Submitted September 19, 2018
Appeal
From Lancaster County Brian M. Gibbons, Circuit Court Judge
Appellate Defender Kathrine Haggard Hudgins, of Columbia, for
Appellant.
Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Senior Assistant Deputy
Attorney General William M. Blitch, Jr., and Jennifer Ellis
Roberts, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Randy E. Newman, Jr.,
of Lancaster, all for Respondent.
MCDONALD, J.
Jermaine
D. Grier appeals his conviction for possession of contraband
by a county or municipal prisoner, arguing the circuit court
erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict and
refusing to charge the jury with section 24-3-965 of the
South Carolina Code (Supp. 2018), which governs the
possession of certain contraband by inmates incarcerated
within the South Carolina Department of Corrections. We
affirm.
Facts
and Procedural History
On
November 16, 2015, Officer LaQuentin Smith was preparing to
transport Grier from the Lancaster County Detention Center
(LCDC) to the Lancaster County Courthouse. As part of the
transport process, officers instruct a detainee to place his
hands through an opening in his cell door (this opening is
generally used to deliver food) for inspection. Officers then
handcuff the detainee and ask him to turn around with his
back to the door so the officers can wrap a chain around the
inmate's waist and secure it.[1] Officer Smith testified that
when he and two other officers instructed Grier to place his
hands through the door slot for inspection, Grier pulled back
his left hand and placed it inside his jumpsuit. When Officer
Smith again told Grier to place his left hand through the
opening, Grier complied. Officer Smith found nothing in
Grier's left hand.
After
officers finished securing Grier, Officer Smith notified
Sergeant Matthew Kennington that he suspected Grier had
concealed something in his jumpsuit and needed to be
searched. With Sergeant Nicholas Tuley as his witness,
Sergeant Kennington searched Grier's jumpsuit and
confiscated a twisted metal piece of a pen that appeared to
have been sharpened down to the tip.
In
February 2016, the Lancaster County Grand Jury indicted Grier
for possession of contraband by a county or municipal
prisoner under section 24-7-155 of the South Carolina Code
(Supp. 2018). Grier's indictment states:
POSSESSION OF CONTRABAND BY COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL
PRISONER
That Jermaine Demarcus Grier a prisoner of a county or
municipal jail, prison, work camp or overnight lockup
facility, did in Lancaster County, South Carolina, on or
about November 16, 2015, unlawfully possess a quantity of
matter declared by the superintendent of the facility to be
contraband, to wit: a sharpened metal piece derived from a
writing pen, an illegal weapon, in violation of §
24-7-155, Code of Laws of South Carolina (1976), as
amended.
Section
24-7-155 provides:
It is unlawful for a person to furnish or attempt to furnish
a prisoner in any county, municipal, or multijurisdictional
jail, prison camp, work camp, or overnight lockup facility
with a matter declared to be contraband. It is unlawful for
an inmate of a facility to possess a matter declared to be
contraband. Matters considered contraband within the meaning
of this section are those which are designated as contraband
and published by the Department of Corrections as Regulation
33-1 of the Department of Corrections and this regulation
must be displayed in a conspicuous place available and
visible to visitors and inmates at the facility. The facility
manager of a local detention facility, with the approval of
the sheriff or chief administrative officer as appropriate,
may designate additional items as contraband. Notice of the
additional items must be displayed with Regulation 33-1.
Regulation
33-1 of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (2011)
sets forth the following list of contraband:
a. Any item which was not issued to the prisoner officially
or which cannot be purchased by him or her in the prison
canteen.
b. Weapons, any and all firearms, knives of any and all
descriptions, clubs, billies or any other article that may be
used for offense or defense.
e. Keys and locks.
f. Tools of any description not approved for issue to
prisoners ...