State v. Morgan, 22151

Decision Date05 June 1984
Docket NumberNo. 22151,22151
Citation319 S.E.2d 335,282 S.C. 409
CourtSouth Carolina Supreme Court
PartiesThe STATE, Respondent, v. Robert E. MORGAN, Appellant. . Heard

Henry F. Floyd of Acker, Acker, Floyd & Welmaker, Pickens, for appellant.

Atty. Gen. T. Travis Medlock and Asst. Attys. Gen. Harold M. Coombs, Jr. and Carolyn M. Adams, Columbia, and Sol. William B. Traxler, Greenville, for respondent.

LITTLEJOHN, Chief Justice.

The Defendant-Appellant, Robert E. Morgan, was convicted of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, third offense. He appeals. We affirm.

In the nighttime a motorist, Michael Barnes, was proceeding along a public highway in Pickens County. A Mustang and a Camaro approached him from the rear traveling abreast at a high rate of speed. Inferably, they were racing. The driver of the Mustang lost control of his vehicle and wrecked seriously injuring the occupants. The Camaro proceeded down the road. Within about ten minutes, a Camaro returned to the scene and stopped. It was occupied by a man named Dotson who was at that time driving and by the Defendant, Robert E. Morgan. Dotson was not under the influence.

Law enforcement officers had arrived on the scene to assist the wounded persons and to investigate the happening. They talked with both Dotson and the Defendant. Miranda warnings were not given. During the conversation, the Defendant stated to three police officers that he had been using alcohol and marijuana and that he had been driving the Camaro before the wreck. He did not say that he was under the influence. Officers arrested him and charged him with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He flunked a field sobriety test and later took a breathalyzer test which registered blood alcohol level at 0.13.

The Defendant did not appear for trial but his attorney participated. The trial judge ruled that the statements made to officers by the Defendant before he was arrested were voluntary and admissible in evidence. These statements were the only evidence that Defendant had been driving the Camaro. In this appeal, the Defendant asserts several allegations of error on the part of the trial judge submitting that he was entitled to have the case dismissed as a matter of law or should be granted a new trial.

Defendant first asserts that the trial judge erred in (1) not directing a verdict of acquittal; (2) in failing to grant a motion for judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict of the jury; and (3) in refusing to grant a new trial. Upon a motion for a directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the trial judge is concerned with the existence of evidence and not its weight. State v. Spann, 279 S.C. 399, 308 S.E.2d 518 (1983). The courts must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. State v. Thompson, 279 S.C. 405, 308 S.E.2d 364 (1983). The evidence recited herein above made issues of fact, and the trial judge did not err in submitting the guilt issues to the jury.

Defendant argues that the trial judge erred in admitting into evidence his statement that he had been using drugs and alcohol and that he had been the driver of the vehicle because officers did not give him the Miranda warnings as required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

The Miranda warnings are not required if the defendant is not in custody or significantly deprived of his freedom. State v. Neely, 271 S.C. 33, 40, 244 S.E.2d 522, 526 (1978). When a defendant is not in custody or significantly deprived of his freedom, any inculpatory statements made at the time are not inadmissible because of the failure to give Miranda warnings. Defendant's view that he was deprived of his freedom is not sustained by the record. A traffic accident had just occurred. Dotson volunteered the information that he and the Defendant had seen the accident. What followed was a routine investigation into the cause. The statements by Defendant were made during the course of this routine investigation. Miranda warnings were not required. Clay v. Riddle, 541 F.2d 456 (4th Cir.1976); State v. Tabory, 260 S.C. 355, 366, 196 S.E.2d 111, 114 (1973); but see McCarthy v. Herdman, 716 F.2d 361 (6th Cir.1983) cert. granted --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 697, 79 L.Ed.2d 163 (1984). 1

Defendant submits that the trial judge erred in allowing into evidence the admission of Defendant that he was the driver without first requiring the State to prove the corpus delicti. In State v. Teal, 225 S.C. 472, 82 S.E.2d 787 (1954), this court stated, "The rule is well established that the conviction cannot be had on the extra-judicial confessions of the defendant unless corroborated by proof aliunde of the corpus delicti." Id. 225 S.C. at 474, 82 S.E.2d at 788.

As pointed out above, the statements of the Defendant did not amount to a confession but assuming without so deciding that a confession was involved which normally would require the proof of the corpus delicti before admission, no objection to the evidence on this basis...

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40 cases
  • City of Easley v. Portman
    • United States
    • South Carolina Court of Appeals
    • June 4, 1997
    ...by law, and whether either his act or neglect caused [the victim's] death, were matters properly left to the jury. See State v. Morgan, 282 S.C. 409, 319 S.E.2d 335 (1984) (in a prosecution for driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the questions of whether a......
  • State v. Cherry, 3406.
    • United States
    • South Carolina Court of Appeals
    • November 13, 2001
    ...or nonexistence of evidence, not its weight. State v. Burdette, 335 S.C. 34, 46, 515 S.E.2d 525, 531 (1999); State v. Morgan, 282 S.C. 409, 411, 319 S.E.2d 335, 336 (1984). It has been recently held that this remains true even when the State relies exclusively on circumstantial evidence. St......
  • State v. Cherry
    • United States
    • South Carolina Court of Appeals
    • February 12, 2001
    ...or nonexistence of evidence, not its weight. State v. Burdette, 335 S.C. 34, 46, 515 S.E.2d 525, 531 (1999); State v. Morgan, 282 S.C. 409, 411, 319 S.E.2d 335, 336 (1984). It has been recently held that this remains true even when the State relies exclusively on circumstantial evidence. St......
  • State v. Easler
    • United States
    • South Carolina Court of Appeals
    • April 2, 1996
    ...he is in custody. Minnesota v. Murphy, 465 U.S. 420, 104 S.Ct. 1136, 79 L.Ed.2d 409 (1984). Our Supreme Court in State v. Morgan, 282 S.C. 409, 319 S.E.2d 335 (1984), addressed the issue of routine questioning following a traffic accident: The Miranda warnings are not required if the defend......
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