A secret early release from prison, then a frantic manhunt

Jeriod Price had served more than half of a 35-year sentence for the 2002 murder of another man in a nightclub. Then, last month, he became a fugitive. South Carolina authorities warned the public that he was dangerous and could be “anywhere in the world,” begging for information that could aid their sudden, frantic search.

“My prayer, my plea, to someone out there,” Leon Lott, the Sheriff in Richland County, SC, said in early April, standing next to an oversized $5,000 check, “Help us.”

Mr. Price had not escaped. A senior judge had signed and then sealed an order just a day before his own retirement that cleared the way for Mr. Price’s release from prison in March, even though he still had some 16 years to go.

A month later, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the judge’s order. Mr. Price did not surrender, sparking a manhunt with law enforcement agents combing the state and beyond.

The judge’s order, which was later unsealed, justified Mr Price’s early release by citing critical assistance he had provided to corrections officers, including tipping them off about the escape of a high-profile prisoner. Mr Price’s lawyer said the covert nature of the process was designed to protect him from retaliation.

But law enforcement officials and the family of the man Mr Price was convicted of murder in 2002 said they were blindsided by what they have denounced as a highly suspicious and completely undeserved deal.

“He’s a cold-blooded killer, and he’s a cold-blooded, well-connected killer,” said David Pascoe, who played Mr. Price was prosecuted for the murder of Carl Smalls Jr., a college football player, at a Columbia nightclub. “He’s not the type of person we need on the street, that’s for sure.”

In South Carolina, the dizzying sequence of events has led to intensive research into the early release of inmates.

Last month, Governor Henry McMaster urged state corrections officials look for similar early release orders of the past year, trying to determine how unusual Mr. Price’s case was. In a letter requesting a review, Mr. McMaster, a Republican, attacked Mr. Price’s release as “apparently against the law and clearly against common sense”.

The Corrections Department at least 26 other cases found since early last year in which sentences were reduced after an inmate provided information or other assistance to law enforcement. In seven other cases, a court order led to the immediate release of the detainee from prison.

Apart from Mr. Price, only one other convicted murderer was immediately released, having served 27 years of what was originally a life sentence.

“This report highlights the need for tougher criminal penalties and reaffirms that the General Assembly must take action to close the revolving door for violent offenders and crack down on career criminals and illegal weapons,” Brandon Charochak, a spokesman for the governor, said in a statement. a statement. .

The now-retired judge who signed the release order, Casey Manning, did not respond to a message asking for comment and has not publicly commented on his decision. But last week, the South Carolina Judicial Department issued a memorandum highlighting that a state law allows for parole under certain circumstances. “The sentence reduction in the Price case offended the sensibilities of some,” it said, “but we must remember that sentence reductions are at the request of the state. Judges do not make the law, it is their job to enforce it.”

Opposition to Mr. Price’s release has a political dimension because Mr. Price’s attorney, Todd Rutherford, is the Democratic leader in the Republican-controlled State House of Representatives and a member of a legislative committee that plays a powerful role in determining who becomes a state judge. South Carolina is one of only two states where the legislature selects judges; the other is Virginia.

Like Mr Rutherford, many of the legislators on the committee are also practicing lawyers – an attitude that critics say creates a conflict of interest. The critics have seized on Mr. Price’s release deal as they push to overhaul the state’s judicial selection process.

The search for Price, 43, began after the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered his remand in custody on April 26. But he had been released on March 15, leaving little trace for investigators to follow. He got his driver’s license on April 7 and provided an address in Florence, SC, about 80 miles from Columbia, officials said.

Mr. Price’s name and face are scattered across television, social media, newspaper pages and electronic roadside billboards in Columbia. Last week, authorities announced a significantly larger reward, $30,000, for information leading to his arrest.

“We’re a little bit behind, but we’re catching up,” Mr. Lott, the sheriff, said at a press conference recently.

Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Price’s old lawyer, has publicly encouraged his client to turn himself in. Still, Mr Rutherford said in an interview that the notoriety of the case has put Mr Price at risk, especially if he returns to prison. “We’ve labeled him a tell-tale for all the world to see,” he said.

Mr. Price was sentenced to 35 years in 2003 for fatally shooting Mr. Smalls, a 22-year-old defensive tackle for the University of North Carolina, in what authorities say was a gang-related skirmish. Mr Price did not dispute the shooting of Mr Smalls, but argued that he was defending himself. Another man was also convicted of the murder.

Much of the process surrounding Mr. Price’s release remains obscure.

In December, Judge Manning was toasted at parties and awarded one of the state’s highest honors, the Order of the Palmetto, for reaching the required retirement age of 72.

Yet in his final days on the bench in his chamber, Judge Manning met with Mr. Rutherford and Byron Gipson, the chief prosecutor of the Columbia judicial circuit, where the judge agreed to an order — dated December 30 — that would reduce the sentence from Mr. Price to the 19 years he had already served, according to lawyers and court documents.

The warrant quoted an account of Mr. Price intervening when a prison officer was beaten by inmates as one of them prepared to stab the officer. It quoted another account of Mr Price tackling a prisoner about to hit a corrections officer with a broom.

It also referred to Mr Price alerting prison officials to the 2017 escape of Jimmy Lee Causey, who was convicted of the kidnapping and armed robbery of his former lawyer.

One March morning, Carl Smalls Sr., whose son Mr. Price had been convicted of murder, called by a corrections officer who broke the news: Mr. Price was to be released that day. Mr. Smalls and his wife were stunned.

“That just changed everything again,” he said at a press conference.

The Smalls family told Mr. Pascoe, who is now the chief prosecutor for a region southeast of Columbia, who was shocked and furious. He contacted the state’s attorney general, Alan Wilson, and reporters from The State and from The Post and Courier, two of the state’s largest newspapers.

South Carolina, like other states, has a law that allows for the early release of inmates who provide substantial information to assist law enforcement or corrections officers. But when the Price case reached the state Supreme Court, some judges expressed bewilderment and said the trial circumvented proper procedures and had involved a surprising degree of secrecy.

“We have a sealed warrant without hearing to seal it,” Judge John W. Kittredge said during oral argument. “It was never filed. Who knew? Who can appeal? It’s a phantom warrant.”

In a statement, Mr Gipson said no motion was tabled by his office because the order was issued before he had a chance to proceed with the motion, preventing a public hearing from being held. Mr Rutherford said the order otherwise met the legal standard.

Mr. Pascoe has disputed the contents of the order; Mr. Price, he said, posed a “huge threat” as a prisoner. Prison records showed Mr Price was disciplined multiple times for gang-related activities, leading to stints of 90 days or more in disciplinary detention and the loss of telephone, visiting and canteen privileges.

As of 2017, he was sent to a New Mexico prison for extended periods of time several times, including the last two years before his release.

Mr Pascoe also said Mr Price’s claims protecting corrections officers were based on weak accounts, including from another inmate who is now dead. Handling his release in such a secretive manner, he said, had consequences, especially for the Smalls family.

“This was all a sham,” said Mr. Pascoe. “Worse than that, it was a secret.”