Mack v. Lott

• Court: Supreme Court of South Carolina
• Decided: December 9, 2015
• Docket: 27597
• Status: Published

Opinion

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

In The Supreme Court

Demetrius Mack, Respondent,

v.

Leon Lott, in his Official Capacity as Sheriff of Richland County, Petitioner.

Appellate Case No. 2014-002229

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

Appeal from Richland County

DeAndrea G. Benjamin, Circuit Court Judge

Opinion No. 27597

Heard November 17, 2015 – Filed December 9, 2015

DEPUBLISH THE OPINION OF THE COURT OF

APPEALS AND DISMISS CERTIORARI AS

IMPROVIDENTLY GRANTED

Robert D. Garfield and Andrew F. Lindemann, both of Davidson & Lindemann, P.A., of Columbia, for Petitioner.

Joshua Snow Kendrick and Christopher S. Leonard, both of Kendrick & Leonard, P.C., of Columbia, and Neal Michael Lourie, of Lourie Law Firm, L.L.C., of Columbia, for Respondent. PER CURIAM: We granted a writ of certiorari to review the Court of Appeals' decision in Mack v. Lott, 410 S.C. 28, 762 S.E.2d 719 (Ct. App. 2014). We now dismiss the writ as improvidently granted since both parties and the trial court agree that the proper standard for determining probable cause is an objective standard; that is, whether the facts known to the arresting officer at the time of the arrest, viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable police officer, amount to probable cause. Because the Court of Appeals' language on this issue is arguably unclear, for the benefit of the bench and bar, we direct the Court of Appeals to depublish its opinion.

Accordingly, we

DEPUBLISH THE OPINION OF THE COURT OF APPEALS AND DISMISS CERTIORARI AS IMPROVIDENTLY GRANTED.

PLEICONES, Acting Chief Justice, BEATTY, KITTREDGE, HEARN, JJ., and Acting Justice James E. Moore, concur.