State v. Arflin ( 2017 )

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE
CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.
THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals
The State, Respondent,
v.
Bobby Joe Arflin, Appellant.
Appellate Case No. 2015-001900
Appeal From Anderson County
R. Scott Sprouse, Circuit Court Judge
Unpublished Opinion No. 2017-UP-303
Submitted June 1, 2017 – Filed July 26, 2017
AFFIRMED
Sarah Ganss Drawdy, of Byrholdt Drawdy, LLC, of
Anderson, for Appellant.
Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Chief Deputy
Attorney General J. Robert Bolchoz, Deputy Attorney
General Donald J. Zelenka, and Assistant Attorney
General Sherrie Butterbaugh, all of Columbia; and
Solicitor David R. Wagner, Jr., of Anderson, all for
Respondent.
PER CURIAM: Affirmed pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following
authorities: State v. Page, 378 S.C. 476, 481, 663 S.E.2d 357, 359 (Ct. App. 2008)
("The admission of evidence is within the discretion of the trial court and will not
be reversed absent an abuse of discretion."); id. ("An abuse of discretion occurs
when the conclusions of the trial court either lack evidentiary support or are
controlled by an error of law."); Rule 404(a), SCRE (providing evidence of an
individual's character is generally inadmissible); Page, 378 S.C. at 482, 663 S.E.2d
at 360 ("It is firmly established that otherwise inadmissible evidence may be
properly admitted when opposing counsel opens the door to that evidence."); State
v. Day, 341 S.C. 410, 419-20, 535 S.E.2d 431, 436 (2000) ("In the murder
prosecution of one pleading self-defense against an attack by the deceased,
evidence of other specific instances of violence on the part of the deceased are not
admissible unless they were directed against the defendant or, if directed against
others, were so closely connected at point of time or occasion with the homicide as
reasonably to indicate the state of mind of the deceased at the time of the homicide,
or to produce reasonable apprehension of great bodily harm."); id. at 420, 535
S.E.2d at 436 ("Whether a specific instance of conduct by the deceased is closely
connected in point of time or occasion to the homicide so as to be admissible is in
the trial [court's] discretion and will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of
discretion resulting in prejudice to the accused."); Rule 404(a)(2), SCRE
(providing in homicide cases, the prosecution may admit "evidence of a character
trait of peacefulness of the victim . . . to rebut evidence that the victim was the first
aggressor").
AFFIRMED.1
LOCKEMY, C.J., and HUFF and THOMAS, JJ., concur.
1
We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.