COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A media attorney filed a request Thursday asking that open hearings be held on ethics allegations against South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell, saying that the public deserves to observe a case involving such a notable figure to ensure it’s being handled appropriately.
“Harrell’s prominence in the affairs of the State of South Carolina demands that any judicial proceeding concerning him be open for scrutiny by public and press so that the public may have confidence that ’justice was in fact done,’” Jay Bender wrote. “Any outcome reached by a secret judicial hearing would be met with understandable skepticism regardless of whether the decision were favorable or unfavorable to Harrell.”
Since January, the State Grand Jury has been mulling allegations filed by the South Carolina Policy Council that Harrell used his office to boost his finances by using influence to get a permit for his pharmaceutical business.
The libertarian think tank also took issue with Harrell appointing his brother to a committee that screens judicial candidates and picks the top three for each seat, from which the Legislature then chooses. Harrell has called the complaint a baseless attack driven by a “personal and political vendetta.”
At the behest of Attorney General Alan Wilson, the State Law Enforcement Division investigated the allegations and prepared what prosecutors characterized as a “voluminous” report. Wilson then opted to hand over the review to the State Grand Jury, to whom matters are presented in secret.
But in his motion, Bender said he had reason to believe that attorneys for the powerful Charleston Republican are seeking to have Wilson removed from the case. A hearing on such a request, Bender said, should in the very least occur in the open, arguing that the secret nature of Grand Jury matters applies only to matters presented to the body, not hearings surrounding the overall case.
“Historically the secrecy attached to grand jury proceedings has application only to those ’things which transpire in the Grand Jury room,’” Bender wrote. “A hearing in an open court must be held in advance of any decision being made to close a courtroom to the public and press.”
Under judicial rules, the chief administrative judge for the circuit in which the Grand Jury is meeting is assigned to hear matters that arise before any indictment is handed down. After that point, it’s up to the state’s chief justice to appoint a judge to preside over any trial.
The clerk of the State Grand Jury confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that a public hearing would be held Friday before Circuit Judge Robert Hood, the 5th Circuit’s chief administrative judge, but would not give specifics. A spokesman for Wilson’s office declined to comment on the case, and an attorney for Harrell did not immediately return a message.
In this request, Bender represents a number of media outlets, as well as the South Carolina Press Association. Bill Rogers, that group’s executive director, said Thursday he was pleased to see the issue dealt with in open court.
“I’m very happy that we’re going to get a hearing on this,” Rogers said. “This shouldn’t even be a decision to be made. It should be open.”
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Kinnard can be reached at https://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
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