State v. Folkes

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.

Clinton C.
Folkes, Appellant.

Appeal From Richland County

 James R. Barber, III, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2010-UP-420

Submitted August 2, 2010 – Filed September
24, 2010   

AFFIRMED

Appellate Defender M. Celia Robinson, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney
General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Assistant Attorney General Julie M. Thames, and Solicitor Warren
Blair Giese, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Clinton C.
Folkes was convicted of assault and battery with intent to kill and was
sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.  On appeal, Folkes argues the trial court erred in failing
to charge the jury the absence of malice is not an element of assault and
battery of a high and aggravated nature (ABHAN).  We affirm[1] pursuant to
Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following authorities:  State v. Tyler,
348 S.C. 526, 530-31, 560 S.E.2d 888, 890 (2002) ("[T]he
absence of malice is not a required element of
the offense of ABHAN."); State v. Curry, 370 S.C. 674, 682,
636 S.E.2d 649, 653 (Ct. App. 2006) ("A charge is sufficient if, when considered as a whole,
it covers the law applicable to the case.  The substance of the law is what
must be charged to the jury, not any particular verbiage.") (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted).

AFFIRMED.

FEW, C.J.,
KONDUROS and LOCKEMY, JJ., concur. 

[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to
Rule 215, SCACR.