|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by JENN WOOD
***
For fifteen years, Michael Wilson Pearson has sat inside a South Carolina prison cell — serving a sixty-year sentence for a crime that, according to mounting evidence, he did not commit. Now, with his case already unraveling amid claims of prosecutorial misconduct, newly amended court filings raise even more disturbing questions about how long state officials have known the truth — and failed to act on it.
On the morning of May 15, 2010, longtime Clarendon County businessman Edward “Slick” Gibbons was headed to work when he was ambushed in his garage. Around 6:20 a.m. EDT, three masked black men attacked him – placing tape across his face, beating him and stealing his 1987 Chevrolet El Camino.
Gibbons testified that two of the assailants climbed inside the El Camino while the third rode in the back of the flatbed. Roughly twenty minutes later, a local farmer discovered the car abandoned on a rural road with the keys still in the ignition.
***
As FITSNews previously reported, Pearson’s conviction hinged on a single fingerprint found on the exterior of a stolen El Camino — even though DNA on the duct tape used to bind Gibbons linked another man, Victor Weldon, to the assault. In 2022, Weldon confessed in open court that Pearson was not involved in the crime, admitting his own role in the 2010 robbery – and naming other accomplices.
Weldon’s confession blew a hole in the state’s case. It also fueled allegations that Clarendon County prosecutors — led by S.C. third circuit solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney — had withheld exculpatory evidence for years while Pearson remained behind bars.
In July, Clarendon County legislators went so far as to call on the attorney general to intervene, citing “serious ethical concerns.” Robert Hood, a fifth circuit jurist assigned by the state supreme court to oversee Pearson’s post-conviction challenge, said the state’s handling of the case presented “grave concerns” and warned the level of exposure was “through the roof.”
***
RELATED | PROSECUTORIAL MISSTEPS, POLYGRAPHS AND A SINGLE FINGERPRINT
***
NEW CONFESSIONS, MISSING FILES
Pearson’s legal team filed a second amended post-conviction relief petition (.pdf) on Thursday (August 21, 2025) – a document a contains explosive new claims. According to the filing, Leonard Deshun Smith — a man questioned early in the investigation — failed a 2015 polygraph and admitted his involvement in the robbery alongside Weldon and others.
In April 2025, Smith reaffirmed those admissions, naming additional participants and again clearing Pearson.
In other words, more than a decade ago another suspect was already telling law enforcement what Weldon later confirmed: Pearson wasn’t part of the crime. Yet Pearson stayed in prison, his appeals exhausted, while prosecutors pressed ahead.
The amended filing also accused prosecutors of failing to turn over complete case files from the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). Missing, according to defense attorneys, were interview reports, body-worn camera footage, and records of meetings in 2023 and 2025 where officials discussed Pearson’s likely innocence.
Judge Hood previously ordered the state to produce all relevant materials, but defense attorneys say key documents are still absent — raising the specter of contempt proceedings.
The amended petition went further still, accusing the solicitor’s office of flouting the court’s directives.
“The state has failed to fully comply with the August 11, 2025, Discovery Order of this Court,” Pearson’s lawyers wrote, noting “obvious omissions” in the materials turned over to date. Unless there is immediate, full compliance, they argued, the court should issue a Rule to Show Cause as to why prosecutors should not be held in contempt.
The implications extend well beyond Pearson’s fate. If prosecutors had confessions and failed polygraphs in hand for years — and still allowed an arguably innocent man to remain behind bars — the scandal could deepen into one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in recent South Carolina history.
Solicitor Finney has denied delaying or conditioning Pearson’s release, insisting his office has always followed the facts. But the amended petition insists otherwise, arguing the omissions are “not in keeping with providing justice.”
***
WHAT COMES NEXT
Pearson’s post-conviction relief petition is now scheduled for a two-day hearing before judge Hood in Clarendon County on September 29 and 30, 2025. That hearing will not only determine Pearson’s future, but could expose state officials to sharp legal and political consequences if Hood finds evidence was mishandled.
For now, Pearson remains in prison. Weldon has confessed. Smith has confessed. Lawmakers have sounded alarms. And the courts have warned of “grave concerns.” The question now is whether South Carolina’s justice system will act.
Because if a man can sit in a cell for years after prosecutors obtained evidence of his innocence, then the problem is bigger than one conviction. As we reported in the Alex Murdaugh saga — from missing messages to jury tampering claims — public trust in the system is already shaken. The Pearson case only adds to that erosion.
Pearson’s fight is a test of whether South Carolina is willing to confront its own mistakes — and whether its courts will correct them before more damage is done.
***
THE SECOND AMENDED PCR FILING
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
4 comments
In SC, bad prosecutors eventually go away while on their tip toes Just like the one who was caught snooping in other people’s offices and computer devices inside the courthouse in one of the largest circuits along the coast
do tell
Omg, let the man go.
Good job Jenn! It is beyond me how the evidence in this case seems to being ignored. Hopefully justice will be properly done.