Opinion
2014-UP-259
06-25-2014
Michael Gerald Dunbar, Respondent, v. State of South Carolina, Petitioner. Appellate Case No. 2011-186255
Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Attorney General John Walter Whitmire, of Columbia, for Petitioner. John Dennis Delgado and John Clarke Newton, both of Bluestein Nichols Thompson & Delgado, LLC, ofColumbia, for Respondent.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Heard June 2, 2014
Appeal From Lexington County Rodney A. Peeples, Trial Judge William P. Keesley, Post-Conviction Relief Judge
Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Attorney General John Walter Whitmire, of Columbia, for Petitioner.
John Dennis Delgado and John Clarke Newton, both of Bluestein Nichols Thompson & Delgado, LLC, ofColumbia, for Respondent.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
PER CURIAM:
The State appeals the order of the circuit court granting Michael Dunbar post-conviction relief. We find the circuit court erred in holding Dunbar was prejudiced by trial counsel's allegedly deficient performance. See Porter v. State, 368 S.C. 378, 383, 629 S.E.2d 353, 356 (2006) ("In order to establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a PCR applicant must prove: (1) that counsel failed to render reasonably effective assistance under prevailing professional norms; and (2) that the deficient performance prejudiced the applicant's case."); Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 697, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) (stating a court does not need to address both components of the inquiry if the defendant makes an insufficient showing on one and that "[i]f it is easier to dispose of an ineffectiveness claim on the ground of lack of sufficient prejudice, . . . that course should be followed"); Walker v. State, 407 S.C. 400, 405, 756 S.E.2d 144, 146 (2014) ("To prove prejudice, an applicant must show there is a reasonable probability that but for counsel's deficient performance, the result of the proceeding would have been different.").
REVERSED.
HUFF, THOMAS, and PIEPER, JJ., concur.