Is evidence of flight alone sufficient to sustain a verdict?
According to the South Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Odems, it is. Odems was convicted of 1st degree burglary, grand larceny, malicious injury to an electric utility system, and criminal conspiracy, based on his presence in a car with the persons who committed the burglary and the fact that he tried to hide from police with them.
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Both the law governing directed verdicts and our standard of review compel this court to consider only whether the State presented sufficient evidence from which a jury could fairly and logically deduce Odems' guilt. South Carolina jurisprudence makes clear flight is at least some evidence of guilt. Combined with Odems' presence in the car with the stolen goods and admitted burglars, Odems' flight was sufficient to constitute substantial circumstantial evidence of all four offenses. Therefore, the trial court did not err in finding the State presented sufficient evidence to send the case to the jury
In South Carolina, evidence of flight is admissible as evidence of guilt, but is it enough standing alone to convict a person? Apparently, the uncontradicted testimony at trial was that Odems asked for a ride at a gas station after the co-defendants committed the robbery. The two co-defendants pled guilty to the crime. The fingerprints taken from the stolen items matched only the co-defendants and not Odems. There were no statements implicating Odems in the burglary.
Although the Court of Appeals cites Odems' presence in the car as additional evidence of guilt, it is not and it could not be. It is well-settled law that mere presence is not evidence of guilt and should not be considered by a jury - it is a standard jury instruction that judges read to the jury at the end of a trial. Which means that the Court of Appeals' holding in this case is that evidence of flight alone is sufficient to go to a jury.
According to the Court of Appeals' reasoning in this case, If I see police and run - which is not in violation of any law in South Carolina by the way - I can then be convicted for whatever crime happens to have occurred nearby or whatever crime that the police happen to be investigating at that moment.
