ATTORNEY REFERRED TO PRETRIAL PROGRAM IN DRUG CASE

The Charleston attorney Dennis Rhoad and three others charged with cocaine
possession at a College of Charleston fraternity house have been referred
to a program that would dismiss the misdemeanor charges in exchange for
drug testing and community service, a prosecutor said Friday.

Rhoad and the other defendants were arrested in June after a campus police
officer reportedly saw them snorting cocaine around a pool table at the
Sigma Chi fraternity house at 107 Wentworth St.

First-time offenders of a nonviolent crime qualify for the Pre-Trial
Intervention Program, which is an alternative to jail, said Assistant
Solicitor Ravi Sanyal.

By entering the program, Rhoad and the other defendants are not admitting
guilt, Sanyal said. If they do not complete the program or get kicked out,
they will be tried. If convicted, they could be sent to jail for a maximum
of two years, he said.

Two others arrested with Rhoad have not been referred to PTI, Sanyal said.
One of them does not qualify, and a decision hasn't been made on whether to
refer the second case to PTI, he added.

Rhoad declined to comment Friday, referring questions to his attorney, Bart
Daniel, who was not available.

Following his arrest, Rhoad, 41, resigned from The Citadel's Board of
Visitors, the college's governing body. Rhoad also lost a position as a
part-time assistant county attorney for the Charleston County Planning
Commission.

Rhoad applied to the pre-trial program last month, said PTI coordinator
Michelle Lloyd. The other defendants referred to PTI have not made a formal
application, which can be made before a referral from the solicitor, she said.

In July, the S.C. Supreme Court placed Rhoad on interim suspension from the
practice of law. The court appointed Charleston attorney Capers G. Barr III
as a trustee of Rhoad's clients, bank accounts and files. Barr has a law
office separate from Rhoad's Broad Street practice.

The S.C. Attorney General's Office is involved in a disciplinary proceeding
against Rhoad, but agency spokesman Trey Walker said he couldn't provide
details.

Henry B. Richardson Jr., with the Supreme Court's Office of the
Disciplinary Counsel at the Supreme Court, said he couldn't discuss Rhoad's
case.

If a defendant completes the program, the charge is dismissed, Sanyal said.
The defendant then may apply to have the charge expunged from the record.

Richardson said if Rhoad completes the program and if his record is
expunged, then the Supreme Court would decide whether he is reinstated. In
general terms, Richardson said, "the code of professional responsibility
makes it improper for a lawyer to commit a criminal offense. It does not
necessarily speak to being convicted or charged of a criminal offense."

The PTI program has about 750 participants a year, almost half charged with
drug offenses, Lloyd said.

About 70 to 75 percent of the people in PTI finish the three-month to
one-year program.

Also charged with cocaine possession are James Peter Robinson, 35, of
Charleston; Bryan Heath Brown, 24, of Longs; Jennifer Maja Harmon, 24, of
Charleston; Bradley Andrew Patterson, 21, of Asheville, N.C.; and Michael
Peter Dever, 22, of Charleston.

Sanyal said Brown, Patterson and Harmon also have been referred to PTI.

Robinson could be referred to the program later, Sanyal said. Dever is not
eligible because he had a 2001 conviction for assault and battery of a high
and aggravated nature, Sanyal said.