Shaw v. Coleman

• Decision Date: 30 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. 4241.,4241.
• Parties: Carol C. SHAW, Charles W. Shaw, III, J. Roth Snowden and Delia S. Snowden, Respondents, v. Christopher M. COLEMAN, Appellant.
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals

645 S.E.2d 252

Carol C. SHAW, Charles W. Shaw, III, J. Roth Snowden and Delia S. Snowden, Respondents, v. Christopher M. COLEMAN, Appellant.

No. 4241.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Submitted December 1, 2006.

Decided April 30, 2007.

Laura Catherine Tesh, of Columbia, Lourie A. Salley, III, of Lexington, for Appellant.

Edgar Lloyd Willcox, II, of Florence, for Respondents.

BEATTY, J.:

Christopher Coleman appeals a permanent injunction preventing him from discharging firearms on his property or immediate surroundings, firing air rifles or pellet guns toward Carol and Charles Shaw's and Roth and Delia Snowden's property or person, and yelling or otherwise provoking the Shaws or the Snowdens. We affirm as modified.¹

FACTS

Coleman lives between the Shaws' and the Snowdens' property on a stretch of land mainly composed of woods and swamp. The properties stretch across Holly Road in Marion, South Carolina. The Snowdens moved to their property in 1959. Coleman bought his one-acre property in 1990. The Shaws purchased their land in 1992.

After numerous problems with Coleman beginning in August of 2002, including harassing behavior and his firing of weapons on and off his property, the Shaws and the Snowdens brought a nuisance action seeking a permanent injunction² of Coleman's use of firearms, damages for Coleman's alleged violation of section 31-18-30 of the South Carolina Code (2007),³ damages for alleged conversion, and damages and a permanent injunction for alleged trespass.⁴ Ultimately, the court's ruling was limited to the question of whether a permanent injunction should be issued.

As a threshold matter, the trial court had to determine whether Coleman had a shooting range on his property because Coleman attempted to use section 31-18-30 of the South Carolina Shooting Range Protection Act (the Act) as a defense. In reaching this decision, the trial court heard two days of testimony and visited the property with the parties.

Terry and Violette Thompson purchased ten acres from the Snowdens in August of 2002. Coleman had previously expressed an interest in purchasing this land, but the offer was rejected. Prior to the sale, the Snowdens did not have any problems with Coleman. Ms. Shaw testified that before the sale she heard four or five shots on Coleman's land over two to three months. According to Patricia Rowell, who also lives near Holly Road, Coleman fired guns occasionally prior to August of 2002, and after August of 2002, Coleman's shooting was continuous. When the Thompsons bought the property, the frequency of Coleman's shooting greatly escalated. The Thompsons sold their property back to the Snowdens in October of 2003 due to Coleman's continued shooting.

Ms. Shaw testified that Coleman planned to run the Thompsons off the property because he wanted to purchase it. Mr. Shaw concurred with his wife when he testified that Coleman did not want anyone living on the property the Thompsons purchased, and that he planned to run the Thompsons off of their land. Additionally, Mason Draper, a neighbor, discussed the Thompsons with Coleman. According to Draper, Coleman stated that he would keep shooting until the Thompsons moved.

Other nearby property owners experienced similar treatment by Coleman when they sold a portion of their property to a party other than Coleman. The Stackhouses testified that Coleman appeared at their residence screaming that they could not sell their property. In addition, following Frank Shaw's purchase of land near Coleman's property, Coleman followed Shaw and filmed him with a video camera.

There was also testimony that Coleman did not limit his shooting to his property, but instead, targeted specific individuals. Both Mr. Shaw and Mr. Snowden testified that Coleman fired bullets over their heads. Additionally, Mr. Snowden watched Coleman fire his rifle over the Thompsons' property. Ms. Thompson also saw Coleman firing over a public road and over her head and her son's head. Thomas Nolan witnessed Coleman crouched down near the Shaws' property while wearing a side-arm holster.

In addition to Coleman's shooting, witnesses also described Coleman's harassing and threatening behavior. Mr. Shaw stated that Coleman took pictures of him. Mr. Thompson testified that while he was driving on a dirt road, Coleman appeared and drove erratically behind him while waving a gun. Coleman also repeatedly fired an air cannon on his land.

During this contentious time, Travis Rowell delivered thirty tons of dirt to Coleman's property in December of 2002. Rowell deposited the dirt on a small mound with targets, which was already present prior to the delivery. Additionally, Coleman installed slats on his chain link fence in response to noise complaints.

In presenting his case, Coleman testified that he wanted to become a shooting instructor and met Charles Shortsleeve, an instructor, in 2003. Coleman claimed he taught as many as fifty people about guns. He further testified that he first obtained a business license for the Sports Shooting Club on his property in 1992, and the license is still effective. Coleman acknowledged the license was for "gun smithing activities."

On behalf of Coleman, several people testified regarding firearms being shot on Coleman's property. Ray Williams testified he fired guns on Coleman's property from 1997 to 2001. Between 1990 and 1993, Vicky Bostic observed Coleman shooting at his backstop a few times. Stacey Jordan fired guns on Coleman's property as early as 1993. Brian Polston remembered firing guns on Coleman's property as early as 1997.

Robert Butler, who was involved in drafting several amendments to the Act, stated he saw distance markers and a backstop between ten and twelve feet on Coleman's property the morning of his testimony. Butler believed that Coleman's property met the requirements of the Act.

After the hearing, the trial court issued an order on May 9, 2005. The court held under section 31-18-20 that Coleman's property was not a shooting range because "the primary use of [Coleman's] property is as a residence for Mr. Coleman, and the use of weaponry is a collateral use incident to his residence at the property." Based on this analysis, the court held that Coleman "may not avail himself of the protections of the South Carolina Shooting Range Act," and found that the Act did not apply to Coleman's property. As a result of these findings, the court permanently enjoined Coleman from discharging firearms on his property or the surrounding property, from discharging air rifles or pellet guns toward the Shaws' or Snowdens' property or person, and from screaming obscenities at the Shaws or the Snowdens or otherwise provoking the Shaws or the Snowdens. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"Actions for injunctive relief are equitable in nature." Wiedemann v. Town of Hilton Head Island, 344 S.C. 233, 236, 542 S.E.2d 752, 753 (Ct.App.2001). "In an action in equity tried by the judge without a reference, we have jurisdiction to find facts in accordance with our own view of the preponderance of the evidence." LeFurgy v. Long Cove Club Owners Ass'n, 313 S.C. 555, 557, 443 S.E.2d 577, 578 (Ct.App.1994). However, this scope of review does not require us to disregard the findings of the trial court that saw and heard the witnesses and was in a better position to judge their credibility. Blanks v. Rawson, 296 S.C. 110, 114, 370 S.E.2d 890, 893 (Ct.App.1988).

DISCUSSION

I. Shooting Range Protection Act

Coleman argues the trial court erred in granting the permanent injunction because section 31-18-30 of the Act protects his shooting range from this nuisance action. We disagree.

Relying on the provisions of the Act, the trial court found that Coleman's property, which was his residence, was not a shooting range given that firing firearms was not the "usual, regular, and primary activity occurring in the area." S.C.Code Ann. § 31-18-20(1)(b) (2007). Coleman asserts the trial court "erred as a matter of law in interpreting the statute to per se exclude Coleman's property because he lives there."

Because the disposition of this case turns on the interpretation of the Act, we must rely upon the rules governing statutory construction. "The cardinal rule of statutory interpretation is to ascertain and effectuate the intention of the Legislature." Floyd v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 367 S.C. 253, 260, 626 S.E.2d 6, 10 (2005). "Where the terms of the statute are clear, the court must apply those terms according to their literal meaning, without resort to subtle or forced construction to limit or expand the statute's operation." Cooper v. Moore, 351 S.C. 207, 212, 569 S.E.2d 330, 332 (2002). An issue regarding statutory interpretation is a question of law. S.C. Uninsured Employer's Fund v. House, 360 S.C. 468, 470, 602 S.E.2d 81, 82 (Ct.App.2004).

Section 31-18-20 defines a shooting range as follows:

(1) "shooting range" or "range" means an area that is:

(a) designated, utilized, and operated by a person for the firing of firearms; where

(b) the firing of firearms is the usual, regular, and primary activity occurring in the area; and where

(c) the improvements, size, geography, and vegetation of the area are such that a projectile discharged from a firearm at a target would not reasonably be expected to escape its boundaries by virtue of the trajectory of the projectile, or by virtue of a backstop, berm, bullet trap, impact barrier, or similar device designed to prevent the escape of such projectiles.

(2) "person" means an individual, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, club, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.

(3) "substantial change in use" or "substantial change in the use" means that the current primary use of the range no longer represents the activity previously engaged in at the range.

S.C.Code Ann. § 31-18-20 (2007).

On Coleman's one-acre property there is his residence as well as an area...