State v. Young

818 S.E.2d 486, 424 S.C. 424
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedAugust 22, 2018
DocketAppellate Case No. 2015-000508; Opinion No. 5592
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 818 S.E.2d 486 (State v. Young) 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. Young, 818 S.E.2d 486, 424 S.C. 424 (S.C. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

HUFF, J.:

**429Aaron Young, Jr. appeals his convictions of murder and attempted murder. On appeal, Young, Jr. argues the trial court erred in denying: (1) his motion for a directed verdict on the murder charge because the State's mutual combat theory was not supported by South Carolina law or the evidence at trial; (2) his request for a jury charge on the end of mutual combat; and (3) his motion for a directed verdict on the attempted murder charge. We affirm.

**430FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In October 2014, Young, Jr. was indicted for the murder of Khalil Singleton (Victim) and the attempted murder of Tyrone Robinson. The indictment arose out of a September 1, 2012 conflict between Young, Jr. and Robinson, which culminated in the death of Victim, a minor who was playing outside on a trampoline during the incident. The State's theory of prosecution was that Young, Jr. engaged in mutual combat with Robinson and thereby caused Victim's death.1

Prior to trial, Young, Jr. moved to quash the murder indictment, arguing mutual combat is not a criminal offense in South Carolina. Young, Jr. further argued the doctrine of transferred intent does not apply in the context of mutual combat. The trial court deferred ruling on the motion until it could "get some sensible legal theory on one side of that issue or another which makes the transferred intent doctrine applicable in mutual combat."

Jontu Singleton testified he met with Robinson on the afternoon of the incident at a house in Hilton Head. The two men decided to drive Robinson's car to the Youngs' residence.

*489When Robinson and Singleton arrived at the house, Young, Sr. and Young, Jr. were both outside. Robinson exited his vehicle carrying a .38 caliber revolver and began yelling at Young, Jr. Young, Sr. saw the gun and immediately began to struggle with Robinson. Robinson fired the gun during the struggle, and Young, Sr. backed away; Robinson proceeded to fire one or two more shots at the ground. Robinson then returned to his vehicle and sped away; Singleton remained with the Youngs. Immediately after Robinson fled the yard, the Youngs went into their house and retrieved a semi-automatic pistol and ammunition. The Youngs and Singleton then entered Young, Sr.'s gray pickup truck and began to search for Robinson. Young, Sr. drove the truck, and Young, Jr. assembled the pistol in the passenger seat. The three men drove around their neighborhood for approximately ten minutes, but they could not find Robinson. Singleton then exited the vehicle and left the area.

**431Charlese Mitchell, Robinson's neighbor, testified she was home alone on the day of the incident and heard several rounds of gunshots around 4:00 p.m. After the gunfire stopped, Robinson came to her door "hyped up" and carrying a gun.

Robinson entered Mitchell's trailer and stated "those [people were] shooting at me." At that time, Tyrone Delaney, Mitchell's fiancé, came home and spoke with Robinson for no more than ten minutes. Delaney told Robinson to leave, and shortly after Robinson left, Mitchell and Delaney heard another series of rapid gunfire. Mitchell testified that she saw Young, Sr. and a passenger she could not identify speeding down the road in a gray truck when she went outside to tell her son and stepsons to come inside the trailer. After returning indoors with her children, Mitchell heard three final gunshots followed by screaming. Mitchell went outside to see Victim lying on the ground.

Delaney testified he observed the Youngs' gray truck speeding out of Mitchell's neighborhood at approximately 4:00 p.m. When Delaney arrived at Mitchell's trailer, Robinson explained he and the occupants of the truck had exchanged gunfire. At that point, Delaney asked Robinson to leave. Shortly after Robinson left, Delaney heard a burst of semi-automatic gunfire, and he and Mitchell brought their children inside. A few minutes later, Delaney heard three more gunshots, of a different type than the semi-automatic shots. When the gunfire ceased, Delaney heard Victim screaming for help.

The State also published Young, Jr.'s police interview to the jury. In his interview, Young, Jr. stated, "The first time we caught [Robinson] ... the [pistol] wouldn't shoot. It wouldn't shoot." Young, Jr. continued, "It didn't go down like we wanted it to. If it wouldn't went down like that, we wouldn't even be here and nobody would know nothing [because] it was a dead[-end] road.... But the [pistol] just wouldn't go off." Later in the interview, when an investigator asked Young, Jr. who he was shooting at, he indicated Robinson was his target.

Young, Jr. did not testify in his own defense, and the jury found him guilty of both charges. The trial court sentenced Young, Jr. to concurrent terms of thirty years' imprisonment. This appeal followed.

**432DIRECTED VERDICT-MUTUAL COMBAT THEORY

First, Young, Jr. argues the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict because South Carolina law does not support a murder conviction under a mutual combat theory. Young, Jr. asserts South Carolina does not recognize mutual combat as a basis for a murder conviction, and the law of mutual combat is only a limitation on self-defense.

"A defendant is entitled to a directed verdict when the State fails to produce evidence of the offense charged." State v. McHoney , 344 S.C. 85, 97, 544 S.E.2d 30, 36 (2001). In reviewing a motion for directed verdict, the trial court is concerned with the existence of evidence, not with its weight. State v. Mitchell , 341 S.C. 406, 409, 535 S.E.2d 126, 127 (2000).

When a motion for a directed verdict is made in a criminal case where the State relies exclusively on circumstantial evidence, "[t]he trial [court] is required to submit the case to the jury if there is any substantial evidence which reasonably *490tends to prove the guilt of the accused, or from which his guilt may be fairly and logically deduced."

State v. Lollis , 343 S.C. 580, 584, 541 S.E.2d 254, 256 (2001) (quoting Mitchell , 341 S.C. at 409

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
818 S.E.2d 486, 424 S.C. 424, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-young-scctapp-2018.