State v. Reddick

560 S.E.2d 441, 348 S.C. 631, 2002 S.C. App. LEXIS 21
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedFebruary 19, 2002
Docket3448
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 560 S.E.2d 441 (State v. Reddick) 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. Reddick, 560 S.E.2d 441, 348 S.C. 631, 2002 S.C. App. LEXIS 21 (S.C. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

ANDERSON, Judge:

Corey Reddick, an inmate, was convicted of throwing bodily fluids on a correctional officer. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, consecutive to the sentence he was already serving. He raises two issues on appeal. We affirm.

FACTUALIPROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Reddick was convicted of five counts of kidnapping and five counts of armed robbery and sentenced to fifty years imprisonment. He was housed at the Broad River Correctional Institute at the time of the incident underlying this action.

In the cell block where Reddick was housed, prisoners ate meals in their respective cells. At the end of meal time, an officer would go from cell to cell collecting meal trays from the prisoners. The prisoners passed their tray to the officer through the food service flap located in the center of the cell door.

[634]*634On April 1, 1999, Officer Keith Haynes approached Red-dick’s cell to collect his dinner tray. When Officer Haynes requested Reddick pass him the food tray, Reddick refused and demanded to see Sergeant John Rivera. Officer Haynes called Sergeant Rivera and continued collecting trays. As Sergeant Rivera approached Reddick’s cell, he pulled out his can of mace as a precautionary measure and attempted to ask Reddick what was wrong. Reddick tossed the liquid contents of a Styrofoam cup through the open food service flap at Sergeant Rivera, striking the officer directly in the face. Officer Haynes, who was standing next to Sergeant Rivera, was also hit with the liquid. The yellow liquid smelled of urine and both officers believed the substance to be urine. Sergeant Rivera removed his yellow-stained shirt, placed it in a plastic bag, and provided it to his supervisor.

Reddick was indicted for throwing bodily fluids on Sergeant Rivera. The jury convicted Reddick. This appeal follows.

LAWIANALYSIS

I. VALIDITY OF THE INDICTMENT

Reddick argues his indictment was invalid and the Circuit Court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the matter. We disagree.

Reddick was charged with violating S.C.Code Ann. § 24-13-470. The statute states, in pertinent part:

An inmate who attempts to throw or throws bodily fluids including, but not limited to, urine, blood, feces, vomit, saliva, or semen on an employee of a state or local correctional facility is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than fifteen years.

The caption of the indictment returned by the Richland County Grand Jury stated “Throwing Bodily Fluids by Prisoner on Correctional Employee.” The body of the indictment provided:

That COREY L. REDDICK did in Richland County on or about April 1, 1999, wilfully and knowingly threw [sic] or attempted to throw urine on Sergeant John Rivera an employee of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Broad River Correctional Institute.

[635]*635Reddick argues this was insufficient to confer jurisdiction on the Circuit Court. The defect asserted by Reddick is the failure of the indictment to specify Reddick’s status as an “inmate.”

An indictment passes legal muster if it “charges the crime substantially in the language of the ... statute prohibiting the crime or so plainly that the nature of the offense charged may be easily understood .... ” S.C.Code Ann. § 17-19-20 (1985). The indictment must state the offense with sufficient certainty and particularity tp enable the court to know what judgment to pronounce, and the defendant to know what he is called upon to answer. Browning v. State, 320 S.C. 366, 465 S.E.2d 358 (1995); Garrett v. State, 320 S.C. 353, 465 S.E.2d 349 (1995); State v. Ervin, 333 S.C. 351, 510 S.E.2d 220 (Ct.App.1998). “The true test of the sufficiency of an indictment is not whether it could be made more definite and certain, but whether it contains the necessary elements of the offense intended to be charged and sufficiently apprises the defendant of what he must be prepared to meet.” State v. Beam, 336 S.C. 45, 50, 518 S.E.2d 297, 300 (Ct.App.1999) (citation omitted).

In State v. Crenshaw, 274 S.C. 475, 266 S.E.2d 61 (1980), appellants Crenshaw and Ligón were police officers tried for bribery, blackmail, and criminal conspiracy for extorting $5,000 from a doctor in exchange for promises to drop criminal charges against his son. The jury found appellants innocent of all charges except bribery. On appeal, the appellants asserted the indictment failed to charge the crime of bribery substantially in the language of the statute. They further contended the indictment did not set forth with sufficient certainty and particularity how appellants could have exercised their judgment as police officers in order that the criminal charges against the son be dropped or dismissed. The Court commenced its review with the following annunciation:

An indictment is adequate if the offense is stated with sufficient certainty and particularity to enable the court to know what judgment to pronounce, the defendant to know [636]*636what he is called upon to answer, and acquittal or conviction to be placed in bar to any subsequent conviction.

Id. at 477, 266 S.E.2d at 62 (citation omitted).

To determine if the appellants were on notice and apprised of the charges against them, the Court examined the indictment “on its face,” and considered the events at trial:

As the indictment bears the specific code section on its face and there was lengthy discussion concerning that code section throughout the trial, appellants obviously knew for what crime they were being prosecuted. Further, an indictment charging a statutory crime need not use the precise language of the statute in describing the offense, if the words used are equivalent to those employed by the statute, Livingston v. Commonwealth, 184 Va. 830, 36 S.E.2d 561 (1946), as was the case in this instance.

Id.

In State v. Adams, 277 S.C. 115, 283 S.E.2d 582 (1981), overruled on other grounds by State v. Torrence, 305 S.C. 45, 406 S.E.2d 315 (1991), the Supreme Court employed the phrase “practical eye ” to define its comprehensive analysis of indictments for legal sufficiency:

The indictment sufficiency tests noted above must be viewed with a practical eye ....

Id. at 125, 283 S.E.2d at 588.

Like Crenshaw, the Adams Court examined the totality of the circumstances to determine if the appellant was cognizant of the crimes for which he was charged:

[A]ll the surrounding circumstances must be weighed before an accurate determination of whether a defendant was or was not prejudiced can be reached. State v. Hiott, supra; State v. Shoemaker[276 S.C. 86, 275 S.E.2d 878 (1981)]

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State v. Reddick
560 S.E.2d 441 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
560 S.E.2d 441, 348 S.C. 631, 2002 S.C. App. LEXIS 21, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-reddick-scctapp-2002.