State v. Sams

*306Justice BEATTY.

Desmond J. Sams was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after he strangled the victim, Jake Frazier, during an altercation. Sams appealed, arguing the circuit court erred in denying his request to instruct t2he jury on involuntary manslaughter. The Court of Appeals affirmed. State v. Sams, Op. No. 2011-UP-205, 2011 WL 11734316 (S.C. Ct.App. filed May 4, 2011). This Court granted Sams’s petition for a writ of certiorari. We affirm.

I. FACTS

In the early morning hours of April 12, 2008, Sams and Lisa Strickland, along with Frazier and Stephanie Ballard, were all drinking at…