State v. Tommy Lee Benton

Summary

The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed as modified the Court of Appeals’ rulings, holding that the trial court’s declaration of a mistrial was justified by manifest necessity and therefore did not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause, and that the admission of the victim’s crime‑scene photographs and the text/Facebook messages was within the trial court’s discretion. The Court vacated the appellate discussion of prejudice but otherwise left the convictions intact.