Rule 4. Motions in General

• Library: South Carolina Rules Annotated (SCBar) (2020 Ed.)

RULE 4. MOTIONS IN GENERAL

(a) Form of Motions.

An application to the court for an order shall be by motion which, unless made during a hearing or trial in open court with a court reporter present, shall be made in writing, shall state with particularity the grounds therefor, and shall set forth the relief or order sought. The requirement of writing is fulfilled if the motion is stated in a written notice of the hearing of the motion.

(b) Subsequent Applications for Order After Refusal.

If any motion be made to any judge and be denied, in whole or in part, or be granted conditionally, no subsequent motion upon the same set of facts shall be made to any other judge in that action. If upon such subsequent motion any order be made, it shall be void.

Note:

Section (a) is the language of Rule 7(b)(1), SCRCP, and Section (b) is the language of Rule 43(1), SCRCP. The last sentence of Section (b) is taken from Circuit Court Rule 60.

Annotations Rule 4

4

Ex Parte

"Upon motion of the defendant, a hearing in open court must be held to determine the legitimacy of the request for closing the ex parte proceeding. The burden of proof at this hearing rests with the party opposing the public's right of access. In the open hearing, the trial court must make specific findings of fact, on the record, to determine whether there is a substantial probability of prejudice which would result from the publicity, and whether there are no reasonable alternatives to closure which would protect the defendant's right to a fair trial." Ex Parte: Lexington County, 314 S.C. 220, 442 S.E.2d 589, 594 (1994).

Generally

Gallaman v. State, 307 S.C. 273, 276, 414 S.E.2d 780, 782 n.1 (1992).

Joinder

"Joinder is proper if the offenses 1) are of the same general nature or character and spring from the same series of transactions, 2) are committed by the same offender, and 3) require the same or similar proof." State v. Carter, 324 S.C. 383, 478 S.E.2d 86, 88 (Ct. App. 1996).

In Limine

"Generally, a motion in limine seeks a pretrial ruling preventing the disclosure of potentially prejudicial matter to the jury. A ruling on the pretrial motion is preliminary, and is subject to change based on developments at trial. Because the evidence developed during trial may warrant a change in the ruling, the losing party must renew his objection at trial when the evidence is presented in order to preserve the issue for appeal." State v. Mueller, 319 S.C. 266, 460 S.E.2d 409, 410 (Ct. App. 1995).

"The fact that...