THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

Jonathon Simpson, Appellant.

Appeal From Cherokee County
John C. Hayes, III, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2009-UP-436
Submitted September 1, 2009 – Filed September 10, 2009   

APPEAL DISMISSED

Appellate Defender Eleanor Duffy Cleary, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Harold W. Gowdy, III, of Spartanburg, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Jonathon Simpson appeals his conviction and sentence for armed robbery, arguing the trial judge erred in failing to conclude the State violated Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), when it struck two African Americans during jury selection.  After a thorough review of the record, counsel's brief, and Simpson's pro se brief, pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967) and State v. Williams, 305 S.C. 116, 406 S.E.2d 357 (1991), we dismiss the appeal and grant counsel's motion to be relieved.[1]

APPEAL DISMISSED.

HUFF, THOMAS, and PIEPER, JJ., concur.

[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.