State v. Johnson

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

In The Court of Appeals

The State,       
Respondent,

v.

Velma Ruth Johnson,       
Appellant.

Appeal From Aiken County

William P. Keesley, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2003-UP-497

Submitted June 9, 2003 – Filed August
26, 2003

APPEAL DISMISSED

Assistant Appellate Defender Eleanor Duffy Cleary, Office
of Appellate Defense, 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: Velma Ruth Johnson appeals from
her guilty plea to distribution of crack cocaine within proximity of a school. 
She contends the circuit court erred by accepting her plea without detailing
the importance of the rights she was waiving.  Johnson’s counsel attached to
the brief a petition to be relieved as counsel, stating that she had reviewed
the record and concluded this appeal lacks merit.  After a thorough review of
the record and counsel’s brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386
U.S. 738 (1967), and State v. Williams, 305 S.C. 116, 406 S.E.2d 357
(1991), we dismiss [1] Johnson’s appeal and grant counsel’s
motion to be relieved.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

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

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