DRUG & PROPERTY FORFEITURES Under South Carolina law, the police can lawfully seize private property and auction and sell it in some cases involving alleged violations of our drug laws. For instance, if a vehicle facilitates a violation of our drug law involving over a pound of marijuana, the police can lawfully seize the vehicle. …
POLYGRAPH TESTING Usually mislabeled as a "lie detector test" (which probably should be known rather as "truth verification examination"), a polygraph examination is a test that has remained controversial since it's inception around the turn of the 20th century. Generally, the polygraph uses blood pressure reading, skin conductivity (aka galvanic skin response), and heart …
Our law firm handles a variety of military law issues, including: Court Martial Defense (summary, special, and general) Administrative Separations Appeals Post Conviction relief If you are charged, being investigated, been convicted, or just what to know what your rights are, please do not hesitate to call us. We take great pride in representing …
RECORDING PHONE CALLS “One party to a telephone conversation may lawfully tape the conversation without the other's knowledge or permission and subsequently disclose it.” Mays v. Mays, 267 S.C. 490, 494, 229 S.E.2d 725, 726 (S.C. 1976). Thus if person A and person B are on the phone, person B can record person A without …
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Thomas Jefferson If you have questions about a search warrant, arrest warrant, or any other issue involving your personal …
RIGHT TO BE INFORMED It is the law of this State that persons subject to arrest have the right to ask the arresting officer, and have answered, the true authority for their arrest and/or reason for being taken into custody. An officer has a legal obligation of answering truthfully the true nature of that person's …
WHAT IS HEARSAY? Hearsay is a statement made out of court, offered in court, to prove of the truth of the matter asserted. Confusing right? A simple example of a hearsay statement would be if a witnesses testified as to what someone, other than a Defendant (usually) told him or her. Why do we have …
Liberty is synonymous with America. Naturally, being free from unwarranted government intrusion is embodied in the definition of liberty as we know it in America. That being said, when can law enforcement stop you and search you, your vehicle, or your home? The circumstances surrounding when a government agent may lawfully "seizure" you and "search" …
SOUTH CAROLINA DUI LAWS AND INTERLOCK DEVICES An "ignition interlock device" is a small, portable breath test that is attached to one's vehicle controls that requires a driver to provide an unimpaired breath sample in order to fire the ignition and operate the vehicle. On October 1, 2014, South Carolina enacted new legislation that changed …
CAN THE POLICE SEARCH MY CELL PHONE WITHOUT A WARRANT? Cell phones have come a long way in the past twenty years. One would be hard pressed to find a person who does not own a cell phone. Over the past ten years, courts across American have grappled with cell phones and their stored data …