If you are charged with a drug crime, the prosecution must provide the defense with 1) the evidence that will be used against them and 2) any exculpatory evidence in the state’s possession. Or do they? Although it is (should be) clear that prosecutors must turn over exculpatory evidence before a defendant accepts a plea ...
What are the open container laws in SC? Alcohol possession, use, and transport are heavily regulated in our state, and there are several criminal offenses in SC that are related to open containers or other alcohol violations. In this article, we will go over some of the more common criminal charges that result from alcohol ...
In State v. Jones, decided yesterday, the SC Supreme Court changed the error preservation rules for pretrial motions. The court’s reasoning makes sense, and it’s great that the court is trying to get rid of nonsensical procedural rules that obstruct justice and unnecessarily burden court resources. But did they simplify the error preservation rules or ...
Can a traffic offense result in CDL disqualification? How does a DUI, implied consent violation, or other traffic conviction affect your CDL (commercial driver’s license)? In many cases, your CDL may be suspended (disqualified) for first offense “major” offenses and even for minor second offense traffic violations. This means that, if you have a CDL, ...
Can you make a citizen’s arrest in SC? People across the country are complaining about Stand Your Ground laws and how they encourage the murder of people of color by white vigilantes… these people complaining have clearly not seen SC’s citizen’s arrest laws. SC law does authorize citizen’s arrests, and, in many cases, it also ...
What does every juror need to know when they are chosen to sit for a criminal trial? In an article for Slate, Seth Stevenson writes about how he served as a juror in 1998, helped convict two men of murder, and has regretted it ever since… Seth describes how he was just a “cog in ...