State v. Rider

Moore, Justice: Appellant was convicted of stalking under S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-1070 (Supp. 1994). While this appeal was pending, § 16-3-1070 was expressly repealed without a saving clause and a new stalking statute was enacted redefining this crime. See 1995 S.C. Act No. 94. A conviction must be vacated if the penal statute the defendant is charged with violating is repealed without a saving clause while the case is pending on appeal. State v. Spencer, 177 S.C. 346, 357-58, 181 S.E. 217 (1935).1 Accordingly, appellant’s conviction is Vacated. Finney, C.J., and Toal, Waller, and Burnett, JJ., concur. Footnotes [1] In the recent case of State v. Varner, 310 S.C. 264, 423 S.E. (2d) 133 (1992), this Court held an appellant is not entitled to the lesser sentence provided by-amendment to a penal statute when the amendment becomes effective while the case is pending on appeal. Varner does not apply here. As noted in Spencer, supra, a statutory change in punishment is distinguishable from the repeal of a criminal law defining the crime itself.