State v. Andrews

818 S.E.2d 227, 424 S.C. 304
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedJuly 18, 2018
DocketAppellate Case No. 2015-001679; Opinion No. 5574
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 818 S.E.2d 227 (State v. Andrews) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Andrews, 818 S.E.2d 227, 424 S.C. 304 (S.C. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.:

**307In this criminal appeal, Jeffrey Dana Andrews appeals his convictions of voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. On appeal, Andrews argues the circuit court erred in (1) denying him immunity under the Protection of Persons and Property Act1 **308(the Act) due to inconsistent witness testimony, (2) refusing to qualify Investigator Terry Gainey as an expert in interrogation and force science when Gainey was qualified by experience and training, and (3) admitting the testimony of Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) paramedic Kimberly Graham when Graham was not an expert in crime scene investigation and her opinion was highly prejudicial. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On the evening of March 25, 2014, officers responded to a residential shooting in Sumter County, South Carolina. Corporal Jerry Kelly arrived first on the scene and found Shamar Howell (Victim) lying on Andrews's front porch with one bullet wound above his right eye. Erika Andrews, the mother of Victim's child and Andrews's cousin, sat screaming and crying on the porch holding Victim's head. She told Corporal Kelly that Andrews killed her boyfriend and was inside the residence. When Corporal Kelly entered the residence, Andrews willingly surrendered, stating "I'm the guy you're looking for." Corporal Kelly arrested Andrews and placed Andrews in his patrol car while he secured the scene.

Andrews was indicted for murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Andrews filed a motion to dismiss the charges pursuant to the Act on the ground he acted in self-defense. Prior to trial, the circuit court conducted an immunity hearing on the matter. At the hearing, Andrews testified that at the time of the incident, he lived with his wife and his father, Robert Andrews, in one of Robert's trailers. On the night of the incident, Andrews was celebrating his re-enrollment in school, and he invited his cousin Virlyn Gardner over to *230enjoy a bottle of brandy. Andrews, Gardner, and Robert left to eat dinner and hid the brandy bottle on the back porch next to the washer and dryer. Upon returning, Andrews noticed the dryer was in use2 and the bottle of brandy was missing. Andrews discovered Erika's and Victim's clothes in the dryer. Andrews walked to Erika and Victim's nearby trailer and asked them if they had taken the bottle, which they denied, and Andrews left to get more **309alcohol. Later that night, Andrews and Robert were socializing at their trailer with Gardner when Erika arrived, followed shortly by Victim. Erika and Victim left and returned to the trailer soon thereafter. Andrews testified that when Victim returned, he had one forty-ounce bottle of beer wrapped in a paper bag. Later that evening, Andrews again mentioned the missing brandy bottle, which Erika and Victim repeatedly denied taking.

Andrews testified that when he asked Erika and Victim to leave, verbal and physical altercations ensued; Victim advanced towards Andrews cursing and holding the forty-ounce beer bottle. Andrews testified he removed Victim to the front porch, while Erika was still inside, and he locked the screen door and closed the wooden front door. Andrews went to Robert's bedroom to retrieve the phone to call the police when he heard the wooden front door open and Erika and Victim talking. Unable to find the phone, Andrews began to exit Robert's room when he heard Victim insinuate Andrews was scared to come outside for fear of an altercation. Andrews, still at Robert's bedroom door, heard Victim "snatch" the locked screen door open and saw Victim crossing the threshold of the front doorway. Andrews grabbed a gun sitting on Robert's dresser, turned, and shot Victim as he came through the threshold of the doorway. Robert corroborated Andrews's testimony.

At this point in the hearing, the eyewitness testimony of Andrews and Robert varied substantially from Erika, the only other eyewitness to testify. Erika testified Victim chose to leave peacefully when Robert asked him to leave, and Victim never tried rushing back into the residence or pulling the screen door open after exiting. She testified Andrews went to Robert's bedroom as Victim peacefully said goodbye, and Andrews followed Victim closely behind as Victim exited the residence onto the front porch. Erika testified she was still inside the residence when she heard a gunshot, and she ran to the front door to see Andrews holding a gun. She also testified that, prior to the shooting, Victim never had a forty-ounce bottle of beer at the residence3 and he never threatened or hit **310Andrews.4

Andrews proffered Investigator Gainey as an expert in interrogation and force science5 during the immunity hearing. No court had previously qualified Investigator Gainey as an expert in this field. However, Investigator Gainey had twenty years of law enforcement experience and previously attended one forty-hour, week-long force science course about officer-involved shootings and the timeline for interviewing officers after fatally shooting someone. Investigator Gainey testified the "golden rule" was to wait "[forty-eight] hours or two good sleep cycles" before interviewing an officer involved in a fatal shooting. He stated shootings typically caused "memory fragmentation[, a]nd after a couple of sleep cycles[,] you're able to consolidate your memories" and remember the event more clearly. Furthermore, Investigator Gainey testified that if a shooter was interviewed thirteen minutes after a shooting, he or she would have a "completely fragmented" memory and would need time to decompress to chronologically sort out the events. However, the circuit court declined to qualify Investigator *231Gainey as an expert, noting his one-week course was insufficient qualification.

In response, the State called Corporal Kelly. After he arrested, Mirandized ,6 and placed Andrews in his patrol car, Corporal Kelly asked Andrews why he shot Victim. Corporal Kelly testified Andrews's initial answer was that Victim took the brandy bottle but later stated he shot Victim because Victim refused to leave when he was asked. At trial and during the immunity hearing, Corporal Kelly stated Andrews did not mention a physical altercation until his second or third conversation with Corporal Kelly, and Andrews did not mention **311fearing for his life until police interviewed him at the police station.7

At the end of the hearing, Andrews argued he was entitled to immunity under the Act because he was in imminent fear of bodily harm when Victim forcefully entered his residence. The circuit court rejected his argument, finding "very inconsistent" witness testimony created a jury question and finding Andrews failed to meet his burden of proof of a preponderance of the evidence. The case proceeded to trial.

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Related

State v. Hughes
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2021
State v. Andrews
830 S.E.2d 12 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
818 S.E.2d 227, 424 S.C. 304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-andrews-scctapp-2018.