The State, Respondent v. Bryan O’neal Sullivan, James Charles Dugan, John Ray Etheridge, Ralph Dennis Nichols…

Summary

The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the convictions of Dugan, Nichols, Schone and Jackson and reversed the convictions of Gedra and White, holding that the hearsay statements of co‑conspirators were admissible under the conspiracy exception, the joint trial of the conspiracy and possession indictments was permissible, the warrantless arrests and searches were lawful, and the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions. The Court reasoned that the conspiracy was properly established and that the trial judge did not abuse discretion on evidentiary and procedural rulings. Justice Littlejohn, dissenting, would have affirmed Gedra’s conviction.