Jeroid Price On The Run (The System is Indeed Broken)

If you've followed Cedar Posts for any length of time you know I’m usually pretty quick to condemn the condemned but this is wrong. This is all kinds of wrong.

You really need to read this. The system is clearly broken, it was broken when Price was released and this does not fix that.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster needs to issue a pardon and let's move on.

FROM the AP and other sources:

The attorney representing the man the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered back to prison said his client needs to surrender to authorities.

Attorney Todd Rutherford, who is representing Jeroid Price, said it has become clear to him that Price may not know that there is a warrant out for his arrest.

“So I want to make it clear that Mr. Price, if he sees this, that my legal advice is that he needs to turn himself in,” Rutherford said. “Although Mr. Price did nothing to deserve this — he was released legally from jail; he did not escape; he walked out with a judge’s order.”

Former Richland County Judge Casey Manning, who has since retired, signed an order in December that reduced Price’s sentence to 19 years. He then sealed that order.

The State Supreme Court reversed the early release Wednesday amid questions about whether it followed proper procedure. During arguments Wednesday, the justices said they didn’t like that the deal was kept secret, including from the parents of the man Price killed. The high court also noted that no formal hearing was held before Price walked out of prison.

Rutherford said in 2017 his client called to tell him inmate Jimmy Causey had been missing for two days and state prison officials had not figured out he was gone. Causey was serving a life sentence for tying up his lawyer and family because he was unhappy about his attorney’s work. Rutherford argued before the high court that the release was given because Price had helped the corrections department by providing information about the escape.

He also said Rutherford saved the lives of corrections officers by breaking up fights in prison.

Rutherford said he asked the motion be kept secret to protect Price’s safety both inside the prison and after his release, fearing he would be attacked for cooperating with authorities.

“I’m sorry that this happened. I’m sorry that the Supreme Court ordered this. And I’m sorry for Mr. Price, who has done nothing but help the citizens of South Carolina capture a dangerous criminal, saving the lives of correctional officers. That somehow, that lands him back in jail in the South Carolina Department of Corrections,” Rutherford said. “He has no choice at this point.”

Rutherford said anyone who considers Price to be dangerous should go back and look at his trial.

“He went to trial because he believed he was innocent, because he believed he had a self-defense claim,” he said. “He believed at that time so strongly that he was made an offer of 10 years. He rejected that offer and went to trial.”

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson argued to the state’s Supreme Court the release was done without properly notifying the victim’s family and without a proper hearing. He told the court the state failed in this process.

The court voted 3-2 to void the release.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said that Price had the opportunity to surrender himself after the high court ordered his arrest and return to prison, but because he did not do so, he is now considered a fugitive.

Lott also said a $5,000 reward is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to Price’s arrest. Anyone with information on his whereabouts can call 1-888-CRIME-SC.

Rutherford is also a State House member, representing Richland County. He is also the House Minority Leader.