Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

305 S.C. 329

408 S.E.2d 241

McCray v. State

Supreme Court of South Carolina

Decided August 5, 1991

Supreme Court of South Carolina · decided 1991-08-05

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“[t]he PCR court's conclusions regarding ineffective assistance are insufficient for appellate review and fail to meet the standard set forth in [ section 17-27-80 ]”

quoted by 1 later decision, including Reese v. State

Applies SC 17 § 17-27-80

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1991-08-05

How this case has been cited

Cited by 14 later decisions — most recently October 2018

12 state decisions

60199120002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Chandler, Justice:

¶1 Petitioner James McCray seeks certiorari from the denial of postconviction relief (PCR), alleging that the PCR court failed to make the required findings of fact concerning )iis claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. We reverse and remand for a new PCR hearing.

¶2*330 McCray was convicted on three counts of assaulting a police officer and one count of resisting arrest. He sought PCR, alleging that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the State’s numerous references to his criminal record and prior bad acts and, thereafter, in failing to request a limiting instruction.

¶3 The PCR court dismissed McCray’s allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel without making findings of fact on the specific allegations raised.

¶4S.C. Code Ann. § 17-27-80 (1976), requires the PCR court to “make specific findings of fact, and state expressly its conclusions of law, relating to each issue presented.”

¶5 The PCR court’s conclusions regarding ineffective assistance are insufficient for appellate review and fail to meet the standard set forth in the statute.

¶6 Accordingly, we reverse the order denying McCray relief and remand for a new PCR hearing.

¶7 Reversed and remanded.

Gregory, C.J., and Harwell, Finney and Toal, JJ., concur.
/305/sc/329 · .json · Public domain