May 30, 2013 | Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
A South Carolina State Representative has been arrested for a DUI charge not quite a year after a previous charge of DUI was issued to him. The man was arrested on
the grounds of the South Carolina State House, according to police reports. Further, it was reported that the man was brought into jail around 1:00 a.m. He was picked up earlier in the night when officers saw him stumbling around the House grounds, and thereafter they followed him to his car, which was parked in the state House garage. When the man began to drive, he couldn’t drive a straight line and struck a cone while in the garage. When the officer approached the car, the man allegedly smelled of alcohol; and, when he was asked to perform field sobriety tests, he is reported to have declined to comply.
This is not the first time the Representative has been in hot water with regards to driving under the influence of alcohol. In May of last year, he was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving, speeding, and illegal possession of a pistol. Further, a 21-year-old female was in his car at the time of arrest; however, he and the young student stated that he had only met her at a local bar and was “giving her a ride home.” While the DUI charge was eventually dropped, this did not occur before he was forced to drop out of the Democratic primary in order to spend time with his family, and confer with his pastor.
If you or a loved one has been charged with a DUI in the state of South Carolina, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP for a confidential consultation. You can reach our Baxter Village office in Fort Mill, South Carolina at 803-548-4444, or toll-free at 877-374-5999. Visit our website here.
May 28, 2013 | Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
Checkpoints were set up in York County, South Carolina over the Memorial Day weekend, and more than 300 warnings and 180 seat belt 
citations were handed out. However, there were no local fatalities in, what was reported to be, one of South Carolina’s deadliest Memorial Day weekends in years. State troopers and law enforcement agencies teamed up to initiate checkpoints in what is beginning the most deadly time of the year for DUI’s.
The heightened level of law enforcement began at around 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening and ended at midnight on Monday, and as a result of safer driving and enhanced police activity, no fatalities were reported in York County. However, throughout the state, troopers have reported twelve fatalities this past weekend, which is up from the eight that were reported last year and the year before.
Although there were no reported fatalities in York, and Chester Counties, a motorcyclist was killed in a crash in Lancaster County after allegedly under the influence of alcohol. And, so far this year, 259 people have died in traffic accidents on state roads, this is down from 348 highway deaths this time last year.
In York County, officials made ten DUI arrests, seized marijuana, and issued 304 warnings and 184 seat belt citations. The following illustrates the arrest numbers in local areas regarding arrest numbers:
- In York County, there were 10 DUI arrests; 184 seat belt citations; 304 warnings; 644 cases; and, 33 crashes.
- In Chester/Fairfield Counties, there were 8 DUI arrests; 150 seat belt citations; 304 total cases; 157 warnings; and, 17 crashes.
- In Lancaster/Chesterfield Counties, there were 7 DUI arrests; 84 seat belt citations; 238 warnings; and, 14 crashes.
If you or a loved one has been charged with DUI in South Carolina, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP for a confidential consultation. Contact our Baxter Village office in Fort Mill, South Carolina at 803-548-4444, or toll-free at 877-374-5999.
May 28, 2013 | Criminal Defense, Drug Crimes and Controlled Substances Defense, DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
A group of teenagers and young adults were cited with underage drinking, while another man was charged with drug possession after 
deputies ran into a party in Rock Hill this past Saturday. This occurred after midnight when deputies were called to Alpha Street, just off Ebenezer Road, after reports about a large house party. Further, according to the police report, several teens were seen running into a wooded area near the house.
For the teens and young adults who were captured, police issued courtesy and juvenile summons; the kids were aged 15 to 20 years old. While carrying on the investigation, a deputy learned that there might be marijuana inside a silver Honda parked in front of the house. When police approached the car, they found a man asleep inside.
The young man reported to deputies that he was the designated driver for the night and did not consume any alcohol. However, deputies thereafter searched the car and found a marijuana grinder, a glass jar of marijuana, two metal tubes, and a glass bong inside a leather bag in the glove compartment. Police arrested him for simple possession of marijuana.
If you or a loved one has been charged with a drinking related, or drug related crime in Rock Hill, South Carolina, or anywhere else in the region, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP. You can contact our Baxter Village office located in Fort Mill South Carolina for a confidential consultation at 803-548-4444, or toll-free at 877-374-5999.
May 23, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
A Catawba, South Carolina woman was found with heroin and syringes in her purse hours before she was due to be in court. This occurred after
police were called to a Rolling Ridge Road home where a 22-year-old was suffering from an overdose. The 21-year-old suspect was viewed by police attempting to help the other woman to her feet; and, thereafter she was taken to the hospital.
Police found that the woman was wanted by the state Department of Probation and Parole, and when officers searched the woman’s purse, they found a syringe filled with a clear liquid. The woman further asked officers not to arrest her because she was due in court in a few hours. She was charged with possession of heroin; vials of anabolic steroids werealso later found in the house where the incident took place.
The court proceeding was in reference to an incident where the woman and her sister were found in a Rock Hill motel room using heroin and hydrocodone after she was accused of stealing a man’s gun while they were at his house. And, if this is all is not enough, the woman also received a grand larceny charge two years ago; this is what put her on probation in the first place.
If you or a loved one has been charged with a criminal offense in North or South Carolina, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP at our Charlotte, North Carolina office at 704-499-9000, or our South Carolina office at 803-548-4444.
May 23, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
The National Traffic Safety Board has initiated a recent program called “the Sniffer.” This recommendation has been overshadowed by 
another recent recommendation that proposes to decrease BAC levels from 0.08% to 0.05%. However, the second (“Sniffer) recommendation may also have serious implications if enacted.
“The Sniffer” relates to the high visibility enforcement of DWI laws that have been enacted recently such as well publicized media campaigns, visible enforcement efforts such as saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints, and swift and certain penalties for drivers arrested for DWI. Now, none of these adequately explain the Sniffer. What is the Sniffer?
When officers employ traditional methods of determining driving impairment at a sobriety checkpoint, only about half of all drivers with BAC’s above the legal limit are identified. The NTSB has recommended that officers use passive alcohol sensors which can tip them off to the presence of alcohol. These sensors are housed within a flashlight or a clipboard and they detect alcohol vapor sampling the drivers exhaled breath, as well as the air in the car. Further, it analyzes the sample for alcohol and provides some information about the relative amount of alcohol detected.
The display on the Sniffer ranges from green to red, corresponding to BAC ranges, and they have been used by law enforcement officers across the country for years. In the past, however, law enforcement officers have been prevented from using the device to determine probable cause that a driver has committed an implied-consent offense. Now the question is whether the Sniffer, if implemented, is a violation of one’s Fourth Amendment rights.
Various techniques that are already in place to detect whether someone has been drinking such as an officer’s own personal perceptions, it may not be too difficult for the NC legislature to enact passive alcohol screening devices. However, the fact that the device is held within inches of a potential offenders face may be similar to a dog sniff of a person; and the fact that the device detects from within the car may also add some legal implications.
The constitutional inquiry may also implicate the US Supreme Court case, Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001), where law enforcement use of a thermal imaging device to detect heat within a private home implicated the Fourth Amendment. The holding stated that “obtaining sense-enhancing technology information regarding the interior of a home that could not have otherwise been obtained without physical intrusion into a constitutionally protected area is a search, at least where ‘the technology in question is not in general public use.'” Therefore, the major question is whether the heat sensing technology in Kyllo is similar to the alcohol sensing devices and thus not in general public use.
If you have been charged with a DWI in North Carolina, or a DUI in South Carolina contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP for a confidential consultation. You can contact our North Carolina office at 704-499-9000, or our Fort Mill, South Carolina office at 803-548-4444.
May 23, 2013 | DUI & DWI, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
Rock Hill police officers were led on a foot pursuit of a suspected shoplifter as he fled from the Rock Hill Dollar General last Thursday. The 
police report indicates that the man was found with soap and underwear after an employee reported that a man wearing all black went into the store on Cherry Road with a blue bag and stuffed items within before leaving.
The employee, who filed the police report, stated that the accused shoplifter became defensive as he was walking to the front door of the store. Before chase ensued, the man attempted to hand the items to a woman in the parking lot who immediately returned them to the store. Thereafter, the man bolted. The police chased the suspect through a parking lot; from the parking lot to a field; and, from the field into a residential neighborhood where the suspect was apprehended. The 25-year-old man is being charged with his third shoplifting offense, which could potentially be a felony.
If you have been charged with a shoplifting or any other criminal offense in York County, Lancaster County, or Chester County, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP at our Fort Mill, South Carolina office at 803-548-4444, or toll-free at 877-374-5999.
the grounds of the South Carolina State House, according to police reports. Further, it was reported that the man was brought into jail around 1:00 a.m. He was picked up earlier in the night when officers saw him stumbling around the House grounds, and thereafter they followed him to his car, which was parked in the state House garage. When the man began to drive, he couldn’t drive a straight line and struck a cone while in the garage. When the officer approached the car, the man allegedly smelled of alcohol; and, when he was asked to perform field sobriety tests, he is reported to have declined to comply.
