State v. Pfeiffer

Summary

The South Carolina Supreme Court held that a trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider Frederick Scott Pfeiffer's second Rule 29(a) motion because it was filed more than ten days after the original sentencing and was unrelated to the disposition of his first Rule 29(a) motion. The court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the original sentence as clerically amended. It also rejected Pfeiffer's argument that the State had waived its right to appeal under the negotiated plea agreement.

Holdings

1. The trial court lacks jurisdiction to hear a successive Rule 29(a) motion filed more than ten days after imposition of sentence unless the motion challenges something altered from the original sentence as a result of the initial Rule 29(a) motion. Because Pfeiffer's second motion was unrelated to the first motion and was filed twenty-nine days after the original sentence, it was untimely and the trial court lacked jurisdiction.
2. The State did not waive its right to appeal the trial court's exercise of jurisdiction where no jurisdiction existed. An appeal waiver cannot authorize or validate a trial court's exercise of jurisdiction beyond its lawful authority.

Questions Presented

1. Whether, after disposition of an initial Rule 29(a), SCRCrimP, motion and more than ten days after imposition of sentence, the trial court has jurisdiction to hear a second Rule 29(a) motion.
2. Whether the State waived its right to appeal under the negotiated plea agreement's appeal-waiver provision.

Disposition

reversed