State v. Carruthers

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.

Alan Bruce Carruthers, Appellant.

Appeal From Lexington County

 G. Thomas Cooper, Jr., Circuit Court
Judge

Unpublished Opinion No.  2010-UP-301

Submitted May 3, 2010 – Filed June 8, 2010

AFFIRMED

Appellate Defender M. Celia Robinson, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney
General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott,
and Assistant Attorney General Christina J. Catoe, all of Columbia; and
Solicitor Donald V. Myers, of Lexington, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Alan Bruce Carruthers pled guilty to one
count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree and was
sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment.   He appeals, arguing his guilty plea
failed to comply with the mandates set forth in Boykin v. Alabama, 395
U.S. 238 (1969).  Specifically, Carruthers contends the plea court erred in
accepting his plea without first ordering an evaluation to determine his mental
competency.  We affirm[1] pursuant to Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following authorities: In re
Antonio H., 324 S.C. 120, 122, 477 S.E.2d 713, 714 (1996) (explaining that
when the determination of competency is not raised at the time of the guilty plea,
it is procedurally barred on appeal); State
v. McKinney, 278 S.C. 107, 108, 292
S.E.2d 598, 599 (1982) ("Absent timely objection at a plea proceeding, the
unknowing and involuntary nature of a guilty plea can only be attacked through
the more appropriate channel of [p]ost-[c]onviction [r]elief.").

AFFIRMED.

FEW,
C.J., THOMAS and PIEPER, JJ., concur. 

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