SCHOOL RAID SENT TO STATE OFFICE

Hoisington Hands Case Over Rather Than Rule Himself

GOOSE CREEK--Solicitor Ralph Hoisington said Thursday that while he was
"appalled" by the controversial drug raid Nov. 5 at Stratford High School,
he won't prosecute Goose Creek police officers and will instead ask the
state attorney general to investigate.

Hoisington, who sometimes prosecutes arrests made by Goose Creek police
officers, said he wanted to avoid any perceived conflict of interest. He
turned the state investigation over to Attorney General Henry McMaster for
an independent determination of whether criminal violations occurred.

Hoisington asked the State Law Enforcement Division to share its findings
with the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI to determine whether any
federal laws were broken.

Hoisington reviewed the school's videotapes and a 200-page SLED probe into
the drug sweep in which students were forced at gunpoint to lie down in a
hallway and subjected to drug searches that turned up empty. Some students
were handcuffed.

Hoisington offered no conclusions as to whether charges should be filed
against the officers.

"I could not reach that level of surety," he said at a news conference at
Goose Creek City Hall. "It needs to be looked at further by an independent
agency."

In a prepared statement, he said: "While I am confident the goals of the
Goose Creek Police Department were appropriate, the actual methods employed
by certain officers were ill-advised at best. My review of the surveillance
tapes and witness interviews left me with questions and concerns regarding
the actions of several officers involved in the intervention."

Children who have done nothing wrong do not deserve such treatment,
Hoisington said.

"The students are not at war with police, and it shouldn't appear that
way," he said.

Despite Hoisington's announcement, the debate about the sweep is likely to
end up in other legal arenas.

A group of local trial lawyers planned to file a federal class action
lawsuit today on behalf of the Stratford students and their parents, said
Ron Motley, the group's lead attorney.

The lawsuit will allege that Goose Creek police and school officials
violated students' constitutional rights during the sweep, he said.

"There is overwhelming evidence to support the claim that police were
abusive and used excessive force on these children," Motley said.

He added that the lawsuit will not allege that police were involved in any
racial targeting.

"We don't have any strong evidence that this happened at this time," he
said, "though as we get into the case, we may find that this did happen."

He said the lawsuit will be filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston.
Hoisington said the attorney general could keep the case or pass it on to
another prosecutor.

"Once we receive the solicitor's information, the SLED report and any
related material, it will receive a thorough review by the attorney
general's office," McMaster spokesman Trey Walker said. "The options
available are to decline prosecution, prosecute or refer it to another law
enforcement entity."

Officers are not off the hook, Hoisington said.

"It is clear to me that some deserve more scrutiny than others," he said.
Fourteen officers participated in the raid.

If the officers' actions rise to the level of a crime, Hoisington said,
state charges could include assault, assault and battery, or assault and
battery of a high and aggravated nature. Federal charges would involve
civil rights violations, he said.

Goose Creek Mayor Mike Heitzler defended the officers, saying the school
reported 15 drug-related charges during the first four months of the school
year compared with 19 for all of last year. He said there were six weapons
charges last year and a couple so far this year.

He declined to say whether officers have been instructed to change their
tactics during school drug sweeps, but he said the department has learned
some lessons and is asking other agencies how they deal with similar raids.

"We want to do it in a way that doesn't infringe on the rights and
liberties of children in our schools," he said.

Stratford Principal George McCrackin invited police into the school after
reviewing four days of videotapes from the school's 70 surveillance
cameras, which he said showed a marked increase in drug activity in the
targeted hallway.

Members of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, who say black students were unfairly
targeted in the drug sweep, were not surprised by Hoisington's decision to
ask for higher review. Seventy percent of the 107 students subjected to the
raid were black.

"As a lawyer, I know you can't prosecute your own police," said Janice
Mathis of the civil rights group's Atlanta office. "I am cautiously
optimistic the process will work."

Elder James Johnson, president of the Charleston Rainbow/PUSH Coalition,
agreed.

"It needs to go to the Justice Department," he said. "The state of South
Carolina doesn't have a record of prosecuting police officers."

Hoisington could not remember the last time a Lowcountry police officer or
sheriff's deputy was charged with assault.

Parents of some of the children caught up in the drug sweep weren't so
quick to brush aside the solicitor's decision.

"What did he do? Pass the buck," said Sharon Smalls, whose 14-year-old son,
Nathaniel, was forced to the floor of the school.

"We all have morals and values," Smalls said. "Right is right, and wrong is
wrong. This was wrong. They have broken all of these children's civil rights."

Tina Penn described the reaction of her 15-year-old son, Cedric, as he was
forced to lie in the hallway: "He thought about running. He thought it was
a terrorist attack at first. What if he had run? What would have happened?"

Both said the solicitor's decision left them with few answers and more
questions. They said their sons are undergoing counseling at the Medical
University of South Carolina as crime victims.

"Those guns should not have been drawn on these students," Penn said.

"This was not a crack house. It was a school," said Sharon Stafford, whose
15-year-old son, Carl Alexander, was forced to the floor. "This should
never happen to anybody's child, and somebody needs to be held accountable."

Tony Bartelme of The Post and Courier Staff contributed to this report.