State v. Taylor

• Decision Date: 06 June 2012
• Docket Number: No. 4920.,4920.
• Citation: 731 S.E.2d 596,399 S.C. 51
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Robert Troy TAYLOR, Appellant.

399 S.C. 51

731 S.E.2d 596

The STATE, Respondent,

v.Robert Troy TAYLOR, Appellant.

No. 4920.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard March 10, 2011.

Decided Dec. 21, 2011.

Withdrawn, Substituted and Refiled June 6, 2012.

Jeremy Adam Thompson, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Assistant Attorney General William M. Blitch, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor Ernest Finney, III, of Sumter, for Respondent.

LOCKEMY, J.

Robert Troy Taylor appeals his convictions and sentence of life without parole for criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the second degree and kidnapping. Taylor argues the trial court erred in (1) granting the State's Batson motion, (2) admitting evidence of Taylor's prior conviction for criminal sexual conduct with a minor, (3) denying his motion for a directed verdict, and (4) sentencing him to life without parole. We affirm.

FACTS

Taylor was the pastor of the church Victim attended in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. In November 1998, when Victim was 11, Taylor organized a camping trip with Victim and a group of six or seven boys from the church. Taylor took the boys to an area “just outside [the city of] Andrews” on Highway521 and the group hiked about a mile into the woods to a campsite “right next to the Black River.” Taylor and the boys set up a tent and a large tarp, made a fire, and cooked food. At approximately 11 p.m., the boys retired to their sleeping bags under the tarp. Later that night, Taylor woke Victim, placed his hand over Victim's mouth, and carried him to the tent. Once inside the tent, Taylor removed Victim's clothes and forced Victim to touch his penis and anus. Taylor also touched Victim's penis and anus. Next, Taylor raped Victim. After raping Victim, Taylor instructed Victim not to reveal the rape to anyone and returned Victim to his sleeping bag. Taylor slept next to Victim and held him throughout the course of the night.

In August 1999, Taylor and a few other adults from the church organized a trip to the beach. After leaving the beach, the group returned to the church to use the showers. Once all the showers were occupied, Taylor asked Victim and another boy if they would like to use the showers at his house. Victim and the other boy accompanied Taylor to his home near the church. While Victim was showering, Taylor entered the bathroom, removed his clothes, and entered the shower. Taylor forced Victim to touch his penis and Taylor touched Victim's penis and anus. Next, Taylor raped Victim. After raping Victim, Taylor instructed Victim not to divulge the rape to anyone. Taylor drove Victim and the other boy back to the church.

Approximately five years after the 1999 rape, Victim, then 17, told his parents about the two rapes. Taylor was indicted for second degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor in Georgetown County for the 1999 rape. Taylor pled guilty and was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment suspended upon the service of five years and three years' probation. In May 2006, Taylor was indicted for second degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and kidnapping for the 1998 rape. The State served Taylor with notice of its intent to seek a sentence of life without parole pursuant to section 17–25–45 of the South Carolina Code (2003). Taylor was convicted on both counts and the trial court sentenced him to life without parole. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

“In criminal cases, the appellate court sits to review errors of law only.” State v. Baccus, 367 S.C. 41, 48, 625 S.E.2d 216, 220 (2006). Thus, an appellate court is bound by the trial court's factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous. Id.

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Batson

Taylor argues the trial court's finding that his strike of Juror 146 was racially motivated is clearly erroneous. We disagree.

“The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the State from striking a venire[ ]person on the basis of race.” State v. Hicks, 330 S.C. 207, 211, 499 S.E.2d 209, 211 (1998) (citing Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986)). The trial court must hold a Batson hearing when members of a cognizable racial group are struck and the opposing party requests a hearing. State v. Haigler, 334 S.C. 623, 629, 515 S.E.2d 88, 90 (1999). First, the proponent of the strike must present a race or gender neutral explanation for the challenged strike. Id. In response the opponent of the strike must show the race or gender neutral explanation given by the proponent was mere pretext. Id. at 629, 515 S.E.2d at 91. Pretext is generally established by showing similarly situated members of another race or gender who were seated on the jury. Id.

“Whether a Batson violation has occurred must be determined by examining the totality of the facts and circumstances in the record.” State v. Edwards, 384 S.C. 504, 509, 682 S.E.2d 820, 822 (2009). The trial court's finding of purposeful discrimination rests on its evaluation of demeanor and credibility. Id. at 509, 682 S.E.2d at 823. “Often the demeanor of the challenged attorney will be the best and only evidence of discrimination, and an ‘evaluation of the [attorney's] mind lies peculiarly within a trial [court's] province.’ ” Id. (quoting Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 365, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991)). This court will give the trial court's finding great deference on appeal and review the trial court's ruling with a clearly erroneous standard. Edwards, 384 S.C. at 509, 682 S.E.2d at 822.

Here, the State moved to quash the jury after Taylor used ten strikes to strike white jurors. In regard to Juror 146, Taylor noted Juror 146 was an administrative assistant and offered the following explanation:

I have found over the years that the more education jurors have the less likely they are to adopt argument—they usually come with their own idea or agenda. Over the years, I [have] learned to shy away from jurors with higher education. And, in addition to that, I also know her husband personally and we just do [not] get along.¹

In response, the State pointed to Juror 138, an accountant, as a similarly situated African–American juror with equal or more education than Juror 146. The trial court inquired regarding Taylor's reasoning for concluding Juror 146 had a high level of education. Taylor responded: “Well, she [is] an [a]dministrative [a]ssistant. Inasmuch as she would be in management that she would have got there by promotion or her qualification[s]. Certainly she would have met the qualification to be in management. But she is in management.”

Before ruling on the State's Batson motion, the trial court allowed Taylor to revisit his explanation for striking Juror 146. Taylor explained that in striking Juror 146 based upon her education level, in essence, he was striking her based upon her position in management. According to Taylor, jurors with management level employment “come with an agenda” and are “constantly manifesting their discretion as it relates to how you handle people.” Ultimately, the trial court found Taylor offered a race neutral explanation for the other nine strikes he used. However, the trial court found Taylor's strike of Juror 146 violated Batson because he accepted Juror 138 with more formal education and a higher level employment position. A jury was re-struck and Juror 146 was seated on the jury.

Based on our standard of review, we are unable to find anything clearly erroneous in the trial court's determination Taylor failed to offer a race neutral explanation for striking Juror 146. Taylor explained he struck Juror 146 based on her education and/or employment level. However, Taylor seated Juror 138, an African–American, with a similar education and/or employment level. Although employment is a race neutral reason for striking a juror, the State demonstrated Taylor's explanation was mere pretext by pointing to a similarly situated African–American juror whom Taylor seated. See State v. Ford, 334 S.C. 59, 65, 512 S.E.2d 500, 504 (1999) (noting “it is legitimate to strike potential jurors because of their employment”). Considering the record as a whole, we see nothing clearly erroneous in the trial court's determination and defer to the trial court's finding of purposeful discrimination.

II. Rules 403 and 404(b), SCRE

Taylor contends the trial court erred in allowing the admission of Victim's testimony regarding the 1999 rape as evidence of a common scheme or plan because they are not sufficiently similar. Assuming the 1999 rape is evidence of a common scheme or plan, Taylor maintains its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. We disagree.

“The admission of evidence is within the discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion.” State v. Pagan, 369 S.C. 201, 208, 631 S.E.2d 262, 265 (2006). “An abuse of discretion occurs when the conclusions of the trial court either lack evidentiary support or are controlled by an error of law.” Id.

South Carolina Rule of Evidence 404(b) provides: “Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith.” However, evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts may be “admissible to show motive, identity, the existence of a common scheme or plan, the absence of mistake or accident, or intent.” Rule 404(b), SCRE. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is admissible to show a common scheme or plan when a “close degree of similarity [exists] between the crime charged and the prior bad act.” State v. Gaines, 380 S.C. 23, 30, 667 S.E.2d 728, 731 (2008). Thus, the trial court must examine “the similarities and dissimilarities between the crime charged and the bad act evidence”; if the “similarities outweigh the dissimilarities, the bad act...