Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

285 S.C. 543

State v. Hanson

Supreme Court of South Carolina

Decided June 12, 1985

Supreme Court of South Carolina · decided 1985-06-12

Relies on Singer v. United States · Hicks v. Grove Press, Inc. · State v. Burgin

Decided 1985-06-12

Per Curiam:

¶1Respondent was charged in magistrate’s court with reckless driving. The magistrate denied the State’s motion for a jury trial and the circuit court affirmed. We reverse.

¶2A defendant’s waiver of a jury trial is conditioned upon the consent of the prosecutor and the trial judge. State v. Shuck, 278 S. C. 441, 298 S. E. (2d) 95 (1982). If either objects to the waiver, the defendant must be tried by a jury. State v. Burgin, 255 S. C. 237, 178 S. E. (2d) 325, rev’d on other grounds, 404 U. S. 806, 92 S. Ct. 46, 30 L. Ed. (2d) 39 (1971). See also Singer v. United States, 380 U. S. 24, 85 S. Ct. 783, 13 L. Ed. (2d) 630 (1965). This same rule applies in magistrate’s court. State v. Nash, 51 S. C. 319, 28 S. E. 946 (1898).

¶3When the State objected to the defendant’s waiver of a jury trial, the trial judge should have empaneled a jury. The judgment of the lower court is reversed and the case is remanded for trial by jury.

¶4Reversed and remanded.

/285/sc/543 · .json · Public domain