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INFORMATION
ABOUT ME AND MY PRACTICE
BOARD CERTIFIED IN CRIMINAL TRIAL ADVOCACY
By
the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification
<One of
only three lawyers in South Carolina certified in this area>
-B.A., University of South
Carolina 1975
Senior Thesis “Privacy and the Use of Computerized
Information”
-J.D., University of South Carolina 1978
-Former Special Agent, Federal Bureau
of Investigation, Miami, Florida Division
-Former Assistant Solicitor, Fifth and Ninth Judicial Circuits
-Former Municipal Judge, Isle of Palms, South Carolina
Member of:
National Association
of Criminal Defense Lawyers
South Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (founding member)
South Carolina
Bar
Charleston County Bar
National College of DUI Defense (founding member)
Society of Former Special Agents
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Strong interest in computers and computer related crimes.
I am
a Mac Lawyer. Our firm uses Apple computers at we
My wife and I are blessed with two boys. Katie helped me build
my practice from the start and I am grateful to her for her devotion and contribution to our success. She has an understanding
of people and in particular, those people who have relied upon me for help and advice when finding themselves accused and
charged with committing a crime.
My firm is computer oriented. By that I mean that we use computer aided tools
in trial, in hearings, and when warranted to achieve the best interests of a client in that client's case.
Trial
preparation and organization is computer-based in minor and major cases. To me, these days, this is an indespensible aspect
of effective client representation. I am fortunate to have recognized the impact of computers in the practice of law as early
as 1974, before I began law school.
I have argued before the United States Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals and the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
I have represented clients in federal court in Charleston, West
Virginia, in a major drug trafficking conspiracy case (Southern District of West Virginia-admitted there pro hac vice) and
in federal court in Atlanta, in a major mortgage banking fraud conspiracy case (Northern District of Georgia).
I have presented prepared lectures to other lawyers at Continuing Legal Education Seminars in Columbia, South Carolina;
Litchfield Beach, South Carolina; Atalanta, Georgia; Las Vegas, Nevada; Greenville, South Carolina; Hilton Head, South Carolina,
and other locations.
Personal Information-
I am
am avid hunter and saltwater fisherman, fly preferred. Rock climbing is a special interest with my boys. My family is addicted
to snow skiing. If I could be anything besides what I consider my role to be as a “freedom fighter“, I would
be a write.
One of my favorite movies is ”A River Runs Through It.” Other movie favorites are “Twelve
Angry Men,“ ”Find Me Guilty,“ ”To Kill A Mockingbird,“ and ”Big Fish" among
others.
While I love being in the courtroom, I would rather be outside anywhere anytime, preferably skiing in powder
with my wife and sons.
Death Penalty Experience-
I have been counsel
in five death penalty cases. I was appointed by the court in Dorchester, Calhoun and Beaufort Counties.
For a
criminal defense lawyer, there is no more serious case than a death penalty case. Rarely it is the case that a person accused
or their family has the financial resources to cover the costs and fees of representation in such a serious matter. Fortunately,
our government has recognized the gravity of such a case for a person accused, and has put into place laws and procedures
for lawyers appointed to such matters to be paid.
But as one of my favorite circuit judges once told me, while
a lawyer appointed in a death penalty case is to be compensated for his time and the loss of income as he devotes his practice
to the death penalty client, he should have no expectation of making a profit from the case as he or she is performing a public
service in representing the interests of a client who the state seeks to put to death.
I have been involved in
five death penalty cases. Of those five, only one appears to be in line to suffer this ultimate penalty that our society imposes.
I was just advised today that on Friday, December 5, 2008, he will be put to death by the State of South Carolina, all of
his appeals being exhausted.
I was contacted by the press today about this forthcoming event.
I told
the reporter that among the circumstances where those of us die not by natural death or accident or suicide, it is disturbing
to me that the most controlled, clinical, emotionless, circumstance of the transaction of a person's state from living to
final is in the context of the government's execution of person.
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