This month the S.C. Supreme Court affirmed the requirement of lifetime sex-offender registration and lifetime electronic monitoring of juveniles who are convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. It’s a horrible case: a 15-year-old boy was accused of forcing oral sex and attempting anal sex with a 5-year-old child. As a consequence, he [..]
The S.C. Supreme Court held in In Re Chapman this month that persons committed as Sexually Violent Predators (SVP) have a right to effective assistance of counsel. Although they cannot file a Post Conviction Relief (PCR) action, they can challenge an SVP commitment collaterally through Habeas proceedings. Post Conviction Relief (PCR) South Carolina has designated [..]
In State v. Stukes, decided in May of 2016, the S.C. Supreme Court held that it is improper for the judge to charge jurors that an alleged victim’s testimony in a sexual assault trial need not be corroborated. S.C. Code Section 16-3-657 does state that a victim’s testimony does not have to be corroborated, but [..]
In Earley v. State, decided October 19, 2016, the S.C. Supreme Court found that where the prosecutor withheld a Defendant’s statement until he was on the witness stand, it did not warrant granting PCR to the defendant. The defendant wrote “see ya” on the alleged victim’s Facebook page prior to trial, the prosecutor obtained the [..]
Criminal Sexual Conduct of the First Degree Defined S.C. Code § 16-3-652 defines first degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) as sexual battery with use of aggravated force or victim submits to sexual battery while also victim of forcible confinement, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, burglary, housebreaking or any other similar offense or act or victim rendered [..]
