the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, of Blythewood, for Respondent.

We granted a petition for a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the court of appeals in Sanders v. South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, 426 S.C. 21, 824 S.E.2d 454 (Ct. App. 2019), which upheld the suspension of Petitioner's driver's license for refusing to take a blood-alcohol test following his arrest for driving under the influence. The issues on appeal concern the procedures set forth in the state's implied consent statute, section 56-5-2950(A) of the South Carolina Code.