State v. Horton

• Decision Date: 16 September 2010
• Docket Number: 2010-UP-406
• Citation: State v. Horton, 2010-UP-406 (S.C. App. Sep 16, 2010)
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: The State, Respondent, v. Larry Brent Horton, Appellant.

The State, Respondent, v. Larry Brent Horton, Appellant.

No. 2010-UP-406

Court of Appeals of South Carolina

September 16, 2010

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Submitted September 1, 2010

Appeal From Spartanburg County J. Derham Cole, Circuit Court Judge

Senior Appellate Defender Joseph L. Savitz, III, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Assistant Attorney General Anthony Mabry all and Solicitor Harold W. Gowdy, III, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM

Larry Brent Horton appeals his murder conviction and life imprisonment sentence, arguing the trial court erred in refusing to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter. We affirm ^[1] pursuant to Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following authorities: State v. Cottrell, 376 S.C. 260, 262, 657 S.E.2d 451, 452 (2008) ("Voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being in sudden heat of passion upon sufficient legal provocation. In determining whether voluntary manslaughter should be charged as a lesser offense of murder, the court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the defendant. The charge need not be given where it clearly appears that there is no evidence whatsoever tending to reduce the crime from murder to manslaughter. We therefore review the evidence in the light most favorable to appellant, mindful that the charge request is properly rejected only where there is no evidence whatsoever of the lesser offense.") (internal citations and quotations omitted); State v. Smith 363 S.C. 111, 115, 609 S.E.2d 528, 530 (Ct. App. 2005) ("'Both heat of passion and sufficient legal provocation must be present at the time of the killing. The provocation must be such as to render the mind of an ordinary person...