3 days ago
Some Spartanburg Co. deputies were sworn in incorrectly, interim sheriff realizes
SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – When Jeffery Stephens was sworn in last week as Spartanburg County Sheriff, he noticed something was missing from the oath which he was required to recite.
Some deputies had been sworn in incorrectly by leaving out part of the oath they're required to recite.
Every deputy in South Carolina has to take two oaths. One is found within the South Carolina Constitution. The other is found in the South Carolina Code of Laws.
Reciting the two oaths is part of their duty to obey and enforce laws fairly. A spokesperson said the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office noticed, under former Sheriff Chuck Wright, some deputies were incorrectly sworn in because some words were missing in the code of laws.
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Brandi Hinton, an attorney at Ellis Hinton Law said not stating the full oath and proceeding could lead to problems with the arrests made by those deputies.
'Certainly is the right of a defendant to have a deputy arrest them that is properly sworn because that is what the constitution and the state statues say,' Hinton said.
Hinton said it'll be at the discretion of the defendants impacted and their attorneys on how they handle this.
How many cases may be impacted is unknown at this time. Hinton said she thinks it will be used as a negotiation tactic. However, she believes a case dismissal would be extremely difficult.
'It is really a case specific decision,' Hinton said. 'It is a strategy decision by the particular defense attorney and defendant that they will make jointly.'
Hinton said this issue has happened before in South Carolina. She says it's uncommon but it's also happened at our nation's highest level.
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'When President Obama was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, that oath was actually administered incorrectly and Chief Justice John Roberts went to the White House and corrected it later that same day,' Hinton said.
In a Greenwood County case heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court where deputies were improperly sworn in, justices ruled the case would not be dismissed.
'The Court of Appeals opinion is broader in that it also evaluated the status of the deputies,' a spokesperson for the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office explained. 'It provides that the deputies are at least 'de facto deputies' and that actions taken consistent with their position as a deputy are lawful.'
'Simply because you have this issue, it doesn't mean that you necessarily can't be prosecuted for what they arrested you for,' Hinton said.
Hinton, a former federal and state prosecutor who has worked thousands of cases as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, said it is something the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office might see brought up in court.
'At any point, the Supreme Court can take up another issue or they can say this issue is different from the one we heard back in 2016,' Hinton said. 'They are very similar, so the court will look to that opinion in making their decision but certainly they can raise that issue at any time.'
The sheriff's office said Sheriff Stephens corrected the issue this week and has since sworn in the deputies – again – with the full service oath.
Cases that could be impacted are only cases handled by deputies between the time they were sworn in under former Sheriff Chuck Wright and re-sworn in on Tuesday.
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