State v. Johnson

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.

Derekee Johnson, Appellant.

Appellate Case No. 2014-000920

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

Unpublished Opinion No. 2017-UP-125
Submitted February 1, 2017 – Filed March 22, 2017

AFFIRMED

R. Morrison Payne, of R. Morrison M. Payne, of
Walterboro; and Chief Appellate Defender Robert M.
Dudek, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan M. Wilson, Chief Deputy
Attorney General John W. McIntosh, and Senior
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, all
of Columbia; and Solicitor Randy E. Newman, Jr., of
Lancaster, for Respondent.
PER CURIAM: Affirmed pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following
authorities: State v. Devore, 416 S.C. 115, 118-19, 784 S.E.2d 690, 692 (Ct. App.
2016) (holding defendant's pro se letter requesting a mistrial was a substantive
document filed while he was represented by counsel, and thus letter was improper
"hybrid representation" and a legal nullity that could not be accepted as a proper
notice of appeal or a post-trial motion); Jackson v. Speed, 326 S.C. 289, 306, 486
S.E.2d 750, 759 (1997) ("[I]t is the responsibility of trial counsel to preserve issues
for appellate review.").

AFFIRMED.1

LOCKEMY, C.J., and HUFF and THOMAS, JJ., concur.

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