State v. Thomas

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.
Tra Vaughn Larol Thomas, Appellant.

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Appeal From Greenville County
C. Victor Pyle, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

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Unpublished Opinion No. 2012-UP-361
Submitted June 1, 2012 – Filed June 13, 2012
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AFFIRMED
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Appellate Defender Elizabeth A. Franklin-Best, of
Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy
Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott,
and Assistant Attorney General Christina J. Catoe, all
of Columbia; and Solicitor W. Walter Wilkins, III, of
Greenville, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Tra Vaughn Larol Thomas appeals his conviction of
armed robbery, arguing the trial court erred and violated his Sixth
Amendment right to a public trial by summarily excluding Thomas's family
members and neighbors from the courtroom during the State's witness's
testimony. Thomas maintains his Sixth Amendment rights were violated
when the trial court neither articulated an overriding interest in closing the
courtroom nor considered all reasonable alternatives to the closure. Because
Thomas did not raise this specific issue when he objected to the trial court's
decision, we affirm1 pursuant to Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following
authorities: In re Care & Treatment of Corley, 365 S.C. 252, 258, 616 S.E.2d
441, 444 (Ct. App. 2005) ("Constitutional issues, like most others, must be
raised to and ruled on by the trial court to be preserved for appeal."); State v.
Baker, 390 S.C. 56, 65, 700 S.E.2d 440, 444 (Ct. App. 2010) (holding
constitutional claims must be raised at trial to be preserved for review); id.
(holding a party may not raise one ground to the trial court and a different
ground on appeal).

AFFIRMED.

WILLIAMS, THOMAS, and LOCKEMY, JJ., concur.

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