Smith v. State

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

Justice BEATTY:

Petitioner was convicted of two counts of murder. Ater his convictions were affirmed on direct appeal, Petitioner brought this action seeking post-conviction relief (PCR) on the grounds both his trial counsel and appellate counsel were ineffective. We granted certiorari to review the PCR judge’s denial of relief to Petitioner. We affirm.

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On June 1, 1997, Gwen Utsey reported to the Colleton County Sheriffs Department that her sister-in-law, Hattie Mae Yates, and Yates’s two-week-old daughter, Moesha, had been missing for one day. On…