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State v. Henderson7/9/2001
Appeal From Charleston County R. Markley Dennis, Jr., Circuit Court Judge
Heard May 8, 2001
AFFIRMED
The State appeals the circuit court's reversal of James E. Henderson, III's municipal court conviction for first offense driving under the influence (DUI) and illegal possession of legal liquor. We affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In January 1996, a police officer arrested Henderson, a college student, and charged him with first offense DUI and illegal possession of legal liquor.
At Henderson's trial, the State sought to elicit testimony from the Datamaster test operator that he read Henderson the "right to refuse" warning and advised him of his right to an additional test. Henderson moved to suppress any evidence indicating he had the right to have an independent test to determine his blood-alcohol level.
Citing City of Columbia v. Wilson, 324 S.C. 459, 478 S.E.2d 88 (Ct. App. 1996), Henderson offered to stipulate that "the test was performed pursuant to SLED procedures and that he was advised of his statutory rights." As part of the objection, Henderson requested the trial judge have the "additional tests" language redacted from the SLED report. The State refused the requested stipulation but offered to redact the portions in question from the SLED report before it was admitted into evidence. The trial judge ruled the objectionable portion of the SLED report could be read into the record, but that it would be redacted before admission.
The jury found Henderson guilty on both counts. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail suspended to campus confinement for 15 weekends. Henderson appealed to the circuit court and was granted a new trial based on Wilson.
SCOPE OF REVIEW
In criminal appeals from magistrate or municipal court, the circuit court does not conduct a de novo review, but instead reviews for preserved error raised to it by appropriate exception. S.C. Code Ann. § 14-25-105 (Supp. 2000); S.C. Code Ann. § 18-3-70 (Supp. 2000); City of Columbia v. Felder, 274 S.C. 12, 13, 260 S.E.2d 453, 454 (1979). In reviewing criminal cases, this court may review errors of law only. State v. Culter, 261 S.C. 140, 147, 199 S.E.2d 61, 65 (1973); State v. Head, 330 S.C. 79, 87, 498 S.E.2d 389, 393 (Ct. App. 1997).
DISCUSSION
The State contends the circuit court judge erred in finding that the municipal court improperly permitted the State to circumvent Henderson's offer to stipulate. We disagree.
In Wilson, this court considered a question strikingly similar to that presented here, to wit: whether the circuit court judge erred in reversing the municipal court conviction because the municipal court judge denied Wilson's motion to redact identical language on the Datamaster form. Because Wilson, unlike Henderson, did not offer to stipulate that the test was performed pursuant to SLED procedures or that he was advised of his statutory rights, the city was required to lay a foundation for admission of the results. Thus, reversal was not warranted in Wilson.
Here, however, Henderson offered to stipulate that the proper procedures were followed and that he was advised of his statutory rights. The State refused to stipulate to these facts, although it consented to redacting the language from the report that was admitted into evidence. The municipal court judge inexplicably ruled that the language would be redacted from the report but that the Datamaster operator could read the entire report to the jury. The officer recited the implied consent warning as follows to the jury:
I must now tell you that the arresting officer has
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