Solicitor: Pandemic backlog for Beaufort Co. criminal cases will take 4 1/2 years to clear
Beaufort County’s criminal case backlog has grown so much during COVID-19 that it will take 4 1/2 years to get back to where things were before the pandemic, the top prosecutor for five counties said.
On Monday, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone asked a Beaufort County Council committee for about $225,000 to hire three more lawyers to help reduce the deluge of cases.
“We are going to deal with some challenges next year,” Stone told the Finance Committee via video call. “That’s going to take additional personnel. That’s going to take a lot more court time.”
The committee did not vote on the request. If the council approves the money, it must be included in the 2021-22 budget that begins July 1.
The Solicitor’s Office has 5,402 pending cases as of March 2021, up from a low of 3,700 cases in December 2019.
One year ago, S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty halted jury trials across the state because of the pandemic.
They briefly resumed several months later.
Four trials took place in Beaufort County during that window:
- In September, a Bluffton man was found not guilty after his trial on charges of second-degree domestic violence.
- In October, a 30-year-old Hilton Head man was found guilty of killing a bicyclist in a hit and run in 2018. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
- In November, the trial of a man accused of killing a St. Helena Island uncle and nephew in 2017 ended in a mistrial.
- Another jury trial in November ended with a not-guilty verdict for a Beaufort man accused of failing to register as a sex offender.
A month later, Beatty again ordered jury trials to stop, citing rising COVID-19 cases in the state.
Now, with more people vaccinated across the country, the courts are cautiously reopening.
Stephanie Smart-Gittings, chief public defender for the 14th Circuit, said in a statement that the circuit has been fortunate that virtual court sessions continued during the pandemic.
”We were able to move a number of non-jury cases during the pandemic,” she said. ”We already have trials scheduled for April, and the Chief Justice’s Order informed us that he expects jury trials to resume and continue until we have resolved some of the backlog.”
Anthony Dore, a Beaufort-based defense attorney, said a large backlog of cases is going to be “burdensome.”
“It’s really going to be a detriment to the prosecutor’s office,” said Dore. After 4 1/2 years, “witnesses may not be around anymore, law enforcement may have retired or moved to another department.”
Dore said his practice handles a lot of domestic violence cases. In many instances, there’s a restraining order between a couple because one was charged by police with domestic violence.
“A lot of these parties intend to reconcile,” he said.
Stone, the solicitor, said the money from County Council will be a start in moving through cases.
“I’m hoping this will help us get there,” he said Monday. “I’m going to have to reassess next year to see kind of where we are.”
Beaufort County General Sessions is expected to restart trials next month, said a Solicitor’s Office spokesperson.
