State v. Kearse

Michael J

THE STATE
OF SOUTH CAROLINA

In The Court
of Appeals

The
State,        Respondent,                                                                                          

v.

Stafford Kearse,
Jr.,        Appellant.

Appeal from
Bamberg County

William P. Keesley,
Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished
Opinion No. 2003-UP-532

Submitted May
30, 2003 – Filed September 4, 2003

APPEAL DISMISSED

Assistant Appellate Defender Tara S. Taggart, of Columbia,
for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy
Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles
H. Richardson, all of Columbia;  and Solicitor Barbara R. Morgan, of Aiken,
for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Stafford Kearse, Jr., appeals his
plea of guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping.  The
judge sentenced Kearse to thirty years imprisonment for each offense.  The sentences
were to be served concurrently.

Pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S.
738 (1967), counsel for Kearse attached to the final brief a petition to be
relieved as counsel, stating she had reviewed the record and concluded Kearse’s
appeal of his guilty plea is without legal merit sufficient to warrant a new
trial.  Kearse did not file a separate pro se response.

After a thorough review of the record pursuant
to Anders and State v. Williams, 305 S.C. 116, 406 S.E.2d 357
(1991), we dismiss the appeal and grant counsel’s petition to be relieved.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

HEARN, C.J., CONNOR and ANDERSON,
JJ., concur.