Man seeking new trial on robbery conviction

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A Vance man sentenced in 2009 to 22 years in prison for armed robbery is awaiting the result of a hearing held in July to contest his legal representation during his guilty plea six years ago. Marco Andre Clark, formerly of 127 Gallery Lane in Vance, is currently serving his sentence at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia. Clark was arrested Dec. 4, 2008, along with Holly Hill resident Alvin LaTroy and Vance resident Leo LaMont Zene. He was charged with armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. According to reports, the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office responded to the complaint of a 28-year-old woman working at a store on St. Paul Road in Summerton. The woman said Clark entered the store with a handgun and demanded money. Deputies initiated a traffic stop on an SUV in the North Santee area after spotting a suspect matching Clark’s description. Clark was taken back to the store, where the employee identified him. Clark pleaded guilty July 7, 2009, and was sentenced to 22 years for the armed robbery and five years for the possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Zene pleaded guilty May 21, 2009, to accessory after the fact to a Class A, B or C felony, receiving a 10-year prison sentence, suspended to five months in jail and two years’ probation. Washington pleaded guilty in October 2009 to armed robbery and received a sentence of time-served, having been in custody at the Clarendon County Detention Center since his arrest in December 2008. Clark filed an appeal, according to court records, in Jan. 3, 2012, but his conviction was affirmed by the South Carolina Court of Appeals later that year. Clark argued in the appeal that his trial court in Clarendon County erred in denying his motion for funds to hire an expert to “determine whether Clark lacked the capacity to distinguish moral or legal right from moral or legal wrong at the time of the crime.” In an “unpublished opinion,” the court disagreed, saying that “the general rule is that a plea of guilty, voluntarily and understandingly made, constitutes a waiver of non-jurisdictional defects and defenses, including claims of violation of constitutional rights prior to the plea.” In Clark’s current court filing, he has sought post-conviction relief, which is an attack on a defendant’s legal representation, not the court proceeding itself as seen in typical appeals. For post-conviction relief to succeed, a defendant must show that he or she was not provided adequate legal representation during a trial or a guilty plea. According to the state Attorney General’s Office, which acts as the defense in all post-conviction relief hearings in the state of South Carolina, such a hearing was held in July in Sumter County. Judges typically present orders on such hearings within 30 to 45 days, but no time frame is set. Clarendon Clerk of Court Beulah Roberts said Friday that Clark’s case is still pending. If successful, post-conviction relief does not set the defendant free; rather, the conviction or plea in question is overturned and the defendant is granted a new trial.