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Appellate Law

South Carolina Appellate Law Blog

Appellate law topics in South Carolina and in the federal courts.
By Bill Watkins, Esq.

Post Frequency: 11.4/day

Last Entry: December 13, 2008 at 08:02:00

Closing Out

Posted on December 13, 2008
Well, I have left private practice and have taken a job with the US Attorney's Office. In light of my career change, this blog is shutting down. Thanks to everyone who dropped by for the latest SC legal news. Merry Christmas.

Constitutional issues with Clinton appointment???

Posted on December 01, 2008
"No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office...

Who will Obama appoint to SCOTUS?

Posted on November 19, 2008
The LA Times has this article. The top three are:Judges Diane Wood, 58, of the U.S. appeals court in Chicago;Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 54, of the U.S. appeals court in New York;and Elena Kagan, 48, dean of Harvard Law School.

Billy Wilkins' return to the courtroom as a lawyer meets with success

Posted on November 19, 2008
From the Greenville News:William W. ?Billy? Wilkins successfully argued against a motion in a shareholder suit against South Financial that asked for a temporary restraining order barring retirement payments to retired CEO Mack Whittle as part of a an agreement that the suit alleges is ?unconscionable? and could threaten the company?s solvency if carried out...

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SCOTUS vacates injunction against Naval use of sonar

Posted on November 17, 2008
Last week, the United States Supreme Court issued its first opinion of the new term: Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council. This case concerned the Navy?s use of mid frequency active sonar, which transmits sound waves at various frequencies. This type of sonar is used in Naval exercises, including training and tracking of submarines...

Obama could transform the Fourth Circuit

Posted on November 10, 2008
A snippet from the Richmond Times:As president, Barack Obama and a new U.S. Senate could transform the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, long one of the most conservative in the country.President Bush failed to fill four vacancies on the 15-judge court, which decides cases on issues such as abortion, the death penalty and terrorism...

Judgment not necessary to pierce corporate veil

Posted on November 04, 2008
In Drury Development v. Foundation Insurance, the South Carolina Supreme Court answered the following certified question: whether a judgment against a corporation is a prerequisite to an alter ego claim. This question has come up often in South Carolina...

Voter registration drives

Posted on November 04, 2008
Here is an interesting take on the voter registration movement and the duties of citizenship.

SC Supreme Court says that dreadlocks is insufficient reason to strike juror

Posted on October 28, 2008
In McCrea v. Gheraibeh, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the denial of a Batson Motion and remanded the case for a new trial. This case arose out of an automobile accident. When three of six potential black jurors were struck, a Batson Motion was made...

Court of Appeals issues opinion on 43k settlements

Posted on October 21, 2008
The following settlement was put on record just before trial:Your Honor, the settlement that?s been reached is that this case will be dismissed with prejudice by an order of dismissal with prejudice to be consented to by the parties and signed by your honor...

Can McCain or Obama Turn the Supreme Court?

Posted on October 14, 2008
Law.com offers this analysis.

SC Supreme Court affirms conviction of criminal solicitation of a minor

Posted on October 13, 2008
In State v. Gaines, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld a conviction under our recently enacted Criminal Solicitation of a Minor statute. Gaines was an Internet predator who used AOL chat rooms to engage in conversations with young girls. Unknown to Gaines, two of the friends he met on line were police officers...

Supreme Court hears case about Navy sonar and whales

Posted on October 09, 2008
From the LA Times:The Supreme Court justices appeared closely split Wednesday on whether environmental laws can be used to protect whales and other marine mammals from the Navy's use of sonar off the coast of Southern California. A Bush administration lawyer argued that when national security is at stake, the president and his top military commanders are entrusted with setting the rules...

Big Changes at SCOTUS

Posted on October 06, 2008
Law.com has a nice article on the upcoming term and possible changes.

SCOTUS declines to rehear Ban on Execution for Child Rape

Posted on October 03, 2008
The state of Louisiana and the Justice Department had asked the court to reconsider the 5 to 4 decision because the justices had not been presented with what the state and federal government considered an important fact: that Congress in 2006 made child rape a capital offense under military law...

Greenville Councilman Trout arresteed by FBI

Posted on October 02, 2008
WSPA has the scoop here. United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins announced Harold Anthony ?Tony? Trout was arrested Wednesday morning by FBI agents on federal charges of unauthorized computer access. The federal complaint and supporting affidavit, filed Wednesday, allege violations concerning the unauthorized access of computers...

Chief Justice Roberts stays execution of Freddie Owens

Posted on October 02, 2008
Freddie Owens has gotten extra time to prepare a petition for cert to the Supreme Court. Owens was sentenced to death stemming from a 1997 robbery-murder on Laurens Road in Greenville County.In his order, Roberts wrote that should Owens' petition for a writ of certiorari be denied by the justices, the stay would automatically terminate...

I'm on Vacation

Posted on September 15, 2008
Check back October 1 for more posts!!

Social worker refuses to testify in Inman case

Posted on September 11, 2008
There has been an interesting twist in the Inman trial going on in Greenville. Marti Loring, a social worker licensed in another state, did a social history on Inman, but refused to take the stand after the prosecutor alleged she was violating state law by practicing social work in SC...

S.C. Supreme Court issues opinion of duty of counsel to present mitigation evidence

Posted on September 10, 2008
In Council v. State, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed relief in a death penalty PCR case. Council was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman and forcing her to ingest cleaning fluids. At trial, Council?s lawyer argued that he was not the murderer, but rather an accomplice at the scene actually did the killing...

Inman mitigation evidence presented in Greenville trial

Posted on September 10, 2008
Here is the story from the g-news. Today's proceedings are expected to focus on the defense testimony of mental and prison experts, carrying over Price?s testimony on Tuesday -- based on 3,000 pages of medical and prison records -- to how Inman?s childhood and genetic predisposition to mental disorders paved his violent path...

Forgotten, man sits in jail for two years

Posted on September 05, 2008
From the St. Louis Post:Joseph A. Shepard Sr. sat in local jails for almost two years, assuming that his lawyer was making progress on his case and that drug-related charges against him would soon be resolved in federal court.His family says lawyer Michael P...

Mississippi Supreme Court tries to suppress a dissenting opinion

Posted on August 28, 2008
Take a look at this article.Power corrupts--especially on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

ABA supports legal outsourcing

Posted on August 27, 2008
Always one to battle for Mom and Apple Pie, the ABA have given its approval to shipping American legal jobs to India. According to the opinion, Fat Cat Firms may send legal work overseas as long as the lawyer doing the outsourcing takes steps to ensure the protection of client confidences and preservation of attorney-client privilege...

SC Supremes issue opinion in Sloan emergency procurement case

Posted on August 26, 2008
From the Greenville News:The South Carolina Supreme Court on Monday sided with Greenville businessman Ed "Ned" Sloan in ruling that state transportation officials were wrong to negotiate with a contractor on a project rather than put the job out to bid...

Chief Justice Toal address SC judiciary

Posted on August 25, 2008
Among other points made, the Chief noted that South Carolina has fewer judges with a heavier caseload than any other court system in the nation.Here is a copy of her powerpoint.

Married to the Big-Firm Machine

Posted on August 14, 2008
Once again, the Snark has a hilarious take on law firm courtships. Considering our summers just left, I found this pretty funny.

SC Supreme Court holds that a defendant may waive, in a plea agreement, right to PCR

Posted on August 12, 2008
In Spoone v. State, the South Carolina Supreme Court dealt with the issue of whether a defendant who pleads guilty may also waive his rights to collateral review. The Court decided to follow federal law and held that a waiver of the right to collateral review is permitted where the circumstances surrounding the waiver show it is knowing and intelligent.

ACLU sues SC on ballot access

Posted on August 11, 2008
From Foxcarolina:A civil rights organization said it has filed a federal lawsuit against South Carolina, contending the state unfairly limits how candidates are chosen to be on voter ballots. The American Civil Liberties Union said it filed the lawsuit Thursday in U...

Trojans take the 'SC' mark from the Gamecocks

Posted on August 08, 2008
I'm a Clemson fan, but I do believe that the University of South Carolina was done wrong by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Office ruled that the Gamecocks may no longer use the "SC" logo on their baseball caps. The Digital has this story.This is bogus...

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