Case Name: Thomas Toland POSTON, Respondent v. STATE of South Carolina, Petitioner
Court: Supreme Court of South Carolina
Jurisdiction: South Carolina
Decision Date: 1989-06-26
Citations: 303 S.C. 167
Docket Number: 23039
Parties: Thomas Toland POSTON, Respondent v. STATE of South Carolina, Petitioner.
Judges: Gregory, C.J., and Harwell, Finney and Toal, JJ., concur.
Reporter: South Carolina Reports
Volume: 303
Pages: 167–168

Head Matter:
23039
Thomas Toland POSTON, Respondent v. STATE of South Carolina, Petitioner.
(399 S.E. (2d) 592)
Supreme Court
Atty. Gen. T. Travis Medlock, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen. Donald J. Zelenka and Staff Atty. Delbert H. Singleton, Jr., Columbia, for petitioner.
Thomas Toland Poston, Florence, pro se.
Submitted May 16, 1989.
Decided June 26, 1989.

Opinion:
Chandler, Justice:
State appeals the Circuit Court's grant of post-conviction relief (PCR) to Respondent, Thomas Toland Poston (Poston).
Poston was convicted in 1976 of armed robbery and sentenced to 21 years. His trial counsel, after filing notice of intent to appeal, filed a no-merit brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S. Ct. 1396, 18 L. Ed. (2d) 493 (1967). The appeal was reviewed by this Court and dismissed under Rule 23 of the Supreme Court Rules of Practice.
On September 30,1987, a PCR application was filed by Pos-ton. It was granted by the Circuit Court upon the ground that Poston's appellate counsel had filed the Anders brief without Poston's permission.
It is clear from a reading of Anders that the decision to file, or not file, a no-merit brief rests soley with appellate counsel. There is no authority to support the Circuit Court's holding that Poston's consent to the filing is required.
Moreover, this Court's full review of Poston's appeal, as provided for in Anders, accorded Poston his full constitutional and statutory rights.
Accordingly, we reverse the grant of PCR.
Reversed.
Gregory, C.J., and Harwell, Finney and Toal, JJ., concur.