State v. Stukins

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In The Court of Appeals The State, Respondent, v. Jerry Stukins, Appellant. Appeal From Horry County J. Michael Baxley, Circuit Court Judge Unpublished Opinion No. 2003-UP-549 Submitted July 15, 2003 – Filed September 25, 2003 AFFIRMED Randall K. Mullins and Elizabeth J. Saraniti, of North Myrtle Beach, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, and Senior Assistant Attorney General Harold M. Coombs, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor John Gregory Hembree, of Conway, for Respondent. PER CURIAM: Jerry Stukins was convicted of homicide by child abuse. He was sentenced to twenty years, suspended upon the service of fifteen years. On appeal, Stukins argues the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for a directed verdict. We affirm [1] pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 14-8-250 (Supp. 2002), Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following authorities: State v. Parler, 217 S.C. 24, 59 S.E.2d 489 (1950) (holding, under former Circuit Court Rule 76, the denial of the defendant’s directed verdict motion was not preserved for appeal where he failed to renew the motion after presenting evidence); Note to Rule 19, SCRCrimP (stating the rule “is substantially the substance of Circuit Court Rule 76”); State v. Adams, 332 S.C. 139, 144, 504 S.E.2d 124, 126-27 (Ct. App. 1998) (finding appellant’s directed verdict motion was not preserved where the argument raised on appeal was not presented to the trial court, and “[m]oreover, the record does not reflect that Adams renewed the motion at the close of his case”) (citing, inter alia, State v. Parler, 217 S.C. 24, 59 S.E.2d 489 (1950) and the Note to Rule 19, SCRCrimP); State v. Harry, 321 S.C. 273, 277, 468 S.E.2d 76, 79 (Ct. App. 1996) (“‘A motion for a directed verdict made at the close of the [state’s] case is not sufficient to preserve error unless renewed at the close of all the evidence, because once the defense has come forward with its proof, the propriety of a directed verdict can only be tested in terms of all the evidence.’”) (alteration in original); Rule 208(b)(4), SCACR (“The brief shall contain references to the transcript, pleadings, orders, exhibits, or other materials which may be properly included in the Record on Appeal . . . to support the salient facts alleged. References shall also be made to where relevant objections and rulings occurred in the transcript.”). AFFIRMED. HEARN, C.J., CONNOR and ANDERSON, JJ., concur. [1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.