# State v. Sweat

> Supreme Court of South Carolina · January 25, 2010 · 386 S.C. 339

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9593823

## Case

- **Full name:** The STATE, Petitioner, v. Reginald Craig SWEAT, Respondent; And the State, Petitioner, v. Arthur Bryant, III, Respondent
- **Court:** Supreme Court of South Carolina
- **Decided:** January 25, 2010
- **Citations:** 386 S.C. 339; 688 S.E.2d 569; 2010 S.C. LEXIS 10
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Pleicones
- **Judges:** Beatty, Waller, Moore, Cain, Pleicones
- **Cited by:** 75 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/9593823

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- finding words should be given “their plain and ordinary meaning without resort to subtle or forced construction to limit or expand the statute’s operation.”
- stating courts should give words their ordinary meaning and should not resort to forced construction to limit or expand a statute
- holding “language must be construed in light of the intended purpose of the statute.”

## Opinion text

Justice PLEICONES,
concurring.
I concur in the majority’s decision which affirms the Court of Appeals’ decision reversing the citations issued to the respondents. I write separately, however, because I believe S.C.Code Ann. § 56-5-4140(1)(b) is irrelevant to our decision as the sanitation truck did not have tandem axles. The relevant provision, in my view, is § 56-5-4140(2)(a). The dump truck was of a “special type,” and had three axles. *357 Accordingly, its maximum weight was 66,000 pounds pursuant to that section. 7
Moreover, I disagree with the majority that a vehicle can ever exceed 80,000 pounds under the statute. In my view, (2)(a) allows 20,000 pounds per axle up to the maximum allowed under either (l)(a) or (l)(b), plus scale tolerances. The ten percent tolerance permitted under (l)(a) is capped at 75,185, and no scale tolerance is permitted under (l)(b), which sets a maximum weight of 80,000 pounds regardless of the number of tandem axles. I therefore disagree with the majority that a vehicle could lawfully weigh 88,000 pounds under (l)(b).
. 3 axles x 20,000 pounds + 6,000 pounds (10% scale tolerance).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9593823. Public record. Not legal advice.