Court Opinion

ID: 9583915
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:43:04.146099+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:05:41.480559
License: Public Domain

HOWELL, Chief Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. If the requirement that the State must establish the corpus delicti in a DUI case has any meaning at all, then this case should be reversed.
Before a defendant in a criminal case can be required to present a defense, the State must present some proof of the corpus delicti of the crime. State v. Brown, 103 S.C. 437, 88 S.E. 21 (1916). That is, the prosecution must show the actual commission by someone of the particular offense charged. Id.; see also State v. Teal, 225 S.C. 472, 82 S.E.2d 787 (1954). A conviction based on an extra-judicial confession by the defendant cannot stand unless corroborated by proof aliunde *615of the corpus delicti State v. Williams, 321 S.C. 381, 468 S.E.2d 656 (1996). While the corpus delicti can be established through circumstantial evidence, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that there is sufficient circumstantial evidence of the corpus delicti in this case.
Portman was charged with violating S.C.Code Ann. § 56-5-2930 (1991), which provides, in part, that it is “unlawful for any person ... who is under the influence of intoxicating liquors ... to drive any vehicle within this State.” The gravamen of the offense is the operation a motor vehicle with impaired faculties. State v. Sheppard, 248 S.C. 464, 150 S.E.2d 916 (1966); Thus, the corpus delicti of the offense of DUI is: (1) driving a vehicle; (2) within this State; (3) while under the influence of intoxicating liquors or drugs. State v. Townsend, 321 S.C. 55, 467 S.E.2d 138, 140 (Ct.App.1996), cert. denied, (September 5, 1996); State v. Osborne, 321 S.C. 196, 467 S.E.2d 454 (Ct.App.1996) (cert. granted April 2, 1997). Thus, in order to sustain a DUI conviction, there must be evidence other than the defendant’s extra-judicial statements that someone (but not necessarily the defendant) was driving while impaired.
In this case, disregarding Portman’s statements, the only evidence of the corpus delicti — that someone drove the vehicle while impaired — is that Portman was one of several people, including the registered owner, who were present at the scene of a recent car accident. Portman was standing near the car with his hands behind his back and he was intoxicated. There is, however, no evidence that any other person at the scene of the accident was intoxicated. This evidence is simply insufficient to establish that the crime of DUI had occurred.
In State v. Osborne, there was circumstantial evidence that Osborne was driving — he was the registered owner of the car and the keys to the car were in his pocket — but there was no evidence, direct or circumstantial, that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident. In this case, while there was evidence that Portman was intoxicated, there is no evidence, either direct or circumstantial, that he was the driver of the car or'that the driver of the car was impaired when the accident occurred. In fact, the circumstantial evidence makes it just as likely, if not more likely, that the registered owner of *616the car, who was present at the scene, was driving the car at the time of the accident.
Single-car accidents can occur for many different reasons, including equipment failure and attempts by the driver to avoid another car, a pedestrian, or an animal. The mere fact that a wreck has occurred simply is not evidence that any crime has occurred, much less the crime of DUI. The record in this case establishes only that a vehicle left the road and came to rest against a tree. There is no evidence of excessive speed or any other factor that might give rise to an inference of impaired driving.1 Thus, the majority’s conclusion that the “manner in which the Bronco had left the road indicated the driver’s operation of the vehicle had been somehow impaired” appears to rest on an impermissible assumption wrecks are caused by drunk drivers. See State v. Brown, 267 S.C. 311, 227 S.E.2d 674 (1976) (a motion for directed verdict should be granted for a defendant where the evidence merely raises a suspicion of guilt or permits the jury to speculate as to the accused’s guilt).
Had Portman been the only person at the scene, or had he been the owner of the car, the case might properly have been submitted to the jury. Based on the evidence in this record, however, I conclude that the City of Easley wholly failed to present sufficient direct or circumstantial evidence that Port-man was the driver of the car. Accordingly, I would reverse the orders of the municipal court and circuit court and remand the case for entry of judgment of acquittal.

. In fact, the only evidence of the circumstances of the wreck consisted of the testimony of the arresting officer, who stated that the vehicle "ran off the road and hit a tree,” and that he "could tell by the way that the vehicle ran off the road the subject's driving was impaired where he couldn’t drive the vehicle properly.” The officer did not testify about the presence of skid marks or any other factor that might support his bare conclusion that the accident was caused by impaired driving.