According to the record, both parties have relocated (plaintiff-Mother to Florida and defendant-Father to Ohio); their daughters’ (Daughters’) communication with Mother is negatively impacted when they are in Father’s custody, but Mother encourages the relationship between Father and Daughters; and ...
Read More »Domestic Relations – Parent & Child – Custody & Visitation – Relocations – Attorney’s Fees
Lawyers in the News – Feb. 15 
Ra’na Heidari and Dena McCorry have joined A Business Law Firm in Spartanburg. Heidari focuses her practice on international business law, cyber security, and privacy law issues. McCorry will focus her practice on corporate formation, estates and trusts, litigation, and ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – PCR – Ineffective Assistance Claim – Prior False Accusation 
Where petitioner was accused of sexually abusing his daughter (Daughter) several times over several years, there is no reasonable probability that the trial court would have admitted evidence that Daughter had previously falsely alleged that a teacher had made an ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Sex Offender Registry – Juvenile – Risk of Reoffending 
Where the evidence showed only a low risk of the juvenile reoffending, the trial court abused its discretion by placing the juvenile on the private sex offender registry. We reverse. When he was between 12 and 13 years old, the ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Due Process – Defendant’s Silence – No Miranda Warnings 
The state presented evidence that, because the arresting officers learned that defendant had outstanding warrants, they did not Mirandize him; therefore, the prosecutor could impeach defendant’s explanation of the kidnapping and robbery—the victim owed defendant money for drugs and only ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence – STCA – Workers’ Compensation – Non-Employer – County & Sheriff 
Since the plaintiff-firefighter is employed by the county while the defendant-sheriff and his deputies are employed by the state, plaintiff could sue the sheriff for bodily injuries sustained in a vehicle collision between plaintiff and a deputy sheriff. We reverse ...
Read More »Strict COVID protocols in place for February bar exam
The South Carolina Supreme Court is going to great lengths to ensure that February’s in-person bar exam doesn’t contribute to the spread of COVID-19 at a time when public health officials are worried about new and potentially more contagious variants ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Bond Estreatment – Pretrial Intervention Program – Failure to Complete or Appeal 
Defendant’s entry into a pretrial intervention (PTI) program was an agreement with the solicitor and not with the court. Therefore, defendant’s entry into the PTI program was not a “deferred disposition” under S.C. Code Ann. § 17-15-20(B), which would have ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Murder – Evidence – Cell Tower Data – Expert Witness 
Even though a SLED agent acknowledged he did know the individual who developed the cell phone mapping software the agent used to create a map of the towers used by defendant’s cell phone on the night of the murder, and ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence – Interference with Contract – Landlord/Tenant – Commercial Lease – Fire Damage – Punitive Damages 
Even though fire damage to a commercial property exceeded the $1,000,000 in insurance that the lease required the defendant-owner to maintain, there was also evidence from which a jury could nevertheless decide that the owner had interfered in plaintiff’s sublease ...
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