SOLICITOR EXPLAINS DECISION TO PASS ON STRATFORD CASE

Though Solicitor Ralph Hoisington has referred the Stratford High School
police drug raid to the state attorney general to avoid a possible conflict
of interest, he had no problem ruling in past cases that involved police.

The seeming contradiction is not surprising, one legal expert says, but it
does raise questions.

If solicitors believe officers did "something out of step," they usually
"kick the can down the road," said University of South Carolina law
professor Eldon Wedlock Jr. It demonstrates a structural problem with the
justice system, he said.

"The notion is that we're all in this together," Wedlock said. "Typically,
they say, 'I have to work with these guys. It's a conflict for me to do
this.' But frankly, there is no conflict of interest. Prosecutors don't
represent police. They represent the people and the state of South Carolina."

Hoisington defended his decision, saying the difference between the
Stratford case and past cases involving police is that he could clearly
rule for the officers in previous cases.

"If I feel satisfied the actions of police are legally justified, then I
say so," he said Friday. "If I think there are serious questions of legal
culpability, then it's prudent to let an independent agency investigate."

The prosecutor for Charleston and Berkeley counties announced Thursday
that, while the controversial Nov. 5 drug search "appalled" him, he would
not prosecute Goose Creek police officers. He instead sent the case to
state Attorney General Henry McMaster, the highest legal authority in South
Carolina.

McMaster's three options include filing charges, declining to prosecute, or
referring the case "to another solicitor on another side of the state who
doesn't work with the Goose Creek Police Department," said his spokesman
Trey Walker.

Prosecutors refer cases to McMaster's office "on a daily basis," Walker
said. "It's each solicitor's discretion as to whether a conflict of
interest does or does not exist."

About 15 officers, several with guns drawn, stormed into Berkeley County's
largest high school at 6:45 a.m. Nov. 5 to search for drugs. Officers
temporarily restrained about a dozen of the 107 students in the hallway,
but found no drugs and made no arrests. Two days later, Hoisington asked
the State Law Enforcement Division to investigate.

The 200-page SLED report Hoisington received last week made no conclusions,
which is normal.

"It's a no-win situation. If I decide to prosecute, I've alienated the
entire department," Hoisington said Friday. "If I decide not to prosecute,
a large segment of the population would say that's why I made the decision,
not based on its merits."

Hoisington said he will approach the Nov. 7 shooting death of Asberry
Wylder the same way. The prosecutor is awaiting a SLED report to decide
whether to clear the officers or pass the case on to McMaster.

North Charleston police shot Wylder, a mentally ill black man, twice after
he shoplifted meat from a grocery store, then tried to stab an officer
attempting to arrest him. Hoisington joined with North Charleston Mayor
Keith Summey in asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the
shooting.

Hoisington came under fire in 2001 for his decision not to prosecute two
North Charleston police officers who shot and killed black resident Edward
Snowden in October 2000, a month before voters elected Hoisington.

Snowden had fired a warning shot at four white men who were attacking him,
then ran into a video store. When officers arrived, the 35-year-old turned
toward them with a gun in his hand, and they shot him.

In October 2001, Hoisington cleared three other officers involved in
separate fatal shootings earlier that year:

- - A Charleston County Sheriff's Office sharpshooter shot John Pelaccio Jr.
in the back after an eight-hour standoff with police in Goose Creek in
April 2001.

- - Responding to a 911 hang-up call, a North Charleston police officer shot
Richard Spearing in May 2001 during a struggle in which he punched her
twice in the face and bruised her arms.

- - A Charleston police officer shot James Johnson in July 2001 after the
armed teenager wounded another officer and led them on a chase through a
housing complex.

In the Pelaccio and Spearing cases, Hoisington based his decision not to
prosecute on SLED reports. SLED did not investigate the third shooting, so
the solicitor reviewed the department's internal investigation.

When police are accused of misconduct, Hoisington said, he reviews the case
solely to decide whether it should continue.

"If it's clearly justified, I don't think it's a good idea to send it off
to meander through the process when it's already clear to me they were
correct in their actions," he said.

Former Solicitor David Schwacke, whom Hoisington replaced, said Friday he
never "farmed out" any cases involving police. The only time he felt an
officer acted improperly, he said, he sought an indictment.

A Charleston grand jury indicted Trooper Derrick Burbage in October 2000
for assault of a high and aggravated nature. He was caught on tape three
months earlier running alongside a fleeing suspect's car and opening fire
on him, hitting him three times. Hoisington dismissed charges against both
Burbage and the driver in July 2001, saying it would be difficult to get a
jury to convict either man.