State v. Clark

• Court: Court of Appeals of South Carolina
• Decided: February 1, 2012
• Docket: 2012-UP-055
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

Marco Andrea Clark, Appellant.

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Appeal From Clarendon County
Howard P. King, Circuit Court Judge

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Unpublished Opinion No.  2012-UP-055 
Submitted January 3, 2012 – Filed February 1, 2012

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AFFIRMED

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Appellate Defender Kathrine H. Hudgins, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Assistant Attorney General William M. Blitch, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor Ernest A. Finney, III, of Sumter, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Marco Andrea Clark appeals his convictions for armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.  He argues the trial court erred in denying his motion for funds to hire an expert to determine whether Clark lacked the capacity to distinguish moral or legal right from moral or legal wrong at the time of the crime.  We affirm[1] pursuant to Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following authorities:  Rivers v. Strickland, 264 S.C. 121, 124, 213 S.E.2d 97, 98 (1975) ("The general rule is that a plea of guilty, voluntarily and understandingly made, constitutes a waiver of nonjurisdictional defects and defenses, including claims of violation of constitutional rights prior to the plea.").

AFFIRMED.

SHORT, WILLIAMS, and GEATHERS, JJ., concur.

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[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.