State v. Whitehead

Full title: The State, Respondent, v. Christopher Ryan Whitehead, Petitioner.

Court: STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In The Supreme Court

Date published: Jun 10, 2015

Appellate Case No. 2012-213683 (S.C. Jun. 10, 2015)

Opinion

Appellate Case No. 2012-213683 Memorandum Opinion No. 2015-MO-033

06-10-2015

The State, Respondent, v. Christopher Ryan Whitehead, Petitioner.

Appellate Defender LaNelle Cantey DuRant, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan M. Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General Melody J. Brown, and Solicitor Daniel E. Johnson, all of Columbia, for the Respondent.

JUSTICE KITTREDGE

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

Appeal from Kershaw County
G. Thomas Cooper, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED

Appellate Defender LaNelle Cantey DuRant, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Alan M. Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General Melody J. Brown, and Solicitor Daniel E. Johnson, all of Columbia, for the Respondent. JUSTICE KITTREDGE: We granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' unpublished opinion in State v. Whitehead, Op. No. 2012-UP-526 (S.C. Ct. App. filed Sept. 12, 2012). For the reasons set forth in State v. McDonald, 412 S.C. 133, 771 S.E.2d 840 (2015), we affirm as modified. While the admission of the codefendants' statements violated the Confrontation Clause,¹ in view of the overwhelming evidence of guilt, the error was harmless. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED. TOAL, C.J., PLEICONES, BEATTY and HEARN, JJ., concur.

1 U.S. Const. amend. VI; see Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968).