South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

The state is seeking the death penalty for Colin James Broughton, who is charged with murder and robbery in Charleston, S.C. Recent developments in the case however, reported by the Post and Courier, already are casting doubts on the integrity of the process.

There are three defense attorneys working on the case: Bill McGuire, Ashley Pennington, and Beattie Butler. When Butler was asked to assist in the trial, Circuit Judge Deadre Jefferson ordered that Butler could not speak in the courtroom, and that he would only be allowed to "pass notes and whisper in McGuire's ear." According to pleadings filed by the defense, Judge Jefferson's decision was "due to her personal issues with Mr. Butler."

The defense also alleges that when McGuire objected to Judge Jefferson's order,

Patton Adams, the director of the S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense, asked McGuire to drop his request to add Butler to the defense team.

McGuire said in the pleading that he understood the request was initiated by Jefferson and relayed to Adams through S.C. Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal.

"It was further relayed that failure to waive the issue would anger Judge Jefferson, Jean Toal and the rest of the South Carolina Supreme Court," one of McGuire's pleadings said.

Judge Jefferson has now been replaced by Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson Jr., who has denied McGuire's request to be relieved as counsel and who declined to overrule Judge Jefferson's prior order. McGuire subpoenaed Patton Adams and Chief Justice Toal to a hearing on Thursday, but Judge Nicholson did not allow them to be called as witnesses.

If a judge does not feel that it is appropriate to have three attorneys working on a case, personal differences aside, why not say "no sir, you may not assist the defense in this case." I mean, I doubt that that would be appropriate or fair and if not it may be appealable - but if that is the judge's ruling, it would be direct at least. If the allegations are true, that the trial judge went through the Chief Justice and Director of SCCID to pressure McGuire to remove Butler from the defense team, that conduct certainly calls the integrity of the entire proceeding into question and the defense should have been permitted, at a minimum, to make their record exploring the issue.

My hat's off to Bill McGuire and the rest of the defense team for standing firm in the face of pressure and fighting not only for their client but for the integrity of the justice system.