In the Matter of Shawn T. Daily
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
Date FiledJune 17, 2026
Docket2024-001707
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Supreme Court
In the Matter of the Care and Treatment of Shawn Torlif
Daily, Respondent.
Appellate Case No. 2024-001707
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS
Appeal from Spartanburg County
R. Keith Kelly, Circuit Court Judge
Opinion No. 28340
Submitted December 15, 2025 โ Filed June 17, 2026
AFFIRMED
Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Senior
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Christopher Runyan,
both of Columbia, for Petitioner.
Senior Appellate Defender Lara Mary Caudy, of
Columbia, for Respondent.
David Allen Chaney, Jr. and Meredith Dyer McPhail, both
of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae The American Civil
Liberties Union of South Carolina.
PER CURIAM: Following a trial, Petitioner Shawn Daily was civilly committed
in accordance with the Sexually Violent Predator Act. See generally S.C. Code Ann.
ยงยง 44-48-10 to -180 (2018). Daily appealed, and the court of appeals reversed and
remanded for a new commitment proceeding, finding the circuit court erred in
admitting the results of Daily's penile plethysmography test (PPG) because the test
is inherently unreliable. See In re Care & Treatment of Daily, 443 S.C. 557, 905
S.E.2d 310 (Ct. App. 2024). We granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of
appeals' decision and now affirm in line with our recent decision in In re Care &
Treatment of Hyman, Op. No. 28330 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed May 13, 2026) (Howard
Adv. Sh. No. 18 at 37). 1 We therefore remand this case for a new commitment trial
consistent with the guidance provided in Hyman.
AFFIRMED.
KITTREDGE, C.J., FEW, JAMES and HILL, JJ., concur. VERDIN, J., not
participating.
1
Like the court of appeals, we do not find the error in admitting Daily's PPG results
was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.