State v. Smith

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.

Varsheen Antuan Smith, Appellant.

Appellate Case No. 2018-000373

Appeal From Beaufort County
Brooks P. Goldsmith, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2021-UP-199
Submitted May 1, 2021 – Filed June 9, 2021

AFFIRMED

Chief Appellate Defender Robert Michael Dudek, of
Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Senior
Assistant Attorney General David A. Spencer, both of
Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Varsheen Antuan Smith appeals his convictions for kidnapping,
possession of a handgun by a person convicted of a violent crime, and possession
of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and concurrent sentences of
five years' imprisonment for each gun conviction and twenty-five years'
imprisonment for the kidnapping conviction. Initially, Smith's counsel filed a brief
pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), asking to be relieved as
counsel and arguing the trial court erred by admitting evidence that Monte
Ver'mon Steve was found murdered weeks after Andre Frazier's kidnapping. After
an Anders review, this court ordered the parties to brief the Anders issue and to
include a preservation analysis.

Because Smith agreed the State could present evidence of Steve's death and Tyrone
Wallace's murder charge, Smith only wanted the trial court not to permit the State
to discuss any evidence related to his charge for accessory after the fact, and the
evidence presented at trial was consistent with what Smith requested, we affirm
pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following authorities: TNS Mills, Inc. v.
S.C. Dep't of Revenue, 331 S.C. 611, 617, 503 S.E.2d 471, 474 (1998) ("An issue
conceded in a lower court may not be argued on appeal."); State v. Benton, 338
S.C. 151, 156-57, 526 S.E.2d 228, 231 (2000) (holding an issue was unpreserved
for appellate review when the appellant conceded the issue at trial); Jean Hoefer
Toal et al., Appellate Practice in South Carolina 187 (3d ed. 2016) ("An issue is
not preserved for appellate consideration if it has been conceded in the trial
court."); State v. Brown, 389 S.C. 84, 95, 697 S.E.2d 622, 628 (Ct. App. 2010)
("[The defendant] got the relief asked for and cannot complain on appeal.").1

AFFIRMED.2

LOCKEMY, C.J., and HUFF and HEWITT, JJ., concur.

1
Smith's preservation argument relying on State v. Forrester, 343 S.C. 637, 541
S.E.2d 837 (2001), is not meritorious. First, as discussed above, Smith agreed the
State could present evidence of Steve's death and Wallace's murder charge.
Additionally, Smith's pretrial objection focused on the admission of evidence; he
did not object based on an argument and did not raise an objection during opening
statements. See generally id. at 642, 541 S.E.2d at 840 ("[W]here a judge makes a
ruling on the admission of evidence on the record immediately prior to the
introduction of the evidence in question, the aggrieved party does not need to
renew the objection." (emphasis added)). Next, Smith contends he did not need to
reobject when the first witness testified; however, the first witness only mentioned
that Steve's mother filed a missing person report for Steve. Not until ten witnesses
later did an investigator testify about finding Steve's remains and Wallace's
subsequent murder charge, and Smith did not object to this testimony.
2
We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.