## Facts

- Charles Bryant Smith, a store owner believed to keep large amounts of cash, was targeted for robbery by Tommy Lee Benton and others.
- On April 18, 2014, Benton and accomplices burglarized Smith’s home and stole about $27,000.
- On April 26, 2014, Benton and others broke into Smith’s store and set it on fire.
- On April 29, 2014, Benton and others broke into Smith’s mobile home, handcuffed Smith, assaulted and robbed him, and set the home on fire, killing him.
- The State charged Benton with murder, burglary, and arson offenses.
- At trial, the State sought to introduce incriminating text messages sent from Benton’s phone, including a message on April 26 directing someone to meet at “CB’s furniture outlet.”
- The record showed frequent “everyday” texts sent from the same phone to Benton’s girlfriend, Heather Faircloth, during times Benton acknowledged he had the phone (discussing their relationship, family, and engagement).
- The incriminating texts were sent close in time to those personal messages and to the charged events.
- The State also offered Facebook messages extracted from Benton’s phone involving an account named “Tommy Lee Kruspe.”
- Lisa Katlin Rose (wife of an accomplice) testified she believed she was communicating with Benton through that account about her husband’s involvement, but the State offered little additional proof tying Benton to the account or showing Benton had the phone when the Facebook messages were sent.
- The trial court admitted the text and Facebook messages, and the jury convicted Benton.
- Benton appealed, challenging admission of the electronic messages for lack of authentication.

## Issues

1. Did the trial court err by admitting incriminating text messages extracted from Benton’s phone where Benton argued the State failed to authenticate him as the author?
2. Did the trial court err by admitting Facebook messages tied to the “Tommy Lee Kruspe” account where the State offered limited proof linking Benton to the account or to use of the phone at the relevant times?
3. If admitting the Facebook messages was error, did it require reversal or was it harmless?

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed Benton’s convictions.
- The court held the State made a sufficient prima facie showing to authenticate the text messages through circumstantial proof, including the messages’ contents, their timing, and their proximity to other texts Benton conceded were sent while he possessed the phone.
- As to the Facebook messages, the court recognized the connection between Benton and the “Tommy Lee Kruspe” account was weaker; to the extent admission was erroneous for lack of authentication, the error did not warrant reversal because the remaining evidence of guilt was strong and the Facebook messages were not outcome-determinative.

## Legal Principles

- To admit an item of evidence, the proponent must present evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is (a prima facie showing of authenticity).
- Electronic messages may be authenticated by circumstantial evidence, including distinctive characteristics in the communications and the surrounding circumstances (such as content, timing, and context).
- Proof that a phone belongs to a defendant is relevant but does not, by itself, conclusively establish the defendant authored every message sent from that device; the State may rely on additional contextual proof to link authorship to the defendant.
- Once a prima facie showing is made, competing claims about who actually authored the messages generally go to weight for the jury, not admissibility.
- Even if evidence is admitted in error, reversal is not required when the error is harmless in light of the total record.

## Conclusion

State v. Benton (Ct. App. 2021) affirmed Benton’s murder, burglary, and arson convictions after holding the State sufficiently authenticated incriminating text messages from Benton’s phone through their distinctive content and the surrounding timing and context; the court further held that any deficiency in authenticating Facebook messages associated with the “Tommy Lee Kruspe” account did not justify a new trial because any error was harmless given the other evidence supporting the verdict.


State v. Benton, 435 S.C. 250, 865 S.E.2d. 919 (2021)