In the Matter of Shawn T. Daily

Opinion

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In The Supreme Court

In the Matter of the Care and Treatment of Shawn Torlif Daily, Respondent.

Appellate Case No. 2024-001707

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

Appeal from Spartanburg County R. Keith Kelly, Circuit Court Judge

Opinion No. 28340

Submitted December 15, 2025 – Filed June 17, 2026

AFFIRMED

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Christopher Runyan, both of Columbia, for Petitioner.

Senior Appellate Defender Lara Mary Caudy, of Columbia, for Respondent.

David Allen Chaney, Jr. and Meredith Dyer McPhail, both of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina.

PER CURIAM: Following a trial, Petitioner Shawn Daily was civilly committed in accordance with the Sexually Violent Predator Act. See generally S.C. Code Ann. §§ 44-48-10 to -180 (2018). Daily appealed, and the court of appeals reversed and remanded for a new commitment proceeding, finding the circuit court erred in admitting the results of Daily's penile plethysmography test (PPG) because the test is inherently unreliable. See In re Care & Treatment of Daily, 443 S.C. 557, 905 S.E.2d 310 (Ct. App. 2024). We granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision and now affirm in line with our recent decision in In re Care & Treatment of Hyman, Op. No. 28330 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed May 13, 2026) (Howard Adv. Sh. No. 18 at 37). 1 We therefore remand this case for a new commitment trial consistent with the guidance provided in Hyman.

AFFIRMED. KITTREDGE, C.J., FEW, JAMES and HILL, JJ., concur. VERDIN, J., not participating.

1 Like the court of appeals, we do not find the error in admitting Daily's PPG results was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.