State v. Williams
| Decision Date | 17 April 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 23217,23217 |
| Citation | 392 S.E.2d 181,301 S.C. 369 |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | The STATE, Respondent, v. Michael Wayne WILLIAMS, Appellant. . Heard |
Four days later, without arresting Williams, the highway patrolman investigating the accident, Officer Hooten, secured a subpoena duces tecum directing Richland Memorial Hospital to produce the results of any blood alcohol tests (BAT) performed on Williams. Based upon Williams' blood alcohol content of .26 percent, Hooten obtained a warrant for Williams' arrest. He was subsequently indicted for Felony DUI.
At trial, Williams' motion to dismiss the indictment on the basis of an "invalid subpoena duces tecum " was denied. Likewise, his motion to suppress the BAT results on the grounds that the State had not sufficiently established the chain of custody was denied.
Although several issues are raised, we need address only
(1) Whether the subpoena duces tecum used to obtain Williams' BAT results was invalid, mandating dismissal of the indictment.
(2) Whether the State sufficiently established the chain of custody of Williams' blood test.
State concedes that, as no action was pending against Williams, the subpoena duces tecum was clearly defective. However, it contends that this defect did not require dismissal of the indictment. We agree.
The validity of an indictment is not affected by the character of the evidence considered by the grand jury and, if valid on its face, the indictment may not be challenged on the ground that the grand jury acted on the basis of incompetent evidence. United States v. Callandra, 414 U.S. 338, 94 S.Ct. 613, 38 L.Ed.2d 561 (1974). Here, the indictment contained no facial defect; the Court...
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State v. Thrift
...grand juries. Ordinarily, we do not inquire into the nature or sufficiency of the evidence before a grand jury. State v. Williams, 301 S.C. 369, 392 S.E.2d 181 (1990); State v. Williams, 263 S.C. 290, 210 S.E.2d 298 (1974). An exception to this general rule exists where, as here, a defendan......
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Attacking and defending blood tests
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