Title 17, Criminal Procedures

This article may be cited as the "Access to Justice Post-Conviction DNA Testing Act".

(A) The results of the DNA test must be fully disclosed to the court, the applicant, and the solicitor or Attorney General, as applicable. The victim shall be notified of the results of the DNA test pursuant to Article 15, Chapter 3, Title 16. The court shall order the production…

(A) Nothing in this article prohibits a person and a solicitor or the Attorney General, as applicable, from consenting to and conducting post-conviction DNA testing by agreement of the parties. The person may use the exculpatory results of the DNA test as the grounds for filing a…

No more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars may be expended from the general fund in any fiscal year to administer the provisions of this article.

For purposes of this article: (1) "Biological material" means any blood, tissue, hair, saliva, bone, or semen from which DNA marker groupings may be obtained. This includes material catalogued separately on slides, swabs, or test tubes or present on other evidence including, but …

(A) A person who pled not guilty to at least one of the following offenses, was subsequently convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for the offense, is currently incarcerated for the offense, and asserts he is innocent of the offense may apply for forensic DNA testing of his DNA …

This article shall be cited as the "Preservation of Evidence Act".

(1) "Biological material" means any blood, tissue, hair, saliva, bone, or semen from which DNA marker groupings may be obtained. This includes material catalogued separately on slides, swabs, or test tubes or present on other evidence including, but not limited to, clothing, liga…

(A) A custodian of evidence must preserve all physical evidence and biological material related to the conviction or adjudication of a person for at least one of the following offenses: (1) murder (Section 16-3-10); (2) killing by poison (Section 16-3-30); (3) killing by stabbing…

(A) After a person is convicted or adjudicated for at least one of the offenses enumerated in Section 17-28-320, a custodian of evidence shall register with the South Carolina Department of Corrections or the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, as applicable, as a cust…

(A) After a person is convicted or adjudicated for at least one of the offenses enumerated in Section 17-28-320, a custodian of evidence may petition the general sessions court or family court in which the person was convicted or adjudicated for an order allowing for disposition …

A person who wilfully and maliciously destroys, alters, conceals, or tampers with physical evidence or biological material that is required to be preserved pursuant to this article with the intent to impair the integrity of the physical evidence or biological material, prevent th…

Unless there is an act of gross negligence or intentional misconduct this article may not be construed to give rise to a claim for damages against the State of South Carolina, a political subdivision of the State, an employee of the State, or a political subdivision of the State.…

(A) The application must be made on such form as prescribed by the Supreme Court. (B) The application must be verified by the applicant and filed under the original indictment number or petition with the clerk of court of the general sessions court or family court in which the co…

(A) The clerk shall file the application upon its receipt and promptly bring it to the attention of the court and deliver for docketing a copy to the solicitor of the circuit in which the applicant was convicted or adjudicated. The Attorney General and the appropriate custodian o…

If the applicant is unable to pay court costs and expenses of counsel, these costs and expenses shall be made available to the applicant in amounts and to the extent provided pursuant to Section 17-27-60. The applicant must request counsel at the time he files his application. Th…

(A) The court shall order a custodian of evidence to preserve all physical evidence and biological material related to the applicant's conviction or adjudication pursuant to the provisions of Article 3, Chapter 28, Title 17. (B) The custodian of evidence shall prepare an inventor…

For any physical evidence or biological material previously subjected to DNA testing whether by the applicant or the solicitor or Attorney General, as applicable, the court shall order the production of all written reports and laboratory reports prepared in connection with the DN…

(A) The application must be heard in, and before a judge of, the general sessions court or family court in which the conviction or adjudication took place. A record of the proceedings must be made and preserved. All rules and statutes applicable in criminal proceedings are availa…

As used in this chapter: (1) The term "pen register" means a device which records or decodes electronic or other impulses which identify the numbers dialed or otherwise transmitted on the telephone line to which the device is attached, but this term does not include any device us…

(A) Except as provided in this section, no person may install or use a pen register or a trap and trace device without first obtaining a court order under Section 17-29-40. (B) The prohibition of subsection (A) does not apply with respect to the use of a pen register or a trap an…

(A)(1) The Attorney General or an assistant attorney general designated by the Attorney General on behalf of the State, and a circuit solicitor or an assistant circuit solicitor designated by the solicitor on behalf of a political subdivision having law enforcement authority, her…

(A) Upon an application made under Section 17-29-30, the court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device within that political subdivision, or within the State if the applicant is the attorney for the State or …

(A) Upon the request of the attorney or an officer of a law enforcement agency authorized to install and use a pen register under this chapter, a provider of wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person shall furnish the law enforcement officer f…

The interception of wire, electronic, or oral communications is hereby authorized only in the manner permitted by this chapter.

(A) The contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication intercepted by any means authorized by this chapter, if possible, must be recorded on tape or wire or other comparable device. The recording of the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication under this s…

As required by federal law, the contents of any intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communication or evidence derived therefrom must not be received in evidence or otherwise disclosed in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding unless each party, not less than ten days before th…

(A) Prior to any trial, hearing, or proceeding in or before any court, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, or other authority, any aggrieved person may move to suppress the contents of any intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communication, or evidence derived therefro…

The requirements relating to the specification of the facilities from which, or the place where, the communication is to be intercepted do not apply if: (1) in the case of an application with respect to the interception of an oral communication the: (a) application is initiated b…

If an interception of a communication is to be carried out pursuant to Section 17-30-115, the interception may not begin until the facilities from which, or the place where, the communication is to be intercepted is ascertained by the person implementing the interception order. A…

(A) For purposes of this section: (1) "Attorney General" means the Attorney General of the State of South Carolina or the Attorney General's designee who is employed by the Attorney General and is an officer of the court. (2) "SLED" means the South Carolina Law Enforcement Divisi…

Any intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communication must be reported to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts as outlined in 18 U.S.C. Section 2519.

(A) Any person whose wire, oral, or electronic communication is intercepted, disclosed, or used in violation of this chapter has a civil cause of action against any person or entity who intercepts, discloses, or uses, or procures any other person or entity to intercept, disclose,…

(A) The Attorney General or any solicitor may make application to a judge of competent jurisdiction for an order authorizing or approving the installation and use of a mobile tracking device by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division or any law enforcement entity of a politic…

Any SLED agent or an individual operating under a contract with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division authorized under the provisions of this chapter to intercept wire, oral, or electronic communications must undergo training by SLED in conducting such surveillance with emp…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Wire communication" means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception incl…

Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, a person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be punished as provided in Section 17-30-50 of this chapter: (1) intentionally intercepts, attempts to intercept, or procures…

(A) It is lawful under this chapter for an operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of a provider of wire or electronic communication service whose facilities are used in the transmission of a wire or electronic communication to intercept, disclose, or use tha…

(A) It is lawful under this chapter for an officer, employee, or agent of the Federal Communications Commission, in the normal course of his employment and in discharge of the monitoring responsibilities exercised by the commission in the enforcement of 47 U.S.C. Chapter 5, to in…

(A) It is lawful under this chapter for a person to: (1) intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that the electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public; (2) intercept any radio co…

(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), a person or entity providing an electronic communication service to the public must not intentionally divulge the contents of any communication while in transmission on that service to any person or entity other than an addressee or inten…

It is lawful under this chapter to use a pen register or a trap and trace device as authorized under South Carolina law or under federal law.

(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), whoever violates the provisions of Sections 17-30-20 through 17-30-45, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both. (B) If the offense is a first offense under this ch…

(A) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, any person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, who intentionally: (1) sends through the mail or otherwise send…

Any electronic, mechanical, or other device used, sent, carried, manufactured, assembled, possessed, or sold in violation of this chapter may be seized and forfeited to the State.

(A) Whenever any wire, oral, or electronic communication has been intercepted, no part of the contents of the communication and no evidence derived therefrom may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, off…