The Beaufort County Clerk of Court’s office(Clerk of Court Elizabeth Smith) is being investigated by the S.C. Ethics Commission, and 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said he will review the commission’s findings for possible criminal wrongdoing.
Stone said he has been briefed regularly for “several weeks” by Ethics Commission investigators…
“We’re still gathering information.”
Herb Hayden, executive director of the Ethics Commission, said investigators forwarded the information to prosecutors because information had “possible criminal elements.” It is the policy of the Ethics Commission not to comment on or even acknowledge the existence of ongoing investigations unless probable cause is found, according to Cathy Hazlewood, the commission’s general counsel.
The ethics investigation became public Wednesday after the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office released an incident report detailing a complaint by deputy Beaufort County Clerk of Court Janice Young against the husband of Beaufort County Clerk of Court Elizabeth Smith. Young said Beaufort County Drug Court Judge Manning Smith threatened her during a phone call June 16.
According to the incident report, Young told deputies that Manning Smith was upset Young had shared with County Finance Director David Starkey financial information regarding an Ethics Commission investigation into the Clerk’s Office.
The report said Young indicated in a meeting with Starkey and Deputy County Administrator Bryan Hill “that activity in the ‘bondsmen account,’ specifically in the month of March 2009 should be reviewed thoroughly” as part of the Ethics Commission’s investigation.
Young had shared the “bondsmen” bank statement with the county in “an attempt to reconcile every bank statement held by the county on a month basis,”…
Elizabeth Smith and Young worked together for more than two years, according to Suzanne Larson, county spokeswoman. Young’s last day at the courthouse was July 10, Larson said. Elizabeth Smith would not say if Young quit or was fired.
According to the sheriff’s incident report, Young said Manning Smith told her “handing your boss over was like me saying, ‘I’m going to murder you, Janice, shoot you in the head and spatter your brains all over the sidewalk.’”
Manning Smith told sheriff’s investigators that his comment might have been misconstrued, adding that he “often speaks in analogies of violence,” according to the report.
The threats caused Young such concern, according to the report, that she changed the locks of her home, slept with a gun and put a chair against her bedroom door.
“This guy is a good shot,” Young said of Manning Smith in the report. “He’s an excellent shot and he knows that I know that.”
Smith acknowledged that he was a “superb” pistol shot in interviews with deputies but said he considered Young to be family.
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/912843.html

anything is a joke after their “thorough” job on Sanford

Council Chairman Halts Plug-Ins To Electrical Outlets At Meetings
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2009/jul/22/council-chairman-halts-plug-ins-electrical-outlets/

… he is an engineer for Fluor. Scared?

- SSHM

Coming soon, I suppose.

- SSHM