THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS 
PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Supreme Court

James Bernard Thompson, Petitioner,

v.

State of South Carolina, Respondent.

          ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

Appeal From York County
 D. Garrison Hill, Circuit Court Judge

Memorandum Opinion No. 2006-MO-032
Submitted October 17, 2006 – Filed October 23, 2006

DISMISSED

Assistant Appellate Defender Aileen P. Clare, of the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, Division of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Assistant Attorney General Arie D. Bax, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Petitioner seeks a writ of certiorari from the denial of his application for post-conviction relief (PCR).

Because there is sufficient evidence to support the PCR judge’s finding that petitioner did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to a direct appeal, we grant certiorari and proceed with a review of the direct appeal issue pursuant to Davis v. State, 288 S.C. 290, 342 S.E.2d 60 (1986).

The direct appeal issue is dismissed under Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, after review pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).  Counsel’s motion to be relieved is granted.

DISMISSED.

TOAL, C.J., MOORE, WALLER, BURNETT and PLEICONES, JJ., concur.