Opinion ID: 1328762
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the trial court's circumstantial evidence charge place improper significance on direct evidence?

Text: Appellant contends the trial court's circumstantial evidence charge improperly placed greater significance on direct evidence than on circumstantial evidence, contrary to State v. Grippon, 327 S.C. 79, 489 S.E.2d 462 (1997). We disagree. The trial court's circumstantial evidence charge was a hybrid of the traditional circumstantial evidence charge [2] and the charge approved in Grippon. Grippon recommended a circumstantial evidence charge which emphasizes the lack of distinction between the weight to be given to direct and circumstantial evidence. Id. at 83-84, 489 S.E.2d at 464. The trial court expressly instructed the jury that circumstantial evidence is just as competent or capable of proving a fact in issue as is direct evidence. Grippon did not invalidate the traditional circumstantial evidence charge. See State v. Needs, 333 S.C. 134, 155, n. 13, 508 S.E.2d 857, 868, n. 13 (1998). Reviewing the charge as a whole, it is an accurate statement of the law. See Grippon, 327 S.C. at 82-83, 489 S.E.2d at 463 (jury instructions should be considered as a whole, and if as a whole they are free from error, any isolated portions which may be misleading do not constitute reversible error).