South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

Last month I wrote about Judge Kenneth Goode, who was the target of a public campaign to have him removed from office based on decisions he made in two cases. Judge Goode has announced that he will retire, effective June 1, 2009, rather than seek re-nomination in the General Assembly.

Senators Mike Fair of Greenville and Glenn McConnell of Charleston embarked upon a smear campaign against the Judge before hearings on his renomination in the General Assembly last month, alleging that the judge's sentences were too light:

In December, Judge Goode sentenced Talisha Levette Smith, a day care operator, to 5 years of probation following her guilty plea to slapping a 7-month-old girl so hard it caused bleeding on her brain. The charge carried a potential sentence of up to 20 years. Smith had no prior record, and the article does not go into what mitigation was presented at the hearing in the case. In 2007, Judge Goode sentenced a sex offender, Zail Ray Gavin, to 6 months followed by 3 years of probation following a plea to a charge of "peeping tom." Apparently Judge Goode had the nerve to retain jurisdiction over the case and stated that he wanted to help rehabilitate the man.

Since the Senators saw fit to pick these two cases out of a decade of service and trumpet a small portion of what actually transpired at the hearings to the news, I noted that a quick google search of Judge Goode's name turns up equally harsh sentences:

Since we are cherry-picking this particular judge's cases, a quick google search turns up two more cases: in October of last year, Judge Goode sentenced a man named Roderick Dean to 15 years - the maximum allowable by law - following a guilty plea to lewd act on a minor. If anyone is wondering, I would not want to appear before a judge who would give the maximum sentence following a guilty plea - Dean could have taken his case to trial and done no worse. In 2007, Judge Goode sentenced Brandon and Ragane Suggs to 5 years each for child abuse - the prosecutor allowed for a cap of 5 years and Judge Goode gave them the maximum allowed under the terms of their plea agreement.

There is a lot that goes into any judge's consideration at a sentencing hearing, including the defendant's prior record, acceptance of responsibility, efforts at rehabilitation, and recommendations on and off the record by the prosecutor in the case. What a judge should not feel compelled to take into consideration is whether there is a news camera in the courtroom, and whether a politician will be able to use their decision as a platform to get themselves press at some point in the future. The legislature sets the minimum and maximum penalties for crimes in S.C., and sentencing is in the discretion of the court within those guidelines that are created by the legislature.

The father of the injured child in the daycare case, Patrick Gaddie, has announced that he is pleased with the judge's decision to retire:

“The people of South Carolina deserve better,” Gaddie said. “Other judges need to know they are accountable for their actions, good or bad. . . .Gaddie said Goode “needs to apologize” for the sentence.

Senator Mike Fair says:“The children of this state will now be better protected.” Well, as long as its for the children . . .

The state's trial judges undoubtedly feel that their hands are tied, and they cannot ethically speak out regarding this outrage, but our Supreme Court and our State Bar including prosecutors and the defense bar should be making some kind of statement about what has happened here. Thus far, I have heard nothing from our state bar - it seems that we are going to acquiesce and silently condone the ousting of a circuit court judge. So much for an independent judiciary in the State of South Carolina.