Double Jeopardy Debacle: Supreme Court Rebukes Bentley Price

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

South Carolina’s supreme court delivered a stinging rebuke this week to former circuit court judge Bentley Price, reversing his ruling in a Charleston County murder case and barring prosecutors from retrying the defendant on either the murder or voluntary manslaughter charges he previously faced.

In a unanimous opinion (.pdf), the justices concluded Price mishandled jury polling in the trial of John Joseph Erb — a decision which triggered a mistrial and left the defendant exposed to retrial despite a signed “not guilty” verdict on the top count. Writing for the court, Justice George C. James Jr. made clear Price’s actions “were not manifestly necessary” and that jeopardy had attached on both charges.

That means Erb cannot be retried for the 2020 killing of Donald Blake, which prosecutors alleged was committed with blunt force trauma.

***

WHAT WENT WRONG

Charleston police arrested Erb in March 2020 after Blake was found was found bludgeoned to death inside his home. Investigators alleged that Erb — who had known Blake — was responsible, though the state’s evidence was circumstantial and largely dependent on contested witness testimony and forensic inferences.

Despite the 2020 arrest, Erb was not indicted until August 2023 — more than three years later — raising questions about prosecutorial delay. His trial began the following month in Price’s courtroom.

Price instructed the jury on both murder and voluntary manslaughter – over the objection of defense counsel. After hours of deliberation, the panel returned a split verdict: not guilty on murder, guilty on manslaughter. When defense counsel requested polling, eleven jurors confirmed their verdicts — but one juror reversed herself, telling Price she had only gone along because she felt pressured by others.

***

***

What followed was a procedural collapse which set the stage for the high court’s ultimate reversal. Rather than send the full panel back to deliberate, Price questioned the juror privately — over the objections of both the defense and the state — and then declared a mistrial.

He later incorrectly ruled jeopardy had not attached – and that the state could retry Erb for murder.

The justices disagreed, noting a ‘not guilty’ verdict on the murder charge was final once it had been signed by the foreperson and read into the record. They also found Price’s private questioning of the juror to have been a “misguided decision.”

As Justice James noted, had Price simply instructed the jury to continue deliberating, the case could have played out in a number of ways — including a lawful hung jury. Instead, his intervention deprived Erb of constitutional protections against double jeopardy.

***

RELATED | NANCY MACE LAUNCHES GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN

***

PRICE’S TROUBLED LEGACY

As FITSNews chronicled extensively, Price developed a reputation on the bench for excessive leniency toward violent offenders — releasing multiple serial accused abusers who went on to victimize again, putting victims and the public at risk.

Behind the scenes, he became emblematic of the state’s broken judicial selection system, one in which lawyer-legislators continue to exert outsized influence – and in which judges often appear more accountable to political patrons than the people they serve. Even after the S.C. Judicial Merit Selection Commission denied him another term in November 2023, Price continued to insert himself into legal matters, quietly doing favors for connected attorneys.

His tenure left behind what FITSNews described as a “disastrous legacy” marked by questionable rulings, ethical red flags, and eroded public trust in the judiciary.

***

Price hasn’t faded quietly into private life. As FITSNews reported last month, his name reemerged in the opening salvos of South Carolina’s 2026 gubernatorial contest. On the public safety front, candidate and South Carolina first district congresswoman Nancy Mace went after her top rival, S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson, accusing his office of cutting lenient deals with sex offenders. Wilson’s campaign fired back — pointing to Mace’s own record of voting to reelect Bentley Price to the bench.

In a blistering statement, Wilson’s team reminded voters that Price – whom FITSNews repeatedly branded the “poster judge” for excessive leniency – had once given a known predator a single day behind bars.

“When a known predator served only a day, it was judge Bentley Price, whom Mace voted to elect, who made that dangerous ruling,” Wilson’s campaign declared, blasting Mace’s “close friendship with a judge later found unqualified to serve for years of misconduct and bad decisions from the bench.”

The high court’s rebuke in State v. Erb is more than a technical ruling on double jeopardy — it is a reminder of the human and constitutional costs of judicial mismanagement. By mishandling a high-stakes criminal trial, Bentley Price once again left victims, defendants and the public questioning whether justice was served in Charleston County.

Even off the bench, Price’s name continues to surface as both a weapon and a liability in South Carolina’s most contentious political battles…

***

THE RULING…

(S.C. Supreme Court)

***

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.