Sikes v. State, No. 24140
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of South Carolina |
| Writing for the Court | TOAL; MOORE; HARWELL; MOORE |
| Citation | 323 S.C. 28,448 S.E.2d 560 |
| Parties | Delaney Thomas SIKES, Petitioner, v. STATE of South Carolina, Respondent. |
| Decision Date | 05 October 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 24140 |
Page 560
v.
STATE of South Carolina, Respondent.
Decided Sept. 6, 1994.
Rehearing Denied Oct. 5, 1994.
Page 561
Lisa T. Gregory, Asst. Appellant Defender, Office of Appellate Defense, Columbia, for petitioner.
Atty. Gen. T. Travis Medlock, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen. James Patrick Hudson, Asst. Atty. Gen. Delbert H. Singleton, Jr., and Deputy Atty. Gen. J. Emory Smith, Jr., Columbia, for respondent.
TOAL, Justice:
We granted certiorari to review the dismissal of Delaney Thomas Sikes' (Sikes) application for post conviction relief (PCR). Sikes contends that the PCR judge erred in finding that he received effective assistance of counsel. We agree and reverse.
Page 562
FACTS
Police arrested Sikes on an outstanding warrant during a routine traffic stop. When removing Sikes from the patrol car at the police station, an officer found a bag of crack cocaine in the back seat. Sikes was convicted of possession with intent to distribute and subsequently filed a PCR application alleging that his attorney was ineffective in failing to challenge the admissibility of the cocaine at trial on the ground that his seizure at the traffic stop was unlawful.
The record indicates that police, while in a high crime area, stopped the vehicle in which Sikes was a passenger because it had paper tags which, according to the officers indicated that the car may have been stolen or lacked insurance. After stopping the car, police requested identification from the driver and the passengers, Sikes, and his common-law wife, Jacqueline Hardin. Sometime after obtaining Sikes' identification, police searched him for weapons and placed him in the patrol car where he was detained for at least twenty minutes. At the PCR hearing, counsel testified that he did not challenge police detention of Sikes because "it didn't appear to [him] that they (the police) were doing anything out of the ordinary." The PCR judge dismissed the application after a hearing, finding that counsel was not ineffective because his decision not to challenge the seizure was a strategic choice designed to minimize the impact of testimony regarding the outstanding warrant for Sikes' forgery charges. We granted certiorari.
LAW/ANALYSIS
Sikes contends that the PCR judge erred in ruling that he received effective assistance of counsel when his counsel did not move to suppress evidence that was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. We agree.
To establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, petitioner must show counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that defendant was prejudiced by such deficient performance. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Gallman v. State, 307 S.C. 273, 414 S.E.2d 780 (1992). When the defendant claims that counsel's failure to articulate a Fourth Amendment claim was ineffective assistance, defendant must show that such claim is meritorious and that the verdict would have been different absent the evidence that should have been excluded. Kimmelman v. Morrison, 477 U.S. 365, 106 S.Ct. 2574, 91 L.Ed.2d 305 (1986).
When an officer stops a vehicle for a traffic violation, he may briefly detain the vehicle and its occupants while he examines the vehicle registration and the driver's license. Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979) (emphasis added). Although Sikes does not challenge the officers' initial stop of the automobile, Sikes claims that the officers improperly seized him to run a warrant check with no reasonable cause. An individual is "seized" when an officer restrains his freedom, even if the detention is brief and falls short of...
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State v. McAteer, 2795.
...the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments as an arrest. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 448 S.E.2d 560 (1994). McAteer is correct that if such a detention is unlawful, any evidence stemming from the detention must be excluded as "......
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People v. Harris, 92783.
...retained passenger's identification, instructed passenger to remain in vehicle and performed warrant check on passenger); Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 31, 448 S.E.2d 560, 563 (1994) (evidence suppressed where passenger was detained for 20 minutes while the officers "went fishing" for eviden......
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State v. Woodruff, 3315.
...his freedom to walk away." Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1877, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, 903 (1968). See also Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 30, 448 S.E.2d 560, 562 (1994)("An individual is `seized' when an officer restrains his freedom, even if the detention is brief and falls short of......
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McHam v. State, 27287.
...examination of the merits of the issue is appropriate in analyzing the prejudice prong in McHam's PCR claim. See generally Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 30, 448 S.E.2d 560, 562 (1994) (“When the defendant claims that counsel's failure to articulate a Fourth [404 S.C. 476]Amendment claim was ......
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People v. Harris, No. 92783.
...retained passenger's identification, instructed passenger to remain in vehicle and performed warrant check on passenger); Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 31, 448 S.E.2d 560, 563 (1994) (evidence suppressed where passenger was detained for 20 minutes while the officers "went fishing" for eviden......
-
State v. McAteer, No. 2795.
...the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments as an arrest. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 448 S.E.2d 560 (1994). McAteer is correct that if such a detention is unlawful, any evidence stemming from the detention must be excluded as "......
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State v. Woodruff, No. 3315.
...his freedom to walk away." Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1877, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, 903 (1968). See also Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 30, 448 S.E.2d 560, 562 (1994)("An individual is `seized' when an officer restrains his freedom, even if the detention is brief and falls short of......
-
McHam v. State, No. 27287.
...examination of the merits of the issue is appropriate in analyzing the prejudice prong in McHam's PCR claim. See generally Sikes v. State, 323 S.C. 28, 30, 448 S.E.2d 560, 562 (1994) (“When the defendant claims that counsel's failure to articulate a Fourth [404 S.C. 476]Amendment claim was ......