SC State Supreme Court Affirms No Err in Pickens County Murder Trial; Rules Against Fetal Heartbeat Act

South Carolina Supreme Court agreed this week with a lower court ruling in the case of a man convicted in Pickens County of murder in Clemson. The state’s case against Jaron Lamont Gibbs made its way to the state supreme court on a writ from the state Court of Appeals and earlier an appeal from Pickens County circuit court.

Although convicted of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, Gibbs’ appeal argued that the trial erred in allowing Detective Michael Arflin to present lay testimony about single and double action revolvers and allowing the state to reference Arflin’s testimony in its closing arguments. However, the court ruled that the “trial court did not err in (1) allowing a lay witness to testify about single and double action revolvers or (2) allowing the State to reference the witness’s testimony in its closing argument.”

This week, the State Supreme Court also ruled on South Carolina’s Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act.

The court stated that the Act “violates a woman’s constitutional right to privacy, as guaranteed in article I, section 10 of the South Carolina Constitution.”

The justices went on to say that “the decision to terminate a pregnancy rests upon the utmost personal and private considerations imaginable, and implicates a woman’s right to privacy. While this right is not absolute, and must be balanced against the State’s interest in protecting unborn life, this Act, which severely limits—and in many instances completely forecloses—abortion, is an unreasonable restriction upon a woman’s right to privacy and is therefore unconstitutional.”

Governor Henry McMaster released the following statement in response to the South Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling on the state’s Fetal Heartbeat Act:

“Our State Supreme Court has found a right in our Constitution which was never intended by the people of South Carolina. With this opinion, the Court has clearly exceeded its authority. The people have spoken through their elected representatives multiple times on this issue. I look forward to working with the General Assembly to correct this error.”