State v. Gordon

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.

Reginald Lanard Gordon, Appellant.

Appellate Case No. 2014-002555

Appeal From Charleston County
G. Thomas Cooper, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2016-UP-516
Submitted October 1, 2016 – Filed December 14, 2016

AFFIRMED

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

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Chief Deputy
Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant
Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, and
Assistant Attorney General Susannah R. Cole, all of
Columbia; and Solicitor Scarlett Anne Wilson, of
Charleston, for Respondent.
PER CURIAM: Affirmed pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following
authorities: State v. Pagan, 369 S.C. 201, 208, 631 S.E.2d 262, 265 (2006) ("The
admission of evidence is within the discretion of the trial court and will not be
reversed absent an abuse of discretion."); State v. Miller, 375 S.C. 370, 378-79,
652 S.E.2d 444, 448 (Ct. App. 2007) ("When reviewing a trial [court's] ruling
concerning voluntariness, the appellate court does not re-evaluate the facts based
on its own view of the preponderance of the evidence, but simply determines
whether the trial [court's] ruling is supported by any evidence."); State v. Goodwin,
384 S.C. 588, 601, 683 S.E.2d 500, 507 (Ct. App. 2009) ("When seeking to
introduce a confession, the State must prove that the statement was voluntary and
taken in compliance with Miranda [v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)]."); State v.
Moses, 390 S.C. 502, 513, 702 S.E.2d 395, 401 (Ct. App. 2010) ("In South
Carolina, the test for determining whether a defendant's confession was given
freely, knowingly, and voluntarily focuses upon whether the defendant's will was
overborne by the totality of the circumstances surrounding the confession."); id. at
513-14, 702 S.E.2d at 401 ("Courts have recognized appropriate factors that may
be considered in a totality of the circumstances analysis: background; experience;
conduct of the accused; age; maturity; physical condition and mental health; length
of custody or detention; police misrepresentations; isolation of a minor from his or
her parent; the lack of any advice to the accused of his constitutional rights; threats
of violence; direct or indirect promises, however slight; lack of education or low
intelligence; repeated and prolonged nature of the questioning; exertion of
improper influence; and the use of physical punishment, such as the deprivation of
food or sleep."); Miller, 375 S.C. at 386, 652 S.E.2d at 452 ("Coercive police
activity is a necessary predicate to finding a statement is not voluntary.").

AFFIRMED.1

WILLIAMS, THOMAS, and GEATHERS, JJ., concur.

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