State v. Sims, 814 S.E.2d 632

Defendant Bobby R. Sims was indicted for attempted murder and moved for immunity under the Protection of Persons and Property Act (the Act), which makes a showing of justified deadly force "immune from criminal prosecution."
The trial court held an evidentiary hearing and denied Sims immunity.
After the denial, Sims pled guilty to the lesser-included offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (ABHAN).
Sims appealed, arguing his immunity claim is a jurisdictional challenge that survives a guilty plea and may be raised on direct appeal.
The court considered whether statutory immunity functions as a jurisdictional bar that cannot be waived by a guilty plea, or instead is a statutory right that must be proved and thus can be forfeited by pleading guilty.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an immunity claim under the Act is a jurisdictional defect that survives an unconditional guilty plea	Sims: Immunity bars prosecution and therefore deprives the court of power; claim survives plea	State: Immunity is a statutory right that must be proved and is forfeited by an unconditional guilty plea	Held: Not jurisdictional here; plea waived the claim — immunity must be established before it operates to divest jurisdiction
Whether a guilty plea waives nonjurisdictional defects and constitutional claims	State: Valid guilty plea waives nonjurisdictional defects	Sims: Seeks exception for immunity	Held: Guilty plea waives such defenses unless defect "incurably" precluded conviction from the start; immunity not established before plea
Whether federal precedents allow post-plea challenges to being "haled into court"	Sims: Relies on Blackledge/Menna for challenge to prosecution power	State: Broce/Thomason limit those precedents to defects apparent on the record	Held: Federal cases acknowledged but limited; only defects that would forever preclude valid conviction survive plea
Whether South Carolina permits conditional pleas reserving statutory challenges	Sims: Argues plea should not bar review of immunity	State: SC rejects conditional pleas; plea cannot be used to reserve the immunity issue	Held: SC rule against conditional pleas applies; Sims' plea extinguished his immunity claim

State v. Rice, 401 S.C. 330, 737 S.E.2d 485 (recognizing a voluntary guilty plea waives nonjurisdictional defects)
State v. Truesdale, 278 S.C. 368, 296 S.E.2d 528 (rejecting conditional pleas in SC)
State v. Inman, 395 S.C. 539, 720 S.E.2d 31 (trial court must reject hedged conditional pleas)
In re Terrence M., 317 S.C. 212, 452 S.E.2d 626 (court lacks power to convict under statute no longer in effect)
Whitner v. State, 328 S.C. 1, 492 S.E.2d 777 (conviction for nonexistent offense exceeds court power)
State v. Duncan, 392 S.C. 404, 709 S.E.2d 662 (Act creates true immunity, not merely an affirmative defense)
Blackledge v. Perry, 417 U.S. 21 (claim attacking State's power to prosecute can survive plea)
Menna v. New York, 423 U.S. 61 (double jeopardy bar to prosecution survives guilty plea)
United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563 (limits Menna to defects evident on the face of the record)
United States v. Curcio, 712 F.2d 1532 (plea may be forfeiture except for defects that forever preclude valid conviction)
United States v. Bluso, 519 F.2d 473 (illustration that plea caps challenges not opens them)
State v. Thomason, 341 S.C. 524, 534 S.E.2d 708 (applying Broce in SC; waiving double jeopardy claim not evident on record)