Currently there is a bill before the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee which would create some significant changes to the process by which indigent defendant’s apply for a public defender. If passed, the law would require an applicant to supply more information regarding potential sources of income. Even more, the law would treat a willful [..]
Traffic stops occur on a regular basis throughout the country, usually resulting in either a traffic citation or a warning. There are times when, during the course of an otherwise routine traffic stop, a police officer may become suspicious of other possible criminal conduct. Because of this suspicion, the officer lengthens the traffic stop beyond [..]
The best starting point in any discussion concerning criminal law is to first define what constitutes a criminal offense. At first blush, it would appear that defining a criminal offense would be as simple as turning to the criminal code and seeing if the offense is listed there. To this end, the lion’s share of [..]
Recently, the head of a local narcotics investigations unit found himself in hot water pending an investigation (Edit: another officer in the unit is also under investigation). The natural question is, if the allegations against the officer prove true, what happens to the cases he made? Police misconduct is, of course, evidence which may detract from [..]