State v. Kelly

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.

Joseph Lathan Kelly, Appellant.

Appellate Case No. 2011-182646

Appeal From Lexington County
R. Knox McMahon, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2012-UP-561
Submitted October 1, 2012 – Filed October 24, 2012

AFFIRMED

Appellate Defender Kathrine H. Hudgins, of Columbia,
for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney
General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Deputy
Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Staff Attorney Julie
Kate Keeney, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Donald V.
Myers, of Lexington, for Respondent.
PER CURIAM: Affirmed pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following
authorities: State v. Hatcher, 392 S.C. 86, 92, 708 S.E.2d 750, 753 (2011)
("[E]vidence [is] inadmissible only where there is a missing link in the chain of
possession because the identity of those who handled the [substance] was not
established at least as far as practicable." (citation and internal quotation marks
omitted)); State v. Horton, 359 S.C. 555, 568, 598 S.E.2d 279, 286 (Ct. App. 2004)
("[W]here there is a weak link in the chain of custody, as opposed to a missing
link, the question is only one of credibility and not admissibility.").

AFFIRMED.1

SHORT, KONDUROS, and LOCKEMY, JJ., concur.

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