State v. Welch

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.

William Ricky Welch, Appellant.

Appeal From Sumter County

 R. Ferrell Cothran, Jr., Circuit Court
Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2011-UP-503

Submitted November 1, 2011 – Filed
November 10, 2011 

AFFIRMED

Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan M. Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General
John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Assistant
Attorney General William M. Blitch, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Ernest A.
Finney, III, of Sumter, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  William Ricky Welch appeals his conviction for
first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor and lewd act upon a
minor.  He argues the circuit court erred in allowing the State to proceed
under section 16-3-655(A)(2) of the South Carolina Code (Supp. 2010) because
doing so violated the South Carolina Rules of Evidence and his right to a fair
trial guaranteed by the Due Process Clause.  We affirm[1] pursuant to Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following authorities:  State v.
Pagan, 369 S.C. 201, 208, 631 S.E.2d 262, 265 (2006) (holding that the
abuse of discretion standard of review limits reversal unless "the
conclusions of the [circuit] court either lack evidentiary support or are
controlled by an error of law"); Spencer v.
Texas, 385 U.S. 554, 568-69 (1967)
(holding that state statutes requiring juries to make findings of prior convictions
in single trials do not violate due process); State v. Benton, 338 S.C.
151, 154-55, 526 S.E.2d 228, 230 (2000) (recognizing Spencer and noting
that "evidence of other crimes is admissible to establish a material fact
or element of the crime"); S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-655(A)(2) (Supp. 2010)
(providing that a prior conviction of first-degree CSC with a minor is an
element of first-degree CSC with a minor).

AFFIRMED.

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

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