State v. Esaw

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.

Ricky Lamont Esaw, Appellant.

Appellate Case No. 2017-002213

Appeal From Lexington County
Thomas W. Cooper, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2019-UP-353
Submitted October 1, 2019 – Filed November 6, 2019

AFFIRMED

Appellate Defender Susan Barber Hackett, of Columbia,
for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Chief Deputy
Attorney General W. Jeffrey Young, Deputy Attorney
General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Deputy
Attorney General Melody J. Brown, and Assistant
Attorney General W. Joseph Maye, all of Columbia; and
Solicitor Samuel R. Hubbard, III, of Lexington, all for
Respondent.
PER CURIAM: Affirmed pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following
authorities: State v. Baccus, 367 S.C. 41, 48, 625 S.E.2d 216, 220 (2006) ("In
criminal cases, the appellate court sits to review errors of law only."); Clark v.
Cantrell, 339 S.C. 369, 389, 529 S.E.2d 528, 539 (2000) ("An appellate court will
not reverse the trial court's decision regarding jury instructions unless the trial
court abused its discretion."); id. ("An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial
court's ruling is based on an error of law or, when grounded in factual conclusions,
is without evidentiary support."); State v. Mattison, 388 S.C. 469, 479, 697 S.E.2d
578, 583 (2010) ("The trial court is required to charge only the current and correct
law of South Carolina."); S.C. Const. art. V, § 21 ("[Trial courts] shall not charge
juries in respect to matters of fact, but shall declare the law."); State v. Green, 412
S.C. 65, 77, 770 S.E.2d 424, 431 (2015) ("[The defendant's] request to charge the
jury that '[i]dentification by a person of a different race may be less reliable than
identification by a person of the same race' would have been improper because it
would have asked the jury to place less weight on [the v]ictim's testimony because
he was of a different race than [defendant].").

AFFIRMED.1

SHORT, THOMAS, and GEATHERS, JJ., concur.

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