Thousands could avoid jail following justice's order

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Defendants facing misdemeanor charges are often tried and convicted in their absence if they don't show up.

Some of those defendants never appeared before a judge to hear about their options for a defense attorney.

South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty said in a September memo that such convictions are illegal.

This is an issue nobody wants to talk about because it's been a common practice that when someone doesn't show up for court, they can still be convicted.

Many people, when charged with lesser crimes, are handed a ticket or courtesy summons to come to court, instead of being arrested.

In many cases, those who receive a summons never show up. A judge then signs a bench warrant, and police can arrest them and take them immediately to jail for failure to appear.

That will not be the case anymore.

Beatty said it is illegal to arrest a defendant if the defendant was never told by a judge about their right to a lawyer. Part of Beatty’s memo, which was sent to lower court judges around the state also deals with arresting indigent defendants who are then jailed because they can't pay court fines.

"Absent a waiver of counsel, or the appointment of counsel for an indigent defendant, summary court judges shall not impose a sentence of jail time,” Beatty said.

The order only affects magistrate and lower-level courts, which handle traffic and misdemeanor offenses. Police agencies are concerned, however, that the order could reward people who choose not to show up for court since they can't be sent to jail, and punish those who do the right thing.

The city of Rock Hill is reviewing about 1,800 warrants that may never be executed now.

City officials sent Channel 9 this statement: "Following the memo from Chief Justice Beatty, the Municipal Court is in the process of reviewing all existing bench warrants to ensure documentation exists showing legal representation was either had or waived."

The justice's order does not affect police arrests, but does mean that police can't serve a bench warrant and take someone directly to jail if they haven't appeared before a judge.

The Lancaster Police Department talked about the issue at a meeting last week. Officers, along with other local police agencies, are also reviewing warrants.

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