## Facts

- Four armed men robbed a Charleston-area bar at gunpoint, taking about $875; witnesses described four young African-American males in all-black clothing with faces covered.
- Police arrived within minutes and broadcast a BOLO describing four armed African-American men, about twenty years old, wearing all-black clothing.
- About fifteen minutes later, an officer saw a car parked with its lights off in a fenced lot of a closed church several miles away and approached to investigate.
- The car contained four African-American men wearing dark clothing consistent with the BOLO; officers ordered them out and conducted a frisk.
- Officers observed a handgun on the rear floorboard with its serial number removed; none of the occupants claimed it.
- The occupants were arrested; a search of the passenger compartment uncovered dark clothing and gloves.
- The trunk was locked and occupants said they lacked a key; officers accessed the trunk area through the backseat after noticing suspicious behavior.
- Officers recovered multiple firearms, roughly $870, and additional clothing consistent with the robbery.
- The evidence was admitted at trial; Robinson was convicted of armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.
- On post-conviction review, Robinson claimed trial counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve Fourth Amendment suppression issues; the PCR court denied relief.

## Issues

1. Whether officers had reasonable, articulable suspicion to detain the occupants of the parked vehicle based on the BOLO and surrounding circumstances.
2. Whether the observation of a handgun with an obliterated serial number supplied probable cause to arrest and to search the vehicle, including the trunk area.
3. Whether trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to preserve suppression arguments, and whether Robinson could show Strickland prejudice.

## Decision

- The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief.
- The Court held officers had reasonable suspicion to detain the vehicle’s occupants given the recent robbery, the BOLO’s description, and the suspicious circumstance of a darkened car in a closed church lot with four occupants matching the BOLO.
- The Court held that discovery of a handgun with a defaced serial number, coupled with the circumstances, established probable cause for arrest and a more extensive vehicle search that produced guns, cash, and clothing.
- Because the stop and search were lawful, any suppression motion would have been denied; Robinson therefore failed to show prejudice from counsel’s alleged failure to preserve the suppression issue.

## Legal Principles

- An investigatory detention requires reasonable, articulable suspicion based on the totality of the circumstances, not a mere hunch.
- A BOLO with general descriptors may support reasonable suspicion when combined with close temporal proximity to the reported crime and suspicious situational facts.
- Probable cause may arise during a lawful detention as officers observe contraband or other facts indicating criminal activity.
- Under Strickland, a PCR applicant must prove prejudice; if the underlying suppression claim lacks merit, counsel’s failure to raise or preserve it cannot establish a reasonable probability of a different outcome.

## Conclusion

The court upheld denial of post-conviction relief because officers lawfully detained Robinson based on the BOLO and circumstances, developed probable cause upon seeing contraband in the car, and validly searched the vehicle; consequently, counsel’s alleged failure to preserve suppression arguments did not prejudice the defense.


Robinson v. State, 407 S.C. 169, 754 S.E.2d 862 (S.C. 2014)