Cutner v. State

580 S.E.2d 120, 354 S.C. 151, 2003 S.C. LEXIS 95
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedApril 28, 2003
Docket25644
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 580 S.E.2d 120 (Cutner v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cutner v. State, 580 S.E.2d 120, 354 S.C. 151, 2003 S.C. LEXIS 95 (S.C. 2003).

Opinions

Chief Justice TOAL:

Antoine Cutner (“petitioner”) appeals his conviction, claiming the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana -within proximity of a school, and that the trial court erred by allowing evidence that indicated petitioner was a dealer of crack cocaine. We affirm in part, reverse in part.

Factual/Procedural Background

Petitioner was convicted, after a trial in his absence, of possession -with intent to distribute (“PWID”) marijuana and PWID marijuana within proximity of a school. Two days later, petitioner pled guilty to other charges and was sentenced on those charges. His sealed sentence was opened and he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for PWID marijuana and five years imprisonment, to be served consecutively, for PWID marijuana within proximity of a school. No direct appeal was taken.

Petitioner filed for post-conviction relief. After a hearing, the PCR court issued an order dismissing the PCR application without prejudice and granting petitioner a belated direct appeal under White v. State, 263 S.C. 110, 208 S.E.2d 35 (1974). Petitioner raises the following issues on appeal.

[154]*154I. Whether the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the charge of PWID marijuana within proximity of a school?

II. Whether the trial court erred by permitting evidence that petitioner was a dealer of crack cocaine?

Law/Analysis

I. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Before trial, the State moved to amend the indictment regarding the charge of PWID marijuana within proximity of a school. The indictment read:

That ANTOINE CUTNER did in Richland County on or about March 30, 1998, distribute, sell, purchase, manufacture, or unlawfully possess with intent to distribute, a controlled substance, to wit: marijuana, while in, on, or within a one-half mile radius of the grounds of a public or private elementary, middle or secondary school; a public playground or park; a public vocational or trade school or a technical educational center; or a public or private college or university, to wit: Ridgewood Missionary Baptist Church.

(emphasis added). The State, claiming a scrivener’s error, requested the indictment be amended to read “to wit: Eau Claire High School and/or Ridgewood/Babcock Center.”

Petitioner’s counsel argued against the amendment stating the amendment would change the nature of the offense charged.1 The trial court overruled petitioner’s objection, stating petitioner was placed upon sufficient notice as to the charge he was facing.

Petitioner claims the trial court erred by granting the State’s motion to amend the indictment to show the drugs were possessed within proximity of Eau Claire High School, [155]*155rather than Ridgewood Baptist Church, as set forth in the indictment.

A circuit court has subject matter jurisdiction if: (1) there has been an indictment which sufficiently states the offense; (2) there has been a waiver of the indictment; or (3) the charge is a lesser-included charge of the crime charged in the indictment. Brown v. State, 343 S.C. 342, 540 S.E.2d 846 (2001) (citing Carter v. State, 329 S.C. 355, 495 S.E.2d 773 (1998)). “The true test of the sufficiency of an indictment is not whether it could be made more definite and certain, but whether it contains the necessary elements of the offense intended to be charged and sufficiently apprises the defendant of what he must be prepared to meet.” Id. (quoting Browning v. State, 320 S.C. 366, 368, 465 S.E.2d 358, 359 (1995)) (emphasis added by Brown).

Under South Carolina Code Ann. § 17-19-100 (1985), the trial court “may amend the indictment ... if such amendment does not change the nature of the offense charged.” Generally, amendments are permitted for the purposes of correcting an error of form, such as a scrivener’s error. State v. Jones, 211 S.C. 319, 45 S.E.2d 29 (1947). Otherwise, if the defendant objects to an amendment on grounds that the amended indictment would change the nature of the offense, the trial judge is obligated to inform the parties of the necessity of reindictment or obtain a waiver of presentment from the defendant. Hopkins v. State, 317 S.C. 7, 10, 451 S.E.2d 389 (1994).

In the case at hand, amending the indictment from “to wit: Ridgewood Missionary Baptist Church” to state “to wit: Eau Claire High School and/or Ridgewood/Babcock Center” is not a scrivener’s error. Ridgewood Missionary Baptist Church, Eau Claire High School, and Ridgewood/Babcock Center are all entities within a one-half mile radius of where petitioner was arrested, but only the schools make petitioner eligible for the additional penalties under South Carolina Code Ann. § 44-53^445 (2002). Section 44-53-445 does not separately criminalize distributing marijuana within proximity of a church, but the statute does create a separate offense for distributing marijuana within proximity of a school. As such, amending the indictment to name Eau Claire High School [156]*156and/or Ridgewood/Babcock Center changes the nature of the offense.

Counsel for petitioner objected to the amended indictment, which the trial court overruled. Since the amendment was not the result of a scrivener’s error and defense counsel objected, the trial court only had two options under Hopkins: reindictment or waiver of presentment. The court pursued neither option to correct the defective indictment, and consequently it lost its subject matter jurisdiction. Thus, petitioner’s conviction for PWID within the proximity of a school must be reversed.

II. Crack Cocaine Evidence

Petitioner argues the trial court erred by permitting evidence indicating he was a dealer of crack cocaine.

After receiving a tip, Investigator Wendell Harris and several other officers went to a wooded area in search of a person suspected of dealing drugs. Investigator Harris observed a known crack cocaine user exiting the woods where the suspect was alleged to be. Before Harris exited the car in which he was riding, he saw a person fitting the description of the suspect and recognized the person to be petitioner. Upon exiting the car, he saw petitioner “turn to run and ... observed a black-like bag in his hand as he made the turn.”

Harris testified petitioner ran a few feet into the woods with the bag before dropping it. He chased petitioner through the woods and by the time he reached the other side, another officer had apprehended petitioner. Petitioner indicated he had been in the woods to cut firewood. An officer later emerged from the woods with the bag Harris saw petitioner drop and a beeper. The bag had been located approximately fifteen feet into the wooded area. Inside the bag were plastic baggies, containing approximately 37 grams of marijuana, and a small scale.

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Related

State v. Burns
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2009
State v. Tumbleston
654 S.E.2d 849 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2007)
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State v. Walton
603 S.E.2d 873 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2004)
State v. Brinson
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Mathis v. State
584 S.E.2d 366 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2003)
Cutner v. State
580 S.E.2d 120 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
580 S.E.2d 120, 354 S.C. 151, 2003 S.C. LEXIS 95, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cutner-v-state-sc-2003.