State v. Gabriel D. Curry

Court of Appeals of South Carolina·Decided September 9, 2026·No. 2022-000966·Unpublished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.

Gabriel Dantray Curry, Appellant.

Appellate Case No. 2022-000966

Appeal From Edgefield County Courtney Clyburn Pope, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2026-UP-434 Heard November 4, 2025 – Filed September 9, 2026

AFFIRMED

Appellate Defender Sarah Elizabeth Shipe, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General Melody J. Brown, Assistant Attorney General Tommy Evans, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor S.R. Hubbard, of Lexington, all for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Gabriel Curry was convicted of murder for the fatal shooting death of his cousin, Dakota Calhoun. Curry challenges the validity of six search warrants police obtained during the investigation of Calhoun's murder and argues that the evidence seized pursuant to the warrants should have been suppressed. Curry argues the trial court also erred in allowing the admission of cell tower mapping evidence that the State did not disclose until the Friday before trial. We affirm.

BACKGROUND/FACTS

On October 10, 2018, officers found Calhoun's body on the side of the road with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Calhoun's brother, Kahlo, reported him missing the morning of October 10 after Calhoun failed to pick up his mother, Angela Bargeron, from work the night before. The day of the murder, Calhoun stopped by his mother's work to borrow her cellphone and car so he could run errands with Curry. Bargeron reported that her car was in "good condition" the day her son came to pick it up – "[t]here was no wreckage, no dents, no scratches, nothing." Multiple eyewitnesses and security camera videos captured Calhoun and Curry throughout the day. Calhoun and Curry returned to the store where Bargeron worked later in the day to get gas money. The two men left the store at 3:55 p.m. and Calhoun told his mother he was taking Curry home. Calhoun was seen alive for the last time in security camera footage at the Circle K at 4:02 p.m. getting gas with Curry. Then, at 4:28 p.m., Curry is spotted in Circle K and Burger King's security camera videos, in which he is now driving Bargeron's car alone. While at the Circle K gas station, Curry can be seen walking to the front of Bargeron's car twice where he appears to inspect the front of the car for damage. Calhoun did not use Bargeron's phone again after 3:17 p.m. The next morning, Bargeron tracked her car to a location off Sandy Springs Road, just a mile down the road from the homes of both Curry's mom and his girlfriend, Kirtrina Dixon. Officers arrived at Sandy Springs Road at 12:15 p.m. and found Bargeron's car abandoned and wrecked on a dirt road just off the paved road. Officers reported that the car appeared to have hit a sandbank while attempting to turn around. Officers searched the vehicle and found a Burger King receipt dated October 9 at 4:24 p.m. Family members reported to officers that Curry was the last person seen with Calhoun. During the search for Calhoun, around 1:45 p.m., officers looked for Curry at Dixon's home. Officers reported an odd interaction with Dixon, who was outside in the yard when they arrived. When they indicated they were looking for Curry, "[s]he ran into the house, grabbed her child, came back out, shut both doors[,]" and told them she had not seen Curry. Dixon testified at trial that she lied to police during this interaction and that Curry was at her home when police arrived, but he instructed her to tell them he was not there. Dixon initially told police that Calhoun had dropped Curry off at her house on the day of the murder, but she later admitted that she did not see Calhoun at all that afternoon and that Curry arrived at her house on foot. About twenty minutes after officers left Dixon's residence, Curry arrived at the crime scene with Kahlo and confirmed to officers he was with Calhoun the day prior. Curry told officers he and Calhoun had gone to obtain and use heroin and marijuana while the two were together, and Calhoun dropped him off at Dixon's home around 5:00 p.m. When officers asked him about the Burger King receipt, Curry denied going to Burger King. After Curry left the scene, officers located Calhoun's body across the street from Bargeron's car. Officers noticed the pocket of Calhoun's jeans was pulled out, and they located a .380 cartridge case near his body. Calhoun's car keys and cellphone were missing from the crime scene. Police never found the cellphone Calhoun had been using on the day of the murder, nor did they recover the murder weapon. Dixon testified at trial that she saw Curry throw a black handgun into the woods behind her house on the day after the murder. Another witness testified that Curry had showed him a small black pistol in the summer of 2019, which was generally consistent with the type of gun South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) expert Michelle Eichenmiller testified was used to kill Calhoun. Officers obtained six search warrants during the investigation that are the subject of this appeal. On October 12, 2018, officers obtained a warrant to search Dixon's home. During the search, officers seized multiple cellphones. On October 15, 2018, officers obtained a warrant to search Curry's cellphone. On October 19, 2018, officers obtained a warrant to search Curry's T-Mobile records. On November 5, 2018, officers obtained a warrant to search T-Mobile records for the phone Calhoun borrowed from his mother and used on the day of the murder, which was never recovered. In December 2021, officers obtained a second search warrant to search Curry's cellphone and a warrant to search Dixon's cellphone. Prior to trial, Curry moved to suppress the evidence obtained from these six search warrants. The trial court denied the motions. Curry also brought a motion to suppress the cellphone maps and expert witness testimony from FBI Agent Mathew Wilde, arguing the State violated his due process rights, his right to a fair trial, and his Sixth Amendment rights because he did not receive the cellphone mapping exhibits until the Friday before trial. The court denied Curry's motion and admitted the mapping exhibits during Agent Wilde's testimony. The court held that, although the exhibits were not disclosed to

Curry until the eve of trial, the raw data with which the exhibits were created was produced earlier in discovery and was available to Curry.

After a four-day trial, the jury found Curry guilty of murder. He was sentenced to thirty-eight years' imprisonment. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"[A]ppellate review of a motion to suppress based on the Fourth Amendment involves a two-step analysis. This dual inquiry means [appellate courts] review the trial court's factual findings for any evidentiary support, but the ultimate legal conclusion . . . is a question of law subject to de novo review." State v. Fraiser, 437 S.C. 625, 633-34, 879 S.E.2d 762, 766 (2022). The appellate court analyzes the trial court's ruling regarding alleged discovery violations "under an abuse of discretion standard." State v. Lawton, 382 S.C. 122, 127, 675 S.E.2d 454, 457 (Ct. App. 2009). "The admission or exclusion of evidence is left to the sound discretion of the trial judge." State v. Preslar, 364 S.C. 466, 472, 613 S.E.2d 381, 384 (Ct. App. 2005). "A court's ruling on the admissibility of evidence will not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion or the commission of legal error, which results in prejudice to the defendant." Id. at 472-73, 613 S.E.2d at 384. "Error without prejudice does not warrant reversal." State v. McWee, 322 S.C. 387, 393, 742 S.E.2d 235, 239 (1996).

LAW/ANALYSIS

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