COUNTY DRUG RAID BONDS DRAW CRITICISM

Bonds set for eight suspects arrested in a drug raid on St. Helena Island
last week have drawn criticism from Sheriff P.J. Tanner, who says the
amounts don't fit the crimes nor take into account some of the suspects'
records. Beaufort County Chief Magistrate Rita Simmons, who set bond for
two of the St. Helena drug suspects, said she often gets calls from people
concerned about bond issues. For last week's drug arrests, Simmons said she
had access to the suspects' arrest records and law enforcement officers
representing the state. She said she stands by the amounts she set.

But Tanner has said some bond amounts were too low.

"I feel it is very unreasonable to put such low bonds on repeat offenders
or those associated with violent crimes, such as drug dealing," Tanner
said, referring to all eight suspects in a news release about the arrests.

"We must stop the revolving-door criminal," he said in the news release.
But Simmons objected to the sheriff's use of the term "revolving-door
criminal."

"It makes it sound like the judges don't care," she said.

And, Simmons said, there are checks and balances to ensure both the
suspects' rights and the public's safety.

More than 50 deputies carried out the raid on the night of April 3 after a
six-month investigation. At the time of the arrests, five of the eight
suspects, all of whom are from St. Helena Island, already were out on bond,
according to the Sheriff's Office. By Thursday, four of the suspects had
been released on bond.

The bond for one of the suspects was raised Thursday to $600,000 from
$105,000 after it was reconsidered at the request of the Sheriff's Office,
Tanner said. Carl Linyard, 42, faces six counts of sale and distribution of
crack cocaine; six counts of aiding, abetting or conspiring to distribute
crack; and one count of simple possession of marijuana. He has 12 previous
convictions, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

Tanner said he had met with his command officers and would implement a
department policy to request that a judge revoke or negotiate a new bond
amount when they arrest somebody who already is out on bail. The original
judge has the authority to do this before indictment on the charge for
which the bond was set.

"I wasn't aware that the revocation request has to come from law
enforcement," he said.

While the sheriff said Tuesday that his biggest concerns were consistency
and fairness for bond amounts, Simmons said every case and every suspect is
different. If there were set bond amounts for given offenses, then judges
wouldn't be necessary for bond hearings, she said. Scott Dudley, the
Beaufort County magistrate who set bonds for most of the eight suspects
charged in the drug bust, said he agreed "wholeheartedly" with Tanner when
the sheriff spoke out against the low bond amounts for the drug cases. He
said there was a "communication hiccup."

When he set the bonds last week, Dudley said he received no indication that
law enforcement officials weren't satisfied.

But they weren't, Tanner said.

"Apparently there was some disconnect," Dudley said.