Myrtle Beach Legal Blog

In Brown v. Sojourner, decided June 17, 2020, the SC Supreme Court reversed a lower court's finding that Tommie Rae Brown was James Brown's surviving spouse and therefore entitled to an elective share of his estate.

Although Tommie Rae and James Brown were married in 2001 in SC, the distribution of his estate has been delayed since his death in 2006, in part due to confusion over the validity of Tommie Rae and James Brown's marriage. She apparently was already married when she married James Brown, although there were questions over whether her prior marriage and subsequent attempts to annul the prior marriage were valid.

This decision stresses the importance of ensuring that any prior marriages or divorces have been finalized and are documented in the public record before entering into a new marriage - if the public record does not show that a prior marriage has been terminated, the new marriage will be "void ab initio" as bigamous.

In State v. Smith, decided March 18, 2020, the SC Supreme Court reversed a conviction for attempted murder that was based on a non-existent "felony attempted murder rule."

Smith was involved in a gunfight - he fired one shot at a group of men that the defense's witnesses said fired at him first, but the shot missed and struck an innocent bystander, severing her spinal cord and resulting in permanent disability.

The prosecutor did not charge Smith with attempted murder of the person he intended to shoot. They did not argue "transferred intent" - if he intended to kill the intended target and if it was not in self-defense, the intent to kill would then apply to the woman his bullet struck.

Instead, they charged with him with attempted murder of the bystander, arguing that it was "felony attempted murder" because it happened during the commission of a felony, the felony being his possession of a handgun.

Why did the prosecutor seek a conviction for a non-existent crime? Why didn't the prosecutor charge Smith with attempted murder of his intended target?

COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities may be the worst tragedy that is resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. But is it nursing home abuse or neglect when your loved one is killed by COVID-19 in a nursing home?

What if it could have been prevented? At what point is a nursing home responsible for a deadly viral infection? Is it an "act of God" or a preventable tragedy caused by nursing home negligence?

Below, we'll discuss when you can sue a nursing home for abuse or negligence, whether it is a COVID-19 related death or one of the more common types of abuse that occurs in nursing homes.

If you have questions about whether your loved one's injuries were caused by nursing home negligence or if you suspect your loved one is being abused or neglected, contact the Myrtle Beach nursing home abuse attorneys at Axelrod and Associates now for a free consultation.

The most recent data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting system shows that arrests in SC for marijuana possession are have steadily increased since 2010, with SC having the second-highest arrest rate for marijuana possession in 2018, the latest year for which data is available.

Even worse, Horry and other SC counties arrest black citizens for marijuana possession at a rate that is even higher than the national average. While black people nationwide are 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, black citizens in Horry County, SC, are 6.8 times more likely to be arrested.

As many states are legalizing marijuana use and possession and some countries have even declared that the ability to grow and harvest the plant is a human right, why is SC jailing more and more of its citizens for simple possession?