# Brown v. State

> Supreme Court of South Carolina · March 16, 1992 · 307 S.C. 465

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/1369057

## Case

- **Full name:** Charles E. BROWN, Petitioner v. STATE of South Carolina, Respondent
- **Court:** Supreme Court of South Carolina
- **Decided:** March 16, 1992
- **Citations:** 307 S.C. 465; 415 S.E.2d 811; 1992 S.C. LEXIS 64
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion by Moore
- **Judges:** Moore, Harwell, Chandler, Finney, Toal
- **Cited by:** 13 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/1369057

## Opinion text

Moore, Justice:
Petitioner was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Both his direct appeal and application for post-conviction relief (PCR) were denied. We granted this petition for writ of certiorari to determine whether the PCR judge erred in finding that petitioner received effective assistance of counsel. We affirm.
I. FACTS
On April 26,1987, Danny Bennett informed police that petitioner had shown him the body of Phoebe Patterson and confessed to killing her. As a result of this information, police
*467
found Patterson’s decapitated body in a wooded area in the town of Estill. The head was found ten to fifteen feet from the body and the lower jaw and neck area were missing. The forensic pathologist testified at trial that she could not determine a cause of death and although she found no evidence of foul play, she could not rule out strangulation.
II. ISSUE
The sole issue is whether petitioner received effective assistance of counsel when counsel failed to move for a directed verdict on the grounds that the evidence did not establish the
corpus delicti
of murder.
III. DISCUSSION
To prove ineffective assistance of counsel, petitioner must show (1) counsel’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness; and (2) but for counsel’s performance, there is a reasonable probability the result would have been different.
Martinez v. State,
304 S.C. 39 , 403 S.E. (2d) 113 (1991). At the PCR hearing, petitioner argued that he did not receive effective assistance of counsel because trial counsel failed to move for a directed verdict on the ground that the evidence did not establish the
corpus delicti
of murder independently of his extrajudicial confessions. The PCR judge found that trial counsel made all the necessary motions and held that petitioner received effective assistance of counsel. This Court’s review of PCR matters is limited to a determination of whether there is any evidence to support the PCR judge’s findings of fact.
Cherry v. State,
300 S.C. 115 , 386 S.E. (2d) 624 (1989).
The State must produce proof
aliunde
of the
corpus delicti
aside from the extrajudicial confession of the defendant.
State v. Owens,
293 S.C. 161 , 359 S.E. (2d) 275 (1987). In a murder trial, the
corpus delicti
consists of two elements: the death of a human being and the criminal act of another causing the death.
State v. Speights,
263 S.C. 127 , 208 S.E. (2d) 43 (1974). This Court has held that the
corpus delicti
of murder may be established by circumstantial evidence when it is the best evidence obtainable.
Id.
Furthermore, this Court has held that circumstantial evidence may be sufficient to establish the
corpus delicti
of murder even though the
*468
cause of death can not be determined.
State v. Howard,
295 S.C. 462 , 369 S.E. (2d) 132 (1988); and
State v. Thomas,
222 S.C. 484 , 73 S.E. (2d) 722 (1952).
A case should be submitted to the jury if there is any substantial evidence, either direct or circumstantial, which tends to prove the guilt of the accused or from which his guilt may be fairly and logically deduced.
State v. Williams,
303 S.C. 274 , 400 S.E. (2d) 131 (1991). Since strangulation was a possible cause of death and in light of the condition in which the body was found, the case was properly submitted to the jury. Therefore, trial counsel’s failure to move for a directed verdict was not deficient performance which prejudiced petitioner, and the PCR judge correctly denied petitioner’s PCR application.
Affirmed.
Harwell, C.J., and Chandler, Finney and Toal, JJ., concur.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/1369057. Public record. Not legal advice.