Agurs v. State

Opinion

Agurs

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Supreme Court

Horace Agurs,        Respondent,

v.

State of South Carolina,        Petitioner.

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ON WRIT OF VERTIORARI

Appeal From Chester County
Paul E. Short, Jr. Circuit Court Judge
Kenneth G. Goode, Post-Conviction Relief Judge

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Memorandum Opinion No. 2004-MO-020
Submitted March 17, 2004 - Filed April 19, 2004

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REVERSED

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Attorney General Henry D. McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John McIntosh, Chief Capital & Collateral Litigation Donald Zelenka, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley Elliott, and Assistant Attorney General Douglas E. Leadbitter, Office of the Attorney General, all of Columbia, for Petitioner.

Assistant Appellate Defender Aileen P. Clare, Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent.

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PER CURIAM:  Reversed pursuant to Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following authorities: Issue 1: Hill v. State, 350 S.C. 465, 567 S.E.2d 847 (2002) (guilt was so conclusively proven that there was no reasonable probability that the trial judge’s faulty instruction affected the result).  Issue 2: State v. Truesdale, 285 S.C. 13, 328 S.E.2d 53 (1984) (where review of the entire record establishes error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, conviction will not be overturned for a Doyle violation), rev’d in part on other grounds, Truesdale v. Aiken, 480 U.S. 527, 107 S.Ct. 1394, 94 L.Ed.2d 539 (1987).

REVERSED.

TOAL, C.J., MOORE, WALLER, BURNETT and PLEICONES, JJ., concur.