State v. Elders

• Decision Date: 28 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 4648.,4648.
• Citation: 386 S.C. 474,688 S.E.2d 857
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Randy Charles ELDERS, Appellant.

688 S.E.2d 857

386 S.C. 474

The STATE, Respondent, v. Randy Charles ELDERS, Appellant.

No. 4648.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard December 9, 2009.

Decided January 28, 2010.

Robert William Mills, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Assistant Attorney General Deborah R.J. Shupe, and Solicitor Warren Blair Giese, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

GEATHERS, J.

Randy Elders appeals his convictions for armed robbery, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and two counts of kidnapping, arguing that the trial court erred by admitting certain photographs and knives into evidence. Elders further contends that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for a directed verdict with respect to his kidnapping charges. Specifically, he claims that, because he had previously pled guilty to carjacking, the Double Jeopardy Clause barred the State from charging him with kidnapping for the same incident. We affirm.

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Elders and his girlfriend, Christina Hall, were arrested and indicted for crimes that occurred on the evening of April 17, 2005. At approximately 7:30 p.m. that evening, Dwight Riggs and his wife Kathryn were returning home from church when they stopped at the Bi-Lo grocery store on Garners Ferry Road in Columbia, South Carolina. Mrs. Riggs went into the store, and Mr. Riggs remained in the car. As he waited for his wife, Mr. Riggs was approached by a woman he had never seen before. The woman asked Mr. Riggs to give her and her male companion a ride to Mike's Produce Market, which was located a short distance away on Garners Ferry Road. Mrs. Riggs returned to the car and sat down in the front passenger seat. The woman, along with her male friend, got into the back seat of the car, with the man sitting directly behind Mrs. Riggs. Mr. Riggs drove to Mike's Produce Market and pulled into the parking lot.

Upon their arrival, the male passenger placed a knife to Mrs. Riggs' neck and told Mr. Riggs to "keep going straight." According to Mrs. Riggs, the knife had a "little hump" on it and a blade that was about six to eight inches long. Instead of complying with the man's orders, Mr. Riggs grabbed both of the man's hands and pulled him out of the car. A struggle ensued on the pavement outside of the car, and Mr. Riggs was stabbed in the wrist and the chest. The man subsequently broke away from Mr. Riggs and ran over to Mrs. Riggs, who had exited the car. The man proceeded to tackle Mrs. Riggs and take her purse. In doing so, he broke Mrs. Riggs' toe and scraped her arm and knee. The man and the woman then left the scene in the Riggses' car.

The police later determined that the man and woman were Elders and Hall. In connection with the incident, Elders was indicted for one count of armed robbery, two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill (ABIK), one count of carjacking, and two counts of kidnapping. Prior to trial, Elders informed the trial court that he wanted to plead guilty to the carjacking charge and the ABIK charge involving Mr. Riggs. The State objected, arguing that the guilty pleas would hinder its ability to present a cogent case regarding the other four charges. After hearing arguments on both sides, the trial court allowed Elders to plead guilty to both the carjacking charge and the ABIK charge concerning Mr. Riggs.

At trial, the State offered into evidence a photograph of Mr. Riggs that showed the injuries he had sustained. Elders objected to the admission of the photograph, arguing that it was prejudicial and inflammatory because it showed Mr. Riggs in the hospital, attached to medical equipment. The trial court concluded that the photograph was no more prejudicial than other photographs of Mr. Riggs that were admitted without objection and consequently admitted the photograph into evidence.

Additionally, later in the trial, the State offered a photograph of Mrs. Riggs that showed the injuries to her knee. Because it depicted Mrs. Riggs in a wheelchair, Elders objected to the admission of the photograph, arguing that it, like the photograph of Mr. Riggs, was prejudicial and inflammatory. After reviewing the photograph, the trial court overruled Elders' objection.

Thereafter, the State offered four knives that were found by the police on April 19, 2005 (two days after the crimes occurred) in Elders' belongings at the home of Elders' friend, Chris Smith.¹ Three of the knives were pocketknives that were found in Elders' suitcase. The fourth knife, which was found in Elders' shoe, was a switch blade with bears emblazoned on the handle. Elders objected to the admission of the knives, contending that they were irrelevant because none of them were used during the commission of the crimes. Over Elders' objection, the trial court admitted the knives into evidence.

At the conclusion of the State's case in chief, Elders moved for a directed verdict with respect to his kidnapping charges. Elders argued that charging him with kidnapping after he had pled guilty to carjacking constituted double jeopardy. The trial court denied Elders' motion.

The jury subsequently found Elders guilty of armed robbery and two counts of kidnapping. Additionally, with respect to the ABIK charge involving Mrs. Riggs, the jury found Elders guilty of the lesser included offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (ABHAN). The trial court sentenced Elders to twenty years' imprisonment for the carjacking conviction, fifteen years' imprisonment for the ABIK conviction,² thirty years' imprisonment for the armed robbery conviction, thirty years' imprisonment for each of the two kidnapping convictions, and ten years' imprisonment for the ABHAN conviction.³ This appeal followed.

ISSUES ON APPEAL

1. Did the trial court err by failing to direct a verdict on Elders' kidnapping charges?

2. Did the trial court err by admitting the photographs of Mr. Riggs and Mrs. Riggs into evidence?

3. Did the trial court err by admitting the four knives into evidence?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

I. Directed Verdict

When reviewing the denial of a motion for a directed verdict, an appellate court must employ the same standard as the trial court by viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Elam v. S.C. Dep't of Transp., 361 S.C. 9, 27-28, 602 S.E.2d 772, 782 (2004). This court will reverse a trial court's ruling on a directed verdict motion if no evidence supports the trial court's decision or the ruling is controlled by an error of law. Howard v. Roberson, 376 S.C. 143, 148-49, 654 S.E.2d 877, 880 (Ct.App.2007).

II. Admission of Evidence

"The admission or exclusion of evidence is a matter addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court and its ruling will not be disturbed in the absence of a manifest abuse of discretion accompanied by probable prejudice." State v. Douglas, 369 S.C. 424, 429, 632 S.E.2d 845, 847-48 (2006). An abuse of discretion occurs where the conclusions of the trial court either lack evidentiary support or are controlled by an error of law. Id. at 429-30, 632 S.E.2d at 848. Prejudice exists when there is "a reasonable probability that the jury's verdict was influenced by the challenged evidence or the lack thereof." State v. Martucci, 380 S.C. 232, 248, 669 S.E.2d 598, 606 (Ct.App.2008).

Where a review of the whole record establishes that an error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the conviction should not be reversed. State v. Thompson, 352 S.C. 552, 562, 575 S.E.2d 77, 83 (Ct.App.2003). "Error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt where it did not contribute to the verdict obtained." State v. Pagan, 369 S.C. 201, 212, 631 S.E.2d 262, 267 (2006). "[I]n order to conclude that the error did not contribute to the verdict, the Court must `find that error unimportant in relation to everything else the jury considered on the issue in question, as revealed in the record.'" Lowry v. State, 376 S.C. 499, 508, 657 S.E.2d 760, 765 (2008) (quoting Yates v. Evatt, 500 U.S. 391, 403, 111 S.Ct. 1884, 114 L.Ed.2d 432 (1991)).

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Directed Verdict

Elders contends that the trial court erred by failing to grant his motion for a directed verdict with respect to his kidnapping charges. He argues that the Double Jeopardy Clause precluded his being convicted of both kidnapping and carjacking. We disagree.

The Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and South Carolina Constitutions protect citizens from being twice placed in jeopardy of life or liberty for the same offense. See U.S. Const. amend. V ("No person shall be ... subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ..."); S.C. Const. art. I, § 12 ("No person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or liberty ..."). More specifically, "[t]he Double Jeopardy Clause protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal or conviction, and protects against multiple punishments for the same offense." Stevenson v. State, 335 S.C. 193, 198, 516 S.E.2d 434, 436 (1999). In both multiple punishment and successive prosecution cases, double jeopardy claims are evaluated under the "same elements" test set forth in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932).⁴

Pursuant to Blockburger, "where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of a fact which the other does not." Blockburger, 284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. 180; see also State v. Hall, 280 S.C. 74, 76 n. 1, 310 S.E.2d 429, 430 n. 1 (1983). Under the Blockburger test, a defendant may be convicted of two separate crimes arising from the same conduct without being placed in double...