COUNTY FORCED TO THROW OUT DRUG CASES

Officials Say New Lab May Help Trials

The Beaufort County Solicitor's Office has tossed out more than 300 drug
cases in the past few months, officials said.

Beaufort County Deputy Solicitor Steve Knight said the cases had collected
dust for more than three years because authorities couldn't find
investigators and witnesses in order to prosecute the defendants after
waiting months for a state agency to analyze the drug evidence.

Before the Beaufort County Regional Drug Lab opened in March, evidence from
the drug cases would be sent to the State Law Enforcement Division in
Columbia. The agency also analyzes evidence for several law enforcement
agencies throughout the state.

Knight said the results would take more than a year to be sent back to
Beaufort County.

He and Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said the delay in analyzing the
drugs prevented hundreds of drug cases from going to court.

"Sometimes these cases didn't have the defendants or the evidence because
the defendants would be bailed out of jail and then it would take SLED a
long time to analyze the drugs," Tanner said.

Most of the drug cases that were eliminated from the Solicitor's Office
involved the Beaufort County Drug Task Force going undercover to make a
"sale" with drug dealers throughout the county, Knight said.

"Most of the time, the (informant) was gone, moved, or, in some cases, even
died," he said.

Tanner said it was unfortunate that the drug cases had to be thrown out.
"About 300, maybe even 400 cases the Solicitor's Office were looking at had
to be tossed out because no (informants) were around, no officers were
around, and we didn't have any witnesses around, either," he said.

The sheriff said witnesses wouldn't want to testify in court or they would
move away before the planning stages for trial.

"When you sit around on a case for four years," Tanner said, "you are going
to have a problem finding your informants and witnesses."

Officials hope the Beaufort County Regional Drug Lab, which also assists
Jasper, Hampton and Colleton counties, will make a difference.

The county lab, partly funded by a $100,000 federal grant, was designed to
process drug evidence in a month, said Debbie Szpanka, spokeswoman for the
Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

"We can move faster now to get these cases to court," Knight said. "This
problem shouldn't happen again or be as dramatic as in the past."