0001 1 JUDICIAL MERIT SELECTION 2 COMMISSION 3 4 5 EVALUATION OF CANDIDATES 6 BY COMMISSION MEMBERS 7 8 PUBLIC HEARING ON JUDICIAL QUALIFICATIONS 9 VOLUME III 10 11 12 Wednesday, December 3, 2008 13 11:22 a.m. 14 The Blatt Building, Room 504 Columbia, South Carolina 15 16 17 REPORTED BY: SONIA I. MENDEZ, Certified Court Reporter 18 ___________________________________________________ 19 20 COMPUSCRIPTS, INC. A Full-Service Court-Reporting Agency 21 Post Office Box 7172 Columbia, South Carolina 29202 22 803.988.0086 888.988.0086 23 www.compuscriptsinc.com 24 25 0002 1 2 JUDICIAL MERIT SELECTION 3 COMMISSION MEMBERS 4 5 SENATE APPOINTEES: 6 SENATOR GLENN F. McCONNELL SENATOR ROBERT FORD 7 SENATOR JOHN M. "JAKE" KNOTTS, JR. PROFESSOR JOHN P. FREEMAN 8 MS. AMY JOHNSON McLESTER 9 HOUSE APPOINTEES: 10 REPRESENTATIVE F.G. DELLENEY, JR. (Chairman) 11 REPRESENTATIVE ALAN D. CLEMMONS REPRESENTATIVE DAVID J. MACK, III 12 JOHN DAVIS HARRELL, ESQ. 13 14 SENATE COUNSEL: 15 JANE O. SHULER, CHIEF COUNSEL 16 J.J. GENTRY KATHERINE WELLS 17 PAULA BENSON 18 HOUSE COUNSEL: 19 BRADLEY S. WRIGHT 20 PATRICK G. DENNIS BONNIE G. GOLDSMITH 21 ANDREW FIFFICK, IV 22 23 24 (INDEX AT REAR OF TRANSCRIPT) 25 0003 1 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. Staff tells me 2 we need to have a short executive session. 3 Do I hear a motion to go into 4 executive session? 5 REP. MACK: So moved. 6 REP. DELLENEY: All in favor say aye. 7 (Members respond.) 8 (The Members went into Executive 9 Session at 11:22 a.m.) 10 * * * * * 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0010 1 (The Members came out of Executive 2 Session at 11:30 a.m.) 3 (A recess transpired.) 4 (Judge Newman enters the room.) 5 REP. DELLENEY: We have before for us 6 this morning the Honorable Cliff Newman who 7 currently serves as Circuit Court Judge At Large, 8 seat number three. If you would, Judge Newman, 9 raise your right hand to be sworn. 10 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 11 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 12 so help you God? 13 JUDGE NEWMAN: I do. 14 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 15 This Judicial Merit Selection 16 Commission has thoroughly investigated your 17 qualifications for the bench. Our inquiry has 18 focused primarily on nine evaluative criteria that 19 include a survey of the bench and bar, a thorough 20 study of your application materials, verification 21 of your compliance with state ethics law, a search 22 of any newspaper articles in which your name may 23 have appeared, a study of your previous screenings 24 to check for economic conflicts of interest. 25 We have one affidavit filed in 0011 1 opposition to your election, and one witness is 2 present to testify here. 3 Do you have a brief opening statement 4 you'd like to make? 5 JUDGE NEWMAN: Well, I would like to 6 incorporate what I included in my application, and 7 simply say that it has been an honor to be able to 8 serve and would like to continue. 9 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 10 If you would, answer any questions 11 that counsel might have for you. 12 BY MS. BENSON: 13 Q. Judge Newman, you have submitted a 14 personal data questionnaire. Do you have any 15 amendments to make to that data questionnaire at 16 this time? 17 A. I do not. 18 Q. Thank you. 19 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to 20 ask that the personal questionnaire be entered in 21 as an exhibit into the record. 22 REP. DELLENEY: It will be entered 23 into the record at this point in the transcript 24 without objection. 25 (Exhibit Number 1 was marked for 0012 1 identification.) 2 BY MS. BENSON: 3 Q. Judge Newman, you also provide a sworn 4 statement with detailed answers to over 30 5 questions regarding judicial conduct, statutory 6 qualifications, office administration, and 7 temperament. 8 Do you have any amendments to make to 9 that statement at this time? 10 A. I do not. 11 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, again, I 12 would like to ask that the sworn statement be 13 entered into the record? 14 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, it 15 will be made part of the record at this point in 16 the transcript. 17 MS. BENSON: As a final matter, I 18 would note for the record that Judge Newman meets 19 the statutory requirements for this position 20 regarding age, residence, and years of practice. 21 BY MS. BENSON: 22 Q. Judge Newman, could you please tell 23 the commission why you wish to continue serving as 24 a circuit judge? 25 A. I was elected to the bench in the year 0013 1 2000. I have been honored to serve, and believe 2 that I have served well and would like to continue 3 serving. 4 Q. Thank you, Judge Newman. 5 I have a few housekeeping issues, 6 please. Have you sought or received the pledge of 7 any legislator prior to this day? 8 A. No, I haven't. 9 Q. Have you sought or have you been 10 offered a conditional pledge of support of any 11 legislator? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Thank you. 14 Judge Newman, the Pee Dee Citizens 15 Committee has indicated that you have met the 16 constitutional qualifications and in summary has 17 said for you to be a highly regarded candidate who 18 will be able to serve on the Circuit Court bench. 19 Judge Newman, we have received one 20 affidavit that has been filed against you. And I 21 have reviewed this affidavit and talked with the 22 complainant, Mr. Marion L. Driggers, and other 23 persons that Mr. Driggers has asked me to contact. 24 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, if I may 25 make a brief summary of the complaint? 0014 1 REP. DELLENEY: All right. At this 2 point, Judge Newman, we would ask you to have a 3 seat back there so we can bring the complainant up 4 here. 5 JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. 6 REP. DELLENEY: Mr. Driggers, if you 7 would, raise your right hand to be sworn. 8 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 9 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 10 so help you God? 11 MR. DRIGGERS: I do. 12 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. If 13 you would, answer any questions that counsel has 14 for you. 15 16 BY MS. BENSON: 17 Q. Mr. Driggers, you and I have spoken on 18 the telephone. And I have read to you a brief 19 summery. If I may briefly summarize for the 20 commission the matter that you've brought before 21 us. 22 You were assigned a lot by Mr. Ken 23 McClary who had a 50-year lease on a property from 24 Mr. Aubrey Judy. The lease said, I want the 25 assignments to have all rights of ownership except 0015 1 I'll be paying the taxes. The property was sold 2 subject to the lease to Mr. McClary and sold to 3 Kingstree Forest Products and then Mr. David 4 Nexsen. 5 You had an assignment under that lease 6 and a dispute arose as to whether the assignment of 7 the property was valid. Ultimately, the Court of 8 Appeals has held that the assignments were not 9 valid, and you had indicated to me that this is an 10 ongoing matter. 11 During the time that the assignments 12 were being contested, a Temporary Restraining Order 13 was issued against Mr. Driggers and Mr. Jeff 14 Lifrage who also held an assignment. The Temporary 15 Restraining Order enjoined Mr. Driggers and 16 Mr. Lifrage from digging or removing soil from the 17 property, cutting or harming trees on the property, 18 or discharging firearms on the property. The 19 Temporary Restraining Order was extended 20 indefinitely by a consent order. The consent order 21 mentions digging or removing dirt on the property 22 and cutting or harming trees on the property, but 23 did not specifically list discharging a firearm, 24 although the consent clearly extended indefinitely 25 the Temporary Restraining Order which did contain 0016 1 the injunction against the discharge of the 2 firearm. 3 Mr. Driggers was found by Judge Newman 4 to be in contempt of his consent order. And 5 Mr. Driggers has filed the complaint against Judge 6 Newman because, one, he believes that under the 7 requirements in Rule 65, the Judge incorrectly held 8 that the consent order prohibited discharge of 9 firearms and did not reverse this incorrect holding 10 upon Motion of Reconsideration. And, two, that the 11 judge made him testify as to whether or not he 12 discharged a firearm on the property after he 13 asserted the right to refuse to testify on the 14 basis that his testimony might incriminate him 15 which he alleges violated his civil rights. 16 Mr. Driggers, is this a correct 17 description of your situation and your complaint? 18 A. That pretty much summarizes it. 19 Q. Mr. Driggers has included materials 20 with his complaint which should be in your 21 notebooks. 22 Mr. Driggers, do you have anything 23 that you would like to add for the commission's 24 consideration? 25 A. Not really. Other than did you get 0017 1 the testimony from the witnesses that I requested? 2 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, I have 3 spoken to all of the witnesses that Mr. Driggers 4 had indicated. I have spoken to them on the 5 telephone. And it seemed to me that their 6 testimony was the same as what Mr. Driggers had 7 provided for the commission. I did not seek 8 subpoenas for those witnesses, but I did talk to 9 them on the telephone. 10 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. Thank you. 11 So the witnesses corroborated what 12 Mr. Driggers -- 13 MS. BENSON: They did. Yes, sir. 14 REP. DELLENEY: Do you have anything 15 else to add other than what our counsel has 16 provided for us? 17 MR. DRIGGERS: Well, other than 18 Ms. Benison says that Mr. Newman claims that it was 19 a civil matter and there was no incrimination to be 20 had. And I have an order here -- she didn't get a 21 copy of it -- but it says right here, it says, as a 22 consequence of defendant Mr. Marion Driggers' 23 willful violation of the court's order, the 24 plaintiff will request that he be fined and/or 25 incarcerated as the court may see fit. 0018 1 To me that would indicate that I could 2 go to jail, which would be a criminal offense. And 3 I feel like Judge Newman could not force me to 4 testify against myself. And he did not question me 5 as to why I didn't want to testify against myself 6 as the Supreme Court rule states he should, and 7 it's right there. I gave him a Motion to 8 Reconsider so he would have plenty of time to look 9 at this Rule 65. And that definitely says you 10 cannot refer to another order or any other 11 reference to a complaint or anything else. 12 The temporary injunction was flawed. 13 He had plenty of opportunity to look at it. He did 14 not. I think his mind was made up before he ever 15 went into the courtroom. And that is my full 16 testimony. 17 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 18 Any member of the Commission have any 19 questions for Mr. Driggers. 20 Senator Knotts. 21 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 22 Q. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 23 Have you filed grievances with the 24 Judicial Conduct Commission or affidavits of 25 complaint with this commission against sitting 0019 1 judges in the past? 2 A. I don't think so, no. 3 Q. You haven't? 4 A. No. 5 REP. DELLENEY: Any other commission 6 members have any questions, please? 7 Thank you, Mr. Driggers. 8 MR. DRIGGERS: All right. 9 REP. DELLENEY: Judge Newman, if you 10 would, come back to the podium. If you have any 11 response, we'll be glad to hear a brief response. 12 JUDGE NEWMAN: Well, it seems to me 13 that Mr. Driggers -- the problem here is much 14 greater than me. He -- this issue involving his 15 lease, I see where he filed an appeal of that in 16 the Court of Appeals, appealing Judge Tommy 17 Cooper's order in validating his lease. And the 18 Court of Appeals the affirmed Judge Cooper. 19 The order that was before me was 20 issued by Judge McKellar and which extended a 21 temporary injunction making it permanent. What 22 came before me was a motion to claim that he had 23 violated this permanent injunction. Prior to that 24 time I had no involvement with this case, did not 25 know Mr. Driggers or any of the parties, to my 0020 1 knowledge. 2 I heard the matter. The opposing side 3 was represented by counsel. Mr. Driggers appeared 4 pro se, but he subpoenaed his former lawyer Michael 5 Nettles, who's now Judge Nettles, and seemed to be 6 attacking Judge Nettles for entering into this 7 order that, by consent, which prohibited him, which 8 I interpreted, to prohibit him from discharging a 9 firearm on this property. 10 I certainly understand that he has 11 lost a couple of grounds in this battle that he has 12 with these folks over this lot. But the matter 13 before me involved interpretation of this order, 14 which I believe I correctly interpreted. The order 15 prohibited him from discharging a firearm on the 16 property. 17 And when the question was posed to him 18 as to whether or not he fired -- discharged a 19 firearm on the property, he didn't want to answer 20 the question saying that it would incriminate him. 21 Of course, everyone who comes into civil court, 22 most people, wouldn't want to necessarily answer a 23 question that would be an admission against 24 interest. But it did not involve a criminal 25 matter. It involved a civil matter. It involved 0021 1 whether or not he had violated this order. 2 And though the plaintiff might have 3 sought to have him fined for violating this or his 4 petition might have said fined or incarcerated, the 5 result of it as far as I interpreted it was that it 6 was a civil matter. That he did not have the right 7 to refuse to answer the question, because his 8 admission would not have constituted a criminal 9 violation. He's out in the woods on Black River, 10 off of Black River in Kingstree. So firing a gun 11 in the woods doesn't involve a criminal matter. 12 It's a civil issue. And the courts have repeatedly 13 determined that it's for the trial judge to 14 determine whether or not a person's assertion of 15 his Fifth Amendment privileges against 16 self-incrimination is appropriate. 17 And in the instance where it's a civil 18 matter, you can't take the Fifth unless you're 19 confusing to some crime. He wasn't confusing to a 20 crime. Though he had to admit to violating the 21 order. And I had him to answer the question and he 22 admitted that he had discharged the firearm. That 23 constituted a violation of that -- Judge McKellar's 24 order. I might note that he did not comply with my 25 order and he was subsequently brought back into 0022 1 court before Judge Harwell for not complying with 2 my order. 3 The orders of the court must be 4 complied with and the court has to have tools to 5 enforce its order. The sanction that I imposed was 6 to require him to pay the other lawyer's attorney's 7 fee for having to prosecute the motion. The lawyer 8 was from Florence. They had come to Kingstree and 9 had taken up some hours. He did not get the full 10 fee that he might otherwise been entitled for. I 11 think he had to pay $600 or so to -- for violating 12 the court's order. 13 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, Judge. 14 Senator Knotts, do you have a 15 question? 16 SEN. KNOTTS: I don't have one of 17 Judge Clifton, but I would like to -- I would like 18 to get Mr. Driggers' back on. 19 REP. DELLENEY: All right. Judge 20 Newman, if you would, have a seat. 21 Mr. Driggers, would you answer a 22 question of Senator Knotts? 23 MR. DRIGGERS: Yes, sir. May I say 24 something before he asks a question? 25 SEN. KNOTTS: I think you need to. 0023 1 MR. DRIGGERS: What irreparable harm 2 would there be in shooting a gun out on Black 3 River? 4 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 5 Q. That's not the question that I asked 6 you a while ago, Mr. Driggers. I asked you and 7 I'll repeat -- I'm going to give you another chance 8 to answer. Have you filed grievances or complaints 9 to the Judicial Conduct Commission or Affidavits of 10 Complaints with this commission against sitting 11 judges in the past? 12 A. Oh, this commission. I thought you 13 meant the grievance commission. I have with the 14 Judicial Merit Selection Commission. 15 Q. I said both of them. 16 A. Well, I missed -- I didn't -- 17 Q. Do you want to tell us now which 18 ones -- how many times and what judges you've had 19 complaints against? 20 A. I filed one on Mr. Cureton. One on 21 Mr. Huff. One on Ms. Hearn, and that's it. 22 Q. Well, I believe you've got another one 23 pending here today on -- 24 A. Mr. Newman. 25 MS. SHULER: That's not correct. 0024 1 SEN. KNOTTS: That's not correct, 2 okay. 3 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 4 Q. So I just wanted to clear the record 5 and set the record straight. Because when you told 6 me you hadn't, I knew good and well you had. 7 A. Well, I misunderstood the question. 8 Q. Let me ask you this, so we can go 9 ahead and get to the bottom of it. What -- when 10 was this and what was the dispositions? 11 A. When was what? 12 Q. The complaints filed on Judge Hearn? 13 A. Hearn was probably a year or so ago. 14 Q. And she was running for Supreme Court? 15 A. Supreme Court. 16 Q. What was that disposition? 17 A. Disposition of the case? 18 Q. Yes, sir, of your complaint. 19 A. I think they threw it out or whatever. 20 Q. Okay. How about Judge Huff? 21 A. I think they threw it out. 22 Q. And when was that you filed it? 23 A. Probably a year before that. 24 Q. And what was it concerning? 25 A. It was concerning this same case. 0025 1 Q. And what was Judge Hearn's case 2 complaint concerning? 3 A. That she misinterpreted the law. 4 Q. Same case? 5 A. Same case. 6 Q. How about Judge Cureton? 7 A. Same thing. 8 Q. Same thing, that he misinterpreted the 9 case? 10 A. Right. 11 Q. So we have had three judges, including 12 a Court of Appeals Chief Justice, that just don't 13 see eye to eye with the way you see the case, 14 right? 15 A. Right. 16 Q. So you just choose to make complaints 17 on any judge that don't see it your way? 18 A. Well, I feel like that I'm right in 19 this case. That's why I came. I feel like I've 20 got a public duty to come. 21 Q. Well, you know, they've thrown the 22 complaint out each time. I mean -- 23 A. I agree. 24 Q. You know, three strikes in any ball 25 game and you're out. I don't care if you're in the 0026 1 New York Stadium or the Lexington County Hissy 2 League. 3 A. Well, I just felt like I had the right 4 to come. If I don't have the right to come, I 5 won't be back. 6 Q. Well, we just would like for you when 7 you come, we'd like for you to bring some good 8 information. 9 A. I thought I had good information. I'm 10 looking at Rule 65 and it was disregarded. 11 SEN. FORD: Mr. Chairman? 12 REP. DELLENEY: Senator Ford. 13 BY SEN. FORD: 14 Q. So you brought complaints against the 15 three judges that heard the case the first time? 16 A. Right. 17 Q. Okay. Now, I could understand that. 18 Now, they heard the case originally. 19 Who was the first judge who went 20 before? 21 A. Thomas W. Cooper. 22 Q. Okay. Now, did you agree with his 23 ruling? 24 A. No. I did not, sir. 25 Q. Okay. So he wound up in the Supreme 0027 1 Court of Appeals, Mr. Cooper? You took him before 2 the Court of Appeals, right? 3 A. No. 4 Q. How you wound up before the Court of 5 Appeals, in what case? 6 A. That was for his ruling. We went 7 before the Court of Appeals. 8 Q. So you brought Judge Cooper's ruling 9 before the Court of Appeals? 10 A. Right. 11 Q. Now, have you filed a complaint 12 against Judge Cooper yet? 13 A. Not yet. 14 Q. Okay. In other words, when he's going 15 to come before this committee, there will be a 16 complaint against Judge Cooper's ruling? 17 A. Not if you don't want me back. 18 Q. No. No. No. We do want you back. 19 Because what you're going to acknowledge is that -- 20 I mean, the Court of Appeals, three judges, you 21 filed a complaint and Judge Cooper. But the part I 22 don't understand is Judge Newman. 23 Where does he come in? 24 A. He comes in because I disagree with 25 the way he ruled. 0028 1 Q. But that's not the same case. He 2 ruled on the gun that you fired in the woods. 3 A. Yeah. 4 Q. And the fact that you violated an 5 order from the court. That wasn't the same case 6 that you took before Judge Cooper, right? 7 A. No. This was on contempt. The 8 consent order did not have shooting the weapon 9 included. That was the final order. 10 Q. The contempt order came from who? 11 A. Came from Henry McKellar. 12 Q. That's another judge? 13 A. Yeah. He's retired. 14 SEN. FORD: Okay. All right, then. 15 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, 16 Mr. Driggers. 17 MR. DRIGGERS: All right. 18 SEN. FORD: Chairman? 19 REP. DELLENEY: Anybody -- Senator 20 Ford. 21 BY SEN. FORD: 22 Q. Judge, one quick question. How did -- 23 when did you get involved with this case? 24 A. This was -- the year was 2003. And I 25 was involved in it for that 15 -- ten or 15-minute 0029 1 hearing that they were before me in Kingstree. 2 Q. So already five judges have heard the 3 case. How did you get involved? 4 A. Well, I was assigned to handle nonjury 5 court in Kingstree and this was one of the cases 6 that came up before me, and I heard the case. 7 Q. What came before you? 8 A. A motion to have held in contempt of 9 Judge McKellar's order. I think it actually 10 involved sort of a separate issue. He had one 11 issue going about the lease that he had signed and 12 as to whether or not this lease was -- could be 13 assigned, could be sublet or reassigned or 14 something like that. That's what he appealed Judge 15 Cooper on and filed complaints against the Court of 16 Appeals judges on. 17 After that, then he came before me for 18 violating an injunction that prohibited him from 19 going on this property and discharging a gun, 20 firing a shot on the -- on there. And I think he's 21 mad particularly because the temporary injunction 22 was made a permanent injunction. He doesn't 23 believe that the -- 24 Q. You made it a permanent injunction? 25 A. No, Judge McKellar did. 0030 1 Q. That's the part I don't understand. I 2 can understand the three Appellate Court Judges. I 3 could understand the other two judges. But what I 4 don't understand is, why would he file a complaint 5 against you because your job was simply to hear 6 this particular injunction, period. I mean, it 7 didn't have nothing to do with the original case. 8 A. It did not. But he did not believe 9 that the language of the permanent injunction 10 should have incorporated the temporary injunction, 11 and I found that it did. And that's what he 12 disagreed with. 13 REP. DELLENEY: Professor Freeman. 14 15 BY PROF. FREEMAN: 16 Q. Judge, I want to just see if I 17 understand this. He claims that he was deprived of 18 his Fifth Amendment Rights. 19 A. Yes, sir. 20 Q. Now, do you remember at the hearing an 21 issue with Mr. Nexsen, who was a witness, accusing 22 the complainant of repeatedly firing a gun on the 23 property? 24 A. Yes, sir. 25 Q. And then you said, quote, "Well, 0031 1 Mr. Driggers is contesting it. He denies that." 2 Do you remember that? 3 A. Yes, sir. 4 Q. And then Mr. Driggers said, "Yes, sir. 5 I am contesting." 6 Do you remember that? 7 A. Yes, sir. 8 Q. And so he's there as a litigant and he 9 is making affirmations of fact. Am I right? 10 A. Yes, sir. 11 Q. To you on this issue. And if I'm 12 right, you decided that he -- since he was taking a 13 position factually, arguing a position factually, 14 whether it was contrary evidence, that the 15 appropriate thing was to have him put -- or put him 16 under oath and put that on the record, correct? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. And you did that? 19 A. Yes, sir. 20 Q. But he had already made statements in 21 the record, correct? 22 A. Yes, sir. He had made statements in 23 the record, but his statements in the record -- 24 Q. Were not under oath? 25 A. Were not under oath. 0032 1 Q. You just wanted the record correct -- 2 A. That's right. 3 Q. -- and complete? 4 A. Yes, sir. 5 Q. Thank you. 6 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. If -- there 7 being no further questions of Judge Newman, Judge 8 Newman we will remind you of the 48-hour rule, 9 which I'm sure you're well-versed in. And with 10 that I hope you have a safe trip back home. 11 JUDGE NEWMAN: Okay. Thank you very 12 much. 13 (Judge Newman exits the room.) 14 (A recess transpires.) 15 (Judge Seals enters the room.) 16 REP. DELLENEY: The next candidate is 17 the Honorable William Henry Seals, Jr. 18 MS. SHULER: Mr. Seals is a part-time 19 municipal court judge. 20 (Judge Seals enters the room.) 21 (A recess transpired.) 22 REP. DELLENEY: We have before us the 23 Honorable William Henry Seals, Jr., who seeks a 24 position on the Circuit Court At Large, seat number 25 six. 0033 1 If you would, Judge Seals, raise your 2 right hand to be sworn. 3 JUDGE SEALS: Yes, sir. 4 REP. DELLENEY: Do you solemnly swear 5 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 6 the truth, so help you God? 7 JUDGE SEALS: I do. 8 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 9 The Judicial Selection Commission has 10 thoroughly investigated your qualifications for 11 service on the Circuit Court bench. Our inquiry 12 has focused mainly on nine evaluative criteria, 13 which have included a survey of the bench and bar, 14 a study of your application materials, verification 15 of your compliance with state ethics laws, a search 16 of any newspaper articles in which your name may 17 have appear, and a study of any previous screening 18 and a check for economic conflicts of interest. 19 There are no affidavits filed in 20 opposition to your election. There are no 21 witnesses here to testify. 22 Do you have a brief opening statement 23 that you'd like to make? 24 JUDGE SEALS: Considering y'all were 25 here until two o'clock last night, I'll waive it. 0034 1 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. If 2 you would answer any questions that counsel might 3 have. 4 JUDGE SEALS: Thank you. 5 BY MS. SHULER: 6 Q. Good morning, Mr. Seals. 7 A. Good morning. 8 Q. I would like to take care of a few 9 procedural matters first. Before you you have your 10 personal data questionnaire. 11 A. Yes, ma'am. 12 Q. Do you have any amendments to that 13 document? 14 A. Yes, ma'am, I do. 15 MS. SHULER: At this time, 16 Mr. Chairman, I would like to offer Mr. Seals' 17 personal data questionnaire and his amendments to 18 PDQ to the record as an exhibit. 19 REP. DELLENEY: Mr. Seals' PDQ and 20 amendments will be admitted into the record at this 21 point in the transcript without objection. 22 (Exhibit Number 2 was marked for 23 identification.) 24 BY MS. SHULER: 25 Q. Judge Seals, you also have before you 0035 1 a sworn statement. Are there any amendments that 2 you would offer to the sworn statement? 3 A. Yes, ma'am. It's a short amendment to 4 that. 5 MS. SHULER: I would also like to 6 offer Mr. Seals' -- Judge Seals', excuse me, sworn 7 statement and his amendment as an exhibit to the 8 record. 9 REP. DELLENEY: It will be done at 10 this point in the transcript without objection. 11 MS. SHULER: I would note for the 12 record that Judge Seals meets the statutory 13 requirements for this position regarding age, 14 residence, and years of practice. 15 16 BY MS. SHULER: 17 Q. Judge Seals, after practicing law for 18 18 years and serving as a part-time municipal court 19 judge for 12 years, why do you now want to serve as 20 a Circuit Court Judge? 21 A. Ms. Shuler, and for most of you that 22 don't know me, I'm from Marion County. We haven't 23 had a Judge in Marion County since Jim Rodham left 24 to go to Santee/Cooper back in 2005. Our bar is in 25 a desperate need of a judge. 0036 1 The only time we have court is when a 2 judge comes from another county and visits Marion 3 County. If we have any motions, we have to usually 4 wait about six months before a judge comes to have 5 those motions heard. And if we have any orders 6 that have to be signed, we have to mail them out. 7 So our area desperately needs a judge. 8 It's a job I want to do. It's a job I 9 feel like I can do, and I like to serve that area 10 and the State of South Carolina. And on top of 11 that, Dillon County has a seat that I'm running 12 for. Of course, you know that Judge Lockemy has 13 moved on up to the Court of Appeals. They're going 14 to be in the same boat that we're on. We're 15 connected. We do a lot together. The same people 16 that work in Marion do a lot of work in Dillon. 17 And they're going to have a pretty courthouse 18 vacate also. There's going to be nobody to serve 19 that area. 20 I'm familiar with that area. I know 21 that area. And I would like the opportunity to 22 serve it as well as the rest of the state. 23 Q. Is there anything in your legal and 24 professional experience thus far that will help you 25 to be an effective Circuit Court Judge? 0037 1 A. I try a lot of cases. If you go look 2 at the Dillon roster and the Marion roster on the 3 civil roster, I'm on there all the time. I try a 4 lot of cases. 5 As far as the criminal perspective 6 goes, I've been a Municipal Court Judge for 7 12 years. I'm very familiar with that avenue. And 8 before I got appointed to that, I was very involved 9 in trying criminal cases also. So I think my 10 experience will help. 11 Q. Thank you, Judge Seals. 12 Could you explain to the commission 13 what you believe to be an appropriate demeanor for 14 a judge. 15 A. To be calm. To be nice. To be 16 respectful. To listen yet be efficient. 17 Q. When you leave the bench, if you're 18 elected as a Circuit Court Judge, what would you 19 like your legacy to be as an effective Circuit 20 Court Judge? 21 A. As being very effective, being very 22 efficient, and being very nice at the same time. 23 I'm absolutely convinced that you can be a judge, 24 you can do your job, you can make decisions and at 25 the same time you can be very nice. You can be 0038 1 respectful to people, to lawyers, to parties, and 2 the jurors. 3 And if I got the job done, and I did 4 effectively and I did efficiently and people could 5 also say he was respectful and nice, I'd be proud. 6 Q. Thank you. 7 What suggestions would you offer for 8 improving the backlog of cases on the docket in 9 Circuit Court, that is for common pleas and also 10 general session? 11 A. For common pleas, what I have seen 12 done and it was done more in the past than it is 13 now, but I would like to have roster meetings well 14 in advance. For example, if you came to Marion and 15 court started Monday, nowadays what most judges are 16 doing is they're having a roster meeting at 9:30. 17 That would take most of the morning. Then you 18 qualify the jury, maybe call a jury, and that takes 19 the entire day of Monday. Then you only have 20 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to try a 21 case. 22 I would like to have roster meetings 23 about three months in advance. It doesn't take 24 long. And what you can do is you can nail down the 25 first three cases and party, one, two, three, four, 0039 1 five, six, seven, eight, and nine. If you nail 2 down nine cases, what you'll find is over that 3 three-month period with the pressure on, a lot of 4 those cases will settle. And you'll also find that 5 the lawyers involved in those case will be 6 communicating with each other. And as one settles, 7 the fourth spot may slide up to the third spot and 8 so forth and so forth. 9 And what you'll find is they're having 10 their actual roster meeting ahead of time without 11 taking up the court's time. And then when you show 12 up to court on Monday to have a turn in court, the 13 six position maybe first and you'll find them 14 seated at the table and ready to go. And you don't 15 have to spend half the day having a roster meeting 16 when you can go right to work, and then start 17 trying cases. 18 From the criminal perspective, I would 19 like to be involved in the docket appearance ahead 20 of time. When the attorneys and solicitors are 21 exchanging discovery and reaching plea agreements, 22 have a judge there to go ahead and take the plea. 23 Every time somebody reaches an agreement, go ahead 24 and move with those pleas. And there again, by the 25 time you go to a term of general sessions, 0040 1 hopefully you can sit down and go ahead and start 2 trying cases. And a lot of those pleas that would 3 have eaten up that time have already been done. 4 So really it's just kind of tweaking 5 it, hopefully making it a little more efficient and 6 a little more effective. 7 The third avenue you can do, which is 8 my least favorite, is you can work longer hours and 9 you could have more court. I don't have any 10 problem with working more, but I feel like, you 11 know, lawyers and parties and jurors, they have 12 families they need to go home to also. And you 13 keeping them there until nine o'clock at night 14 would not be my preference in clearing a docket. 15 I think if you did it more efficiently 16 and more effectively and tweak it, you can do it 17 without eating up more time. I would do more the 18 next time. So that will not be my preference. The 19 first two would be. 20 Q. Thank you, Judge. 21 You reported two lawsuits filed 22 against you. One was ten years ago and one was 23 within the last six months. 24 Could you briefly explain the nature 25 of those lawsuits. 0041 1 A. The one that was ten years ago, as 2 best I can remember, I had prepared a will for 3 somebody and the party was challenging the will. 4 Competency of the person who signed the will. 5 Technically I was supposed to be a witness in that 6 case to testify to the competency, and they 7 erroneously named me as a party to that case. And 8 that was dismissed. 9 The second one was a foreclosure that 10 took place on a couple, and the house was sold at 11 the courthouse steps. And the parties didn't hire 12 a lawyer. They drafted the complaint themselves. 13 And they sued the court, they sued the bank that 14 foreclosed on them, they sued the referee, they 15 sued the bidding company, and they sued my firm 16 that simply placed the bid. Other than placing the 17 bid, we didn't have anything to do with it. 18 Q. Judge Seals, your SLED report 19 indicates two additional lawsuits filed against you 20 in Federal Court in 1999 and 2003. 21 Can you briefly explain the status of 22 those lawsuits. 23 A. They have been dismissed. I never was 24 served. I never even knew about that until I 25 started going through this process and you did a 0042 1 SLED check. If I'm not mistaken, one of those 2 persons sued the president, every representative, 3 sued like 65 people including the governor, several 4 jails, counties and so forth and so forth. I never 5 got served with it. 6 Q. Thank you. 7 Have you sought or received the pledge 8 of any legislator prior to this day? 9 A. No, ma'am. 10 Q. Have you sought or have you been 11 offered a conditional pledge of support of any 12 legislator pending the outcome of your screening? 13 A. No, ma'am. 14 Q. Have you asked any third party to 15 contact members of the General Assembly? 16 A. No, ma'am. 17 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 18 commission? 19 A. No, ma'am. 20 Q. Do you understand that you are 21 prohibited from seeking a pledge or commitment 22 until 48 hours after the formal release of the 23 commission's report? 24 A. Yes, ma'am. 25 Q. Have you reviewed the commission's 0043 1 guidelines on pledging? 2 A. Yes, ma'am. 3 Q. As a follow-up, are you aware of the 4 penalties for violating the pledging rules? That 5 is, it's a misdemeanor and if convicted, you can be 6 fined up to $1,000 and in prison not more than 90 7 days. 8 A. Yes, ma'am. 9 Q. I would note that the Pee Dee Citizens 10 Committee found William H. Seals, Jr., to be a 11 well-qualified candidate who is able to serve. 12 Mr. Chairman, I have no further 13 questions for Judge Seals. 14 REP. DELLENEY: Does any member of the 15 Commission have any questions for Judge Seals? 16 Senator Knotts. 17 18 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 19 Q. Mr. Seals. 20 A. Yes, sir. 21 Q. Do you realize that you're running for 22 an At-Large seat? 23 A. Yes, sir. 24 Q. When you come to my county, I want you 25 working from eight to five, six o'clock. 0044 1 A. I'll do it. 2 Q. That's number one. Some of these 3 counties don't have -- I mean, they have a backlog 4 that's a lot worse than Marion County. 5 A. Yes, sir. 6 Q. You know, in Marion County the 7 sheriff's riding around, when they arrest somebody, 8 they ride him around and show them to all the 9 people so when they come to trial, they know what 10 he looks like. 11 A. Yes, sir. 12 Q. In Lexington County we've got too many 13 people to do that. I'm just joking. That's what 14 the old saying was, they didn't have no crime. 15 But what would be your take on a 16 normal workday and a workweek in criminal court or 17 civil court? 18 A. I'm an early bird. I like going to 19 work early, so there is no too early for me. And I 20 can work as long as it's needed. The only 21 reference I made to working longer hours and more 22 is, I just would like to be respectful to people 23 that have other things they have to do and families 24 to go home to. I have no problem with working at 25 all. 0045 1 My dad was a marine back in World 2 War II. And when I was a teenage, there was no 3 such thing as not working. 4 Q. I understand that, but you've got a 5 demeanor in the courtroom to keep. And you've got 6 to make sure that the lawyers -- and you're a 7 lawyer, and you know how lawyers do, they'll take 8 every leeway they can to keep from going to court, 9 to keep them from getting that case disposed. 10 And you are the person that's in 11 between the docket backlog and getting that case 12 disposed of. 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. So again, tell me what your -- you've 15 been in court when the judge comes on the bench 16 ten, 10:30, 11 o'clock in the daytime and like you 17 said, they take the whole day up on Monday and then 18 they want to go home on Friday. 19 Is that the kind of judge you're going 20 to be? 21 A. No, sir. I'm ready to go to court and 22 I'm ready to get to work. A lot of the 23 administrative items I'd like to have done ahead of 24 time. 25 Q. Okay. Tell me what your workday will 0046 1 be in a week. 2 A. I can be at work eight o'clock. And 3 most courts start at 9:30 or ten. I'd be willing 4 to start at nine, 9:30. 5 Q. Who's going to tell you when to work? 6 A. I guess that's my work ethic. 7 Q. Okay. Well, that's what I'm asking. 8 You're the one who's going to determine the hours 9 of the courtroom? 10 A. Yes, but I'd work. 11 Q. It sounds to me like you're going to 12 let these lawyers who've got other things to do 13 determine the hours of the courtroom? 14 A. No, sir. What I meant was going late 15 into the night, like nine o'clock, ten o'clock. 16 Q. I understand. I understand. I'm glad 17 you cleared that up. There are ladies out there 18 with families, they've got to pick up day care, and 19 stuff like that. 20 A. Yes, sir. 21 Q. But I expect the judge to run it just 22 like we do. 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Okay. Thank you. 25 REP. DELLENEY: Mr. Clemmons. 0047 1 REP. CLEMMONS: Thank you, 2 Mr. Chairman. 3 BY REP. CLEMMONS: 4 Q. Mr. Seals, thank you for being with 5 us. I note that you're considered, in 6 Martindale-Hubbell ratings, the number one attorney 7 out of 12 attorneys in Marion County. That's a 8 luster to two things. One is that you're very well 9 prepared. In fact, that your reputation precedes 10 you. In your neighboring county, Horry, you have a 11 very good reputation. 12 A. Thank you. 13 Q. But it's also lustered back at -- your 14 docket in Marion County is not nearly as large as 15 what they are in other counties throughout the 16 state, which goes in part to the questioning my 17 good senator and friend. 18 My question to you is, this is an 19 At-Large position, are you prepared for being gone 20 for days at a time to the far parts of the state to 21 help reduce their docket and spend the time 22 necessary to whittle those dockets down which need 23 to be so desperately in certain states? 24 A. Yes, sir. I am prepared. I have one 25 child and he's almost a teenager. 0048 1 Q. I'm pleased to hear that, because we 2 do need a strong work ethic. I don't see -- I 3 would like to say that we're going to have funding 4 for new judges, new Circuit Court Judges, but I 5 don't see that happening anytime soon. So it's up 6 to the current bench and new members coming up to 7 redouble their efforts and work hard. 8 Thank you, sir. 9 A. Sure. 10 REP. DELLENEY: Senator Ford. 11 BY SEN. FORD: 12 Q. Do you think it's a plus for you, if 13 you're elected to the bench as an At-Large judge -- 14 what I'm trying to find out is, let's say you go to 15 a district like -- a circuit like the Ninth 16 Judicial. It's got more crime and a bigger backlog 17 than any circuit in a state. 18 Do you think that would be a plus, the 19 fact that you're At Large to go in there to clean 20 it up, or would you be the type of judge that would 21 go in there and just participate in what's going on 22 now, the good old boy Ninth Circuit politics? 23 A. I'd like to go in and clean it up. 24 And not being from there would make it even easier. 25 They don't know me. I can go in work like Senator 0049 1 Knotts wants me to, and push it. 2 Q. So it's just not like Senator Knotts. 3 He's Lexington County. I'm Charleston County. And 4 they have the type of crimes in Lexington like, you 5 know, purse snatching, dogs in the tree, cats in 6 the tree, and stuff like that. In Charleston we've 7 got hardcore murders, and all the serious stuff. 8 And we've got a major backlog. Almost every day in 9 Charleston somebody gets killed. And it's usually 10 going to be people that are waiting to be tried. 11 So we don't want you to go in there 12 and participate in a good-old-boy way. When you go 13 in there the Clerk of Court is going to say this is 14 the way we do it here. We don't want that. We 15 want you to go in there and help them to clean the 16 mess up. And let it be known to them that, you 17 know, this is a new day. We've got to do something 18 about that. 19 Because, you know, it's almost 20 possible to prove that, but you guys, lawyers and 21 judges, the fact that y'all not doing your job like 22 y'all should, almost everybody gets killed in 23 Charleston in this state. Y'all better take some 24 responsibility. Especially if they're waiting to 25 be tried. 0050 1 So give me a summary of what would be 2 your attitude in a situation like Charleston, maybe 3 Richland, and maybe Greenville. 4 A. My attitude would be to go in knowing 5 ahead of time that I'm there to clean it up and to 6 work. Like go ahead and set that pace, and set 7 that precedent, and set that example from the 8 minute you set foot in the courtroom. And then 9 push it and keep it going that way each and every 10 day. I'm relatively young and have a lot of 11 energy, and I work. 12 REP. DELLENEY: Any other questions 13 from the commission? 14 There being no further questions of 15 the commission, I'd like to thank you, Judge Seals, 16 for participating in the process. 17 Did you bring anybody with you? 18 JUDGE SEALS: I brought my wife. 19 REP. DELLENEY: Mrs. Seals, excuse me 20 for my bad manners. We're so glad that you came 21 with your husband today. 22 MRS. SEALS: Thank you. I'm honored 23 to be here. 24 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, ma'am. 25 We thank you, again, for appearing 0051 1 before us and remind you about the 48-hour rule. 2 In the event that you're screened out, we will 3 issue a report that would be -- will not mature 4 until 48 hours when it was issued. And after that 5 it kind of becomes a permanent report of the 6 commission which we could not go back and change 7 anything. 8 But before that time, we can reconvene 9 public hearings, bring you back to testify. We 10 very rarely have done such, but usually it's been 11 prior to -- prior to the election process. So I'll 12 just caution you about that and I wish you well, 13 and hope you and your wife have a safe trip back 14 home. 15 JUDGE SEALS: Thank you. 16 (Judge Seals exits the room.) 17 SEN. FORD: Jake, cats in the tree in 18 Lexington, is that a petty crime? 19 SEN. KNOTTS: I was talking to my 20 solicitor this morning and he sends a special 21 personal invitation to you to come to Lexington for 22 one week to see how to get rid of crime. He says 23 he'll personally, personally -- he'll even let you 24 eat it up with Hudson's Barbecue, and Chilli, and 25 everyone else, good food. But we'll show you how 0052 1 to fight crime in Lexington. 2 SEN. FORD: It sounds like what y'all 3 do is want to make everybody fat. 4 SEN. KNOTTS: Well, we don't have no 5 crime so that's all we can do. I'm going to tell 6 you something, the crime that y'all put them on 7 probation for in Charleston three and four and five 8 times, we put them in the penitentiary the first 9 time. 10 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. We're going to 11 have -- staff tells me that we need to have a short 12 executive session. 13 SEN. KNOTTS: So moved. 14 REP. DELLENEY: All in favor say aye. 15 (Members respond.) 16 (The Members went into Executive 17 Session at 12:18 p.m.) 18 * * * * * 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0054 1 (The Members came out of Executive 2 Session at 12:29 p.m.) 3 REP. DELLENEY: We are now out of 4 executive session, and we'll bring in Mr. Thrower. 5 MR. HARRELL: I just wanted to put on 6 record that I'm recusing myself from 7 Mr. Thrower's -- 8 REP. DELLENEY: We've already noted 9 that. 10 MR. HARRELL: -- testimony and the 11 vote that's coming up. 12 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you. 13 MR. HARRELL: And the deliberation. 14 (Mr. Thrower enters the room.) 15 REP. DELLENEY: Good morning, 16 Mr. Thrower. 17 MR. THROWER: Good morning. 18 REP. DELLENEY: We have before us this 19 morning Mr. William J. Thrower who seeks a position 20 on the Circuit Court At Large, seat number six. 21 If you would, Mr. Thrower, please 22 raise your right hand to be sworn. 23 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 24 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 25 so help you God? 0055 1 MR. THROWER: Yes, I do. 2 REP. DELLENEY: Did you bring anybody 3 with you? 4 MR. THROWER: No, sir. 5 REP. DELLENEY: I couldn't see. I 6 just wanted to make sure you didn't bring your 7 wife. 8 MR. THROWER: No, sir. She was 9 working today. 10 REP. DELLENEY: The Judicial Merit 11 Selection Commission has thoroughly investigated 12 your qualification for service on the bench. And 13 our inquiry has focused primarily on nine 14 evaluative criteria which would include a survey of 15 the bench and bar, a thorough study of your 16 application materials, verification of compliance 17 of state ethics laws, a search of any newspaper 18 articles in which your name appears, a study of any 19 previous screenings as well as a check of any 20 economic conflicts of interest. 21 We do not have any affidavits filed in 22 opposition to your election nor are there any 23 witnesses present to testify. 24 Do you have a brief opening statement 25 that you'd like to make? 0056 1 MR. THROWER: Only that it's an honor 2 to be here again. I know I saw a lot of you last 3 time when I ran, but it's just an honor to be here 4 again. 5 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 6 If you would answer any questions our 7 counsel might have for you. 8 BY MS. SHULER: 9 Q. Good morning, Mr. Thrower. 10 A. Good morning. 11 Q. Mr. Thrower, you have before you your 12 personal data questionnaire. 13 At this time, do you have any 14 amendments to your PDQ? 15 A. No, ma'am. 16 MS. SHULER: Mr. Chairman, at this 17 time I would like to offer Mr. Thrower's PDQ as an 18 exhibit for the record. 19 (Exhibit Number 3 was marked for 20 identification.) 21 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, it 22 will be made part of the record -- part of the 23 record at this point in the transcript. 24 MS. SHULER: Thank you. 25 BY MS. SHULER: 0057 1 Q. Mr. Thrower, you also have before you 2 your sworn statement that you filed in connection 3 with your application package. 4 At this time, do you have any 5 amendments to your sworn statement? 6 A. No, ma'am. 7 MS. SHULER: Mr. Chairman, I would 8 like to offer at this time Mr. Thrower's sworn 9 statement as an exhibit for the record. 10 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, the 11 sworn statement will be made a part of the record 12 at this point in the transcript. 13 MS. SHULER: Thank you. 14 I would just like to note for the 15 record that Mr. Thrower meets the statutory 16 requirements for this position regarding age, 17 residence, and years of practice. 18 I would also like to note for the 19 record that John Harrell, who is a commission 20 member, has recused himself from your examination 21 and has also excused himself from voting on your 22 candidacy, for the record. 23 BY MS. SHULER: 24 Q. Mr. Thrower, you've been practicing 25 law since 1990. Why do you now want to serve as a 0058 1 Circuit Court Judge? 2 A. When I started my career after 3 lawsuit, my first real job that I had that was a 4 legal job was not clerking or anything like that. 5 It was as a public defender. And I've enjoyed my 6 time as a public defender. I had a terrific 7 supervisor and I've really enjoyed public service. 8 Since then I've been sole practitioner 9 and as well as associated with two firms. The 10 cases that I really enjoy are the cases that seem 11 to have some sort of public service in them, 12 whether it's representing the DOT or representing 13 the Department of Corrections, Charleston County. 14 I enjoy those cases and I enjoy feeling like I'm 15 making a difference in that realm. And I think 16 that being a Circuit Court Judge would just take 17 that to the next level. 18 Q. Thank you, Mr. Thrower. 19 Could you explain to the commission 20 what you believe to be the appropriate demeanor of 21 a judge. 22 A. I think you have to keep your cool. 23 You cannot let yourself get upset, get excited, get 24 agitated. You have to keep a cool demeanor. I 25 learned a great deal of that in law enforcement. I 0059 1 was a federal agent for two years, and I learned at 2 that time that you really can't let your head get 3 away. And I've tried to maintain that as an 4 attorney. It seems to work very well. I get a lot 5 of compliments on my demeanor, and I hope that that 6 will translate well as a judge. 7 Q. Thank you. 8 If you were elected to the Circuit 9 Court bench and after serving and subsequently 10 retiring, what would you like your legacy to be 11 known as? 12 A. I would like it to be that I treated 13 everyone that came into the courtroom with dignity. 14 There are a lot of people that are not -- as a 15 public defender, I saw a lot of people that 16 normally are completely out of place in the 17 courtroom. They're intimidated by the system. 18 They're just completely disheveled when they come 19 in. And I've seen judges treat them well. I've 20 seen judges not treat them so well. I'd like to be 21 known as one of those judges that treated everybody 22 regardless of who they were with dignity. 23 Q. Thank you. 24 Mr. Thrower, what suggestions would 25 you offer for improving the backlog of cases on the 0060 1 docket for Circuit Court, and that would be for 2 common pleas and also for general sessions? 3 A. The common pleas backlog, I think it 4 seems to be fueled from the backlog of motions. We 5 have a motions docket that's probably less than 6 once a month in Charleston County. And motions are 7 backing up so far that they're being used as a 8 delay. People will file a motion just to put a 9 case off for six months. They'll file a motion 10 just to know that that puts that case on the back 11 burner, and that needs to be addressed. 12 There are provisions under Rule 11 13 that specifically address making motions, making 14 frivolous motions, making motions designed for 15 delay. I've seen it happen in my cases. I've seen 16 it happen in other people's cases, and it's just -- 17 it's out of hand. It really is. There needs to be 18 concerted effort by judges to move those motions 19 along, get cases back on the docket, back on time, 20 and don't let people file these things. Some of 21 them are ridiculous. 22 I've been to motions hearing where I 23 sit there and all the cases settle five minutes 24 before the hearing. Now if they can settle five 25 minutes before the hearing, why do they need to 0061 1 fire them at all. It just -- it's very frustrating 2 when you walk in with a case you've worked in and 3 you're ready to try, and they file a motion to 4 compel on some frivolous point. And that puts it 5 off for at least four months. Usually about six 6 months. And you walk into the hearing and they 7 say, I'm going to withdraw my motion. And you walk 8 out and say, well, that was a complete waste of six 9 months. And then you've got to gear back up to get 10 the case on and your clients wondering why on earth 11 is this thing dragging on like that, and it's 12 frustrating. And the judges need to hold people's 13 feet to the fire. There's no excuse for it. 14 There's mediation you can force on to people. Give 15 them 30 days to mediate or I'm dismissing the case. 16 There's a lot of alternatives to just walking in 17 and saying, well, that motion's settled and 18 scratching it off the list. That should be the 19 beginning of your investigation, not the end of it. 20 Q. Thank you, Mr. Thrower. 21 Have you sought or received the pledge 22 of any legislator prior to this date? 23 A. No, ma'am. 24 Q. Have you sought or have you been 25 offered a conditional pledge of support of any 0062 1 legislator pending the outcome of your screening? 2 A. No, ma'am. 3 Q. Have you asked any third party to 4 contact members of the General Assembly on your 5 behalf? 6 A. No, ma'am. 7 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 8 General Assembly? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Or the commission? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Do you understand that you're 13 prohibited from seeking a pledge or commitment 14 until 48 hours after formal release of the 15 commission's report? 16 A. I understand. 17 Q. Have you reviewed the commission's 18 guidelines on pledging? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. As a followup, are you aware that the 21 penalty for violating the pledging rule are that 22 it's considered a misdemeanor and upon conviction 23 you could be fined not more than $1,000 or in 24 prison not more than 90 days? 25 A. I think I remember that, yes. 0063 1 Q. Thank you. 2 MS. SHULER: I would note that the Low 3 Country Citizens Committee reported that 4 Mr. Thrower is qualified for the judicial office he 5 seeks, possessing above-average legal experience 6 and knowledge -- above-average legal knowledge and 7 having extensive experience in both civil and 8 criminal matters. 9 I would just note for the record that 10 any concerns raised during the investigation 11 regarding the candidate were incorporated in the 12 questioning of the candidate today. 13 Mr. Chairman, I have no further 14 questions of Mr. Thrower. 15 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, ma'am. 16 Does anybody on the commission have 17 any questions of Mr. Thrower? 18 Senator Ford. 19 BY SEN. FORD: 20 Q. Mr. Thrower, who would have the 21 ability to file motions? 22 A. Both attorneys on each side of the 23 case. 24 Q. Oh, so these are -- these are the 25 lawyers who are filing these motions? 0064 1 A. Yes, sir. 2 Q. In Charleston the lawyers live in our 3 community just like you and I. 4 A. That's correct. 5 Q. And they know what's going on with 6 crime. 7 A. That's correct. 8 Q. Then why would they want to hold up 9 the process and jeopardize everybody's life, 10 basically? I was in circuit law three times and 11 they had a shooting. In one incident a lady got 12 killed. She was standing no more than half a -- 13 you know what, probably less than ten yards from 14 me. I was at Briggs [phonetic] and she was at a 15 store right -- well, not right next to it because 16 there's a store between her store, where I was, and 17 where she was. 18 A. I remember it. 19 Q. They don't have no feelings about 20 what's going on in Charleston, in the Low Country? 21 A. When I was speaking of the motions, I 22 was speaking more of the civil case docket. But 23 there's problems on the criminal case docket. 24 Q. Yeah, but what they do -- don't they 25 bore down the whole process? 0065 1 A. Absolutely. 2 Q. They don't understand that? I mean, 3 you've got all these cases pending in Charleston 4 and the same people with the case pending doing the 5 crime. I mean, this is the third year -- the 6 fourth year we've been talking about this? 7 A. There's people out on bond committing 8 more crimes. That's right. 9 Q. Well, they don't -- they don't have no 10 feelings? I'm talking about your colleagues. They 11 don't care about this kind of stuff? 12 A. I do. I'll be honest with you, it 13 irritates me. And when I see somebody on bond who 14 commits another crime -- and I'm a criminal defense 15 attorney. It drives me crazy. How is that not 16 addressed. And I'll tell you why he made bond more 17 than likely. His case dragged out so long that 18 they finally said, well, let's just give him a 19 bond. And they'll give him a bond to get him out 20 of jail, because it starts to get on that docket 21 that -- that jail docket. 22 Q. Who is "they give them a bond"? Who 23 is "they"? 24 A. The judge. They give him a bond on a 25 speedy and trial motion or whatever brings the case 0066 1 to court, and suddenly you've got a bond reduction. 2 And the case should be resolved before it's set up 3 for a reduction. That's what happens with speedy 4 trial motions. Defense attorneys will file speedy 5 trial motions to try and get their case heard, get 6 this case resolved, and instead the judge will 7 either give the prosecutor 30 days to try it or I'm 8 going to give him a PR bond. And if the case 9 doesn't get tried in 30 days, that individual walks 10 out of jail with his charges pending and he's out 11 there committing more crimes. 12 Q. Let me ask you something that's kind 13 of like the other statement I made. Okay. Where I 14 live, and where you live, and probably where 15 Representative Mack lives -- 16 A. Yes, sir. 17 Q. -- and maybe -- 18 A. Representative Brown. 19 Q. No. I'm talking about on the 20 committee. That's where all the crimes are 21 committed. In those areas. And that's probably -- 22 the lawyers and judges who live in Charleston 23 probably live in a safe neighborhood like my good 24 friend to the far, far right, Senator McConnell's 25 neighborhood. Where they don't have crime. And so 0067 1 maybe they just don't care. I know Senator 2 McConnell cares about this. 3 But do you think they care about 4 what's going on in Charleston, all these killings? 5 A. [Nods head.] 6 Q. Well, see, if they cared, then they 7 would know that by making all those motions they're 8 slowing up the process, and these guys are 9 committing more serious crimes. I hope y'all -- I 10 hope y'all can get it together, man. 11 REP. DELLENEY: Senator Knotts. 12 SEN. KNOTTS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 13 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 14 Q. What do you consider a workweek in 15 court? 16 A. A workweek? 17 Q. Right. 18 A. I think -- I'll be honest with you, I 19 used to have trouble finding judges on Friday 20 afternoons. And it's getting harder and harder to 21 find them on Thursday afternoon. 22 SEN. FORD: Is this in Charleston? 23 MR. THROWER: Every county. 24 I don't believe in that. There are 25 orders that need to be signed. There are matters 0068 1 that need to be heard on Friday afternoons. As a 2 public defender, I was always running around on 3 Friday afternoons trying to get matters heard. And 4 it's getting harder and harder to squeeze them in. 5 When the courthouse moved to Melbourne, it became 6 next to impossible to actually get a judge on a 7 Friday afternoon to hear something, even sign a 8 consent order on a bond modification. 9 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 10 Q. Do you ever have to wait on a judge 11 that says he's going to open court at nine o'clock 12 and you have to wait on him until ten, 10:30? 13 A. Longer than that. 14 SEN. FORD: This is in Charleston 15 also? 16 MR. THROWER: Yes, sir. 17 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 18 Q. How would you -- what would you do to 19 change that? 20 A. I've never been late to anything in my 21 life. I'm one of those people that gets there -- 22 Q. It's one thing about being late, but 23 how would you -- how would you change it? Would 24 you -- if you were a judge, would you be on the 25 bench when you said you were going to be on the 0069 1 bench? 2 A. Absolutely. I think you can only lead 3 by example. If you're on the bench when you say 4 you're going to be, other judges are going to think 5 the same. I think you have to set an example. And 6 don't let these judges that are taking their time 7 to get into court. 8 I was in court just the other day with 9 pleas. My client was signed up ready to plead 10 guilty to a time-served sentence which was going to 11 get him out of jail and it wasn't a serious matter. 12 The judge at 11:30 said, well, I've heard enough 13 cases and I'm going to lunch. And he got up and 14 walked out. You know, no warning. I sat there 15 from nine o'clock until 11:30 and he just decided 16 that was enough. 17 And it's just frustrating. And I see 18 it every day and it's getting worse. I think you 19 need judges that are going to hold people 20 accountable for their actions. 21 Q. Was that a resident judge or was that 22 a roving judge? 23 A. A resident judge in Charleston County, 24 yeah. 25 SEN. KNOTTS: Did you hear that, 0070 1 Senator? Did you hear that? 2 SEN. FORD: No. What? 3 SEN. KNOTTS: State that again for the 4 Senator from Charleston. The crime problem. 5 MR. THROWER: I was sitting in court 6 on a case that a client of mine had signed up, was 7 going to plead guilty and get a time-served 8 sentence. He had a possession of marijuana charge 9 and he had been in jail for so long that it was 10 time just to -- there was no point in probation. 11 He had maxed out the sentence. I was sitting there 12 waiting for my case to be called since nine 13 o'clock. We didn't start on time and there were a 14 couple of breaks. And at 11:30, unannounced, the 15 judge got up and said, I've heard enough cases for 16 this morning, and got up and walked out of the 17 courtroom. And I didn't have availability to come 18 back at two o' clock. I had hearings at another 19 courthouse at that time. My client had to sit 20 another ten days before I could get back in front 21 of a judge and get him sentenced to time-served 22 which could have happened ten days before. And all 23 that happened was that the count incurred all those 24 expenses of housing that guy for ten more days. 25 It's just frustrating to be -- to practice and see 0071 1 the system just flat out not working. 2 REP. DELLENEY: Senator Ford. 3 BY SEN. FORD: 4 Q. In a situation like that, do -- would 5 it be against, I guess, the bar -- well, you know 6 lawyers and judges work together. So there's no 7 way that this committee would ever be able to find 8 out about that stuff when that particular judge 9 comes before us? 10 A. You can talk to -- you could ask the 11 solicitors and the county that they're coming from. 12 Q. But they're not going to come before 13 us either, this committee? 14 A. The sitting judge is certainly not. 15 Q. No. I'm talking about when that 16 particular judge comes before this committee -- 17 A. Yes, sir. 18 Q. -- how would we ever get to know that 19 information about him? 20 A. Do you poll 30 people for those judges 21 as well, those sitting judges? 22 REP. DELLENEY: That's the bar 23 defense. 24 MR. THROWER: But do they -- they do 25 it for the sitting judges? 0072 1 REP. DELLENEY: Correct. 2 MR. THROWER: Well, there's a fear of 3 reprisal. I'll be honest with you, there's not a 4 lot of people that are going to come forward with 5 that. I particularly -- you know, it doesn't 6 really matter to me. My case didn't get heard 7 anyway. I've been hit much worse. I'll be happy 8 to tell you who it is. 9 BY SEN. FORD: 10 Q. You mean now? 11 A. Sure. 12 Q. Who? 13 A. It was Roger Young. A dear friend of 14 mine. I'm sorry, I like the guy. I've always 15 liked the guy. I don't know what happened in the 16 situation, but he got up and left. And my plea 17 didn't get heard and a lot of other people stood 18 around there wondering what on earth happened. 19 Again, I love the guy. I just don't 20 agree with his work ethic. 21 REP. DELLENEY: Any further questions 22 of the commission? 23 There being no further questions, I 24 would just like to remind you, Mr. Thrower, about 25 the 48 hours rule. Once we've issued a draft 0073 1 report, it becomes -- 48 hours after it's issued 2 and it's been on the desk of senators and 3 representatives, then at that point in time it 4 becomes the final report of this commission. 5 Up until that time, we are free to 6 hold a public hearing and bring you back to 7 testify. That's unlikely but it could happen. 8 With that, I would thank you for your 9 willingness to participate in the process, and hope 10 you have a safe trip back home to Charleston. 11 MR. THROWER: Thank you very much. 12 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you. 13 (Mr. Thrower exits the room.) 14 SEN. KNOTTS: Did we waive him? 15 PROF. FREEMAN: He got waived in. 16 SEN. KNOTTS: It goes to exactly what 17 I said. We shouldn't have waived him. 18 PROF. FREEMAN: Then we wouldn't have 19 the information. 20 (Ms. Wetmore enters the room.) 21 REP. DELLENEY: Good morning. 22 MS. WETMORE: Good morning. Good 23 afternoon, almost. 24 REP. DELLENEY: That's right. I can't 25 believe I did that. 0074 1 We have before us Sarah Elizabeth 2 Wetmore who seeks a position on the Circuit Court 3 Judge At Large, seat number six. 4 If you would please raise your right 5 hand to be sworn. 6 MS. WETMORE: Absolutely. 7 REP. DELLENEY: Do you solemnly swear 8 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 9 the truth, so help you God? 10 MS. WETMORE: I do. 11 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, ma'am. 12 The Judicial Merit Selection 13 Commission has thoroughly investigated your 14 qualification for the bench. Our inquiry has 15 focused on nine evaluative criteria which have 16 included a survey of the bench and bar, a thorough 17 study of your application materials, a verification 18 of compliance with state ethics laws, search of 19 newspaper articles in which your name may appeared, 20 a study of any previous screenings, and a check of 21 economic conflict of interest. 22 We have no affidavits filed in 23 opposition to your election nor are there any 24 witnesses present here to testify. 25 Do you have a brief opening statement 0075 1 that you'd like to make? 2 MS. WETMORE: I would just like to 3 thank you for letting me be here. I'm happy to 4 answer any questions that you have, and I hope that 5 I can let you get to know me a little bit in the 6 short time we have together today. 7 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, ma'am. 8 If you would answer any questions that 9 counsel has. 10 MS. WETMORE: Sure. 11 MS. WELLS: Thank you. 12 BY MS. WELLS: 13 Q. Ms. Wetmore, you have before you your 14 personal data questionnaire you submitted as part 15 of your application. 16 Is there any amendment that you would 17 like to make at this time to this document? 18 A. No, ma'am. 19 MS. WELLS: Mr. Chairman, I would ask 20 that Ms. Wetmore's personal data questionnaire be 21 entered as an exhibit into the hearing record. 22 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, it 23 will be made a part of the record at this time in 24 the transcript. 25 (Exhibit Number 4 was marked for 0076 1 identification.) 2 MS. WELLS: Thank you. 3 BY MS. WELLS: 4 Q. Ms. Wetmore, you also have before you 5 the sworn statement that you submitted as part of 6 your application. 7 Is there any amendment that you want 8 to make at this time today? 9 A. No, ma'am. 10 MS. WELLS: At this time, 11 Mr. Chairman, I would also ask that Ms. Wetmore's 12 sworn statement be entered as an exhibit into the 13 hearing record. 14 REP. DELLENEY: Her sworn statement 15 will be made a part of the record at this point in 16 the transcript without objection. 17 MS. WELLS: Thank you. 18 I would also note for the record that 19 Ms. Wetmore meets the statutory requirements for 20 this position regarding age, residence, and years 21 of practice. 22 23 BY MS. WELLS: 24 Q. Ms. Wetmore, could you tell the 25 members of the commission why you would like to 0077 1 serve at a Circuit Court Judge. 2 A. Absolutely. 3 I firmly believe in our judicial 4 system. And as I stated in my brief opening -- 5 hello -- I hope that I can part to you my sincerity 6 and my earnestness in the short time we have 7 together. 8 I think that I would be a valuable 9 addition to the system. I have a deep respect for 10 it, and I believe in the honor and civility that 11 our judges contribute to the judicial system. 12 My experience and my temperament would 13 lend themselves to make me the right person for the 14 job. There's no amount of experience that can 15 create judicial temperament. I believe that's 16 something that is unique that I have and I've 17 earned that compliment from my peers, from other 18 judges, and from my colleagues. 19 I'm trying really hard today not to 20 read you from my data questionnaire or from my 21 sworn statement, because you can read those. So 22 I'm really speaking to you from, you know, the 23 heart and being as frank with you as I can about 24 why I believe that I would be the right person for 25 a Circuit Court Judge. 0078 1 I have a unique ability to deal with 2 people. I have a unique ability to analyze 3 situations, and I do call it as I see it. I think 4 that my temperament, my character, my honesty, my 5 civility, and my dedication would all serve the 6 position well. And I would be honored to have the 7 duty to serve as a judge. 8 Q. Would you please explain to the 9 commission how you feel your legal and professional 10 experience thus far would help you to be an 11 effective Circuit Court Judge. 12 A. Sure. 13 I started my practice in 1999 with 14 Clawson & Staubes, and I was very lucky to have a 15 wonderful mentor in Sam Clawson. My first day on 16 the job was in the courtroom in Berkeley County. 17 And Sam was trying a three-day personal injury 18 case. And my first moment on the job was in front 19 of a judge and in a courtroom in front of the jury 20 with Sam. And that started my legal career off 21 with a bang. 22 I was with Clawson & Staubes for five 23 and a half years. And in that time gained the kind 24 of trial experience, had the kind of trial 25 experience you can't get anywhere else. 0079 1 On a good day, my friends would 2 probably estimate that I tried 70 cases. I like to 3 be a little bit more modest and keep it down in the 4 50 range just to be honest. I kept a chart when I 5 started working at Clawson & Staubes and ended up 6 trying so many that I lost track of my chart. 7 There was one time when Don Michel, 8 one of the clerks of court in Charleston, finally 9 asked the judge to let me off the hook one week 10 because I had already tried two cases back to back. 11 I think that kind of experience, being on that side 12 of the bench, is so important. 13 I know what it's like to be in front 14 of the judge, in front of the court. I've dealt 15 with juries. I've dealt with litigants. I've 16 dealt with witnesses. And I think that that is 17 truly valuable if you are seeking a position where 18 you're wearing the black robe now and dealing with 19 others on the other side of the bar. 20 At Clawson & Staubes I also had the 21 opportunity to prosecute for the City of Goose 22 Creek in the evening. So after a long day at work 23 I would also get in my car and ride up 26 and 52 24 back up to Goose Creek and prosecute magistrate 25 court offenses there late into the evening with 0080 1 some of our finest attorneys as a young lawyer. 2 And I think that gave me some great criminal 3 experience. 4 I moved on from Clawson & Staubes in 5 February of 2005 so that I could broaden my 6 practice range a little bit. I joined up with my 7 friend, Tom Milligan, in Mount Pleasant and went in 8 to private practice with Tom. And not only was I 9 able to handle cases on the plaintiff's side rather 10 than just doing defense work, which had been much 11 of the focus on my practice, I was able to take on 12 different types of cases and really try new things 13 and hone my skills. 14 I also learned a lot about the 15 practice of running a law firm and the business of 16 running a law firm, which is something that a lot 17 of people don't get to do. And I think that that 18 will serve me well on the bench, understanding what 19 it's like to run the business itself. 20 I had the opportunity to join Carlock 21 Copeland, where I now practice, in March of 2006. 22 It was an opportunity that fell into my lap and I 23 knew right away that it was the right one. 24 I feel very lucky because I really 25 like what I do standing before you today. I'm in a 0081 1 unique position. I'm here asking to be one of the 2 nominees for a judicial seat because I truly 3 believe in it. I really like my job and I like 4 what I do. I'd be sad to leave it, but I'd be 5 leaving it for the right reasons. 6 At Carlock Copeland I've gotten to 7 handle more complex cases, cases designated by a 8 court as complex because they involved a 9 significant amount of damages. They involved 10 multiple litigants. They involve matters that are 11 going to take years possibly to litigate. And I 12 think that's given me a new experience. 13 So if you look across the scope of my 14 practice, I've had some fantastic opportunities 15 that have made me very well-rounded in my practice 16 and my experience. And I think that that will be a 17 real attribute to being a judge. 18 And I will entertain any questions 19 about my experience and my practice when that time 20 comes. 21 Q. Ms. Wetmore, although you do have some 22 criminal experience as a part-time prosecutor in 23 Goose Creek, your past experience has been 24 primarily in the civil area. 25 So are there areas that you feel you 0082 1 would need to additionally prepare for to become an 2 effective Circuit Court Judge and, if so, how would 3 you go about handling that preparation? 4 A. Well, first of all, I think there are 5 always areas that I'll be improving on during my 6 career no matter what. I think we all strive to 7 continue to learn and continue to grow in our 8 profession and our practice. 9 So even in this candidacy I have 10 learned a great deal. I have the materials from 11 the South Carolina Solicitors Conference and the 12 Public Defenders Conference that I've read in depth 13 to date. And that's something I didn't do last 14 year. So I'm learning a lot from those materials. 15 And I think the reason that that's important is 16 because I'm up to date on the case law. I'm up to 17 date on the current issues. 18 I think that as a trial lawyer and as 19 someone who has a lot of experience in the 20 courtroom, that will serve well even if my 21 experience has been more civil than criminal. 22 Because I know about the rules of evidence. I know 23 about certain things that will come up in the 24 criminal realm as well. 25 I think that one of the things that I 0083 1 know will happen if elected as a judge, is that I 2 will shadow other judges in the early weeks and 3 months. And I see no reason why that process can't 4 happen early. I have a lot of colleagues in my 5 hometown area that I know would be happy for me to 6 come see what it's like to sit through a day full 7 of guilty pleas. And if I can get that experience 8 and I can understand that rhythm and that process, 9 I think that will make me ready when it's time to 10 take the bench. 11 Q. Ms. Wetmore, what do you think is the 12 appropriate demeanor for a Circuit Court Judge? 13 A. That's a question that I've been asked 14 a few times, and I've thought about a lot. I think 15 it's pretty simple. For me, you know it when you 16 see. And you know when the person has the 17 appropriate demeanor and the appropriate 18 characteristics that make for a good judge. 19 They're dignified. They're civil. They're polite. 20 They're courteous. They're not just courteous when 21 they're on the bench, but courteous to everyone 22 they come in contact with. Their courtroom 23 personnel, the litigants, the witnesses, the 24 attorneys. They're patient. They're firm. They 25 can make a decision and be effective and be 0084 1 efficient. I think you earn respect by the way 2 that you conduct yourself, and I think you're a 3 role model. 4 I think as a judge the appropriate 5 demeanor is to remember that a lot of times you set 6 the tone for our system. You set the tone for 7 lawyers, litigants, witnesses, victims and their 8 families, and that's one of your big 9 responsibilities. And it's an important burden to 10 shoulder. And I think the judges have a very 11 unique position to influence folks at all levels. 12 And I think you need to keep that in mind every 13 time. There is no room for arrogance. We've seen 14 it. We've all seen it and we don't like it. 15 And I think that if you speak to my 16 colleagues and to the judges that I've appeared in 17 front of, they'll tell you that I'm approachable 18 and I am civil. And, in fact, tomorrow I'm hosting 19 a CLE back in Charleston at the courthouse for a 20 few hours on civility and the practice of law. 21 Because I've had some wonderful mentors who've 22 inspired me to continue to speak on that topic. 23 And as an upcoming president of the Charleston 24 Lawyers Club, I got to kind of choose our topic for 25 this year and I chose civility. 0085 1 So tomorrow some of our friends and 2 colleagues in Charleston and some of our judges 3 will be joining me to talk to about 50 to 75 4 lawyers in Charleston about civility and the 5 practice of law. And I can't think of a better 6 word other than civility for the appropriate 7 demeanor for a judge. 8 Q. Ms. Wetmore, what suggestions would 9 you offer for improving the backlog of cases that 10 currently exist on most of the dockets in Circuit 11 Court, both the common pleas and the general 12 session? 13 A. I think right now we all agree that it 14 comes down to an allocation of resources. Where 15 are our judges best used. How can they be best 16 used? Let me give you some specific examples and 17 then kind of step back. In general sessions, when 18 I think about what we can do about the backlog of 19 cases in general sessions, I think about a friend 20 of mine who is a judge who told me that he thinks 21 it's important to attend the roll calls. When the 22 defendants come in for a roll call, the fact that 23 the judge is there and not just the solicitor's 24 office running that roll call, that meeting, gives 25 some teeth to the scheduling orders and to the -- 0086 1 moving those cases along. 2 You know, Solicitor, is this a plea or 3 is this a trial? Is this discovery? Have you 4 gotten discovery to opposing counsel? I think 5 attending roll calls, holding attorneys to the 6 scheduling order, moving the cases along in general 7 session is really important. 8 The same thing in common pleas. It 9 sounds like I'm being repetitive, but it's the same 10 thing, different type of court. Over schedule the 11 motion hearing. Put things on the docket, give it 12 a court date. From my practice and my experience, 13 a lot of times is I have an outstanding motion or 14 my opposing counsel has an outstanding motion, if 15 it's on the docket, it's going to get taken care 16 of, whether it's in front of the judge or resolving 17 beforehand. 18 I think both general sessions and 19 common pleas, it would be helpful to concentrate on 20 working to resolve cases without taking up court's 21 time where it's possible. I think we send judges 22 to the places where they're most needed and where 23 they have the greatest backlog. I think the 24 At-Large seat that I'm applying for is unique in 25 that respect. 0087 1 And I'm asking, send me where I'm 2 needing. I will go. Where is the backlog? Let's 3 go and let's get it taken care of. I'll work early 4 in the morning Monday morning until late at night 5 Friday night, as long as I need to. And doing what 6 I've done for the last nine, almost ten years, I'm 7 not afraid of hard work. My firm expects it. And 8 I continue the same. 9 I think you need to analyze where the 10 judges can be of greatest help. If there is a 11 judge who has a reputation for being able to 12 resolve a lot of pleas, of guilty pleas, and that's 13 where his or her talent lies, use them there. Ask 14 the solicitors, ask the public defenders, ask court 15 administration, who are the judges that are most 16 talented at X, Y, and Z, and use them in those 17 positions. 18 And then finally, like I said, an 19 active role of judiciary in moving cases. The 20 judges need to be involved in moving cases along. 21 Without the judges there to really put the muscle 22 behind the scheduling orders, the cases are not 23 going to get resolved. But it's a common problem 24 and all we can do is continue to try to allocate 25 the resources where they're needed right now. 0088 1 Q. Thank you, Ms. Wetmore. 2 Have you sought or received the pledge 3 of any legislator prior to this date? 4 A. No, ma'am. 5 Q. Have you sought or have you been 6 offered a conditional pledge of support by any 7 legislator pending the outcome of your screening? 8 A. No, ma'am. 9 Q. Have you asked any third party to 10 contact members of the General Assembly on your 11 behalf? 12 A. No, ma'am. 13 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 14 commission? 15 A. The only thing that I'm aware of is in 16 a conversation with you, that there may have been a 17 mailer that inadvertently went to at least one 18 member of the Commission, and that was an error. I 19 know that the staff of the member was able to pull 20 the letter. Thank goodness. But if that has 21 happened to any member of the Commission, it would 22 have been a clerical error on my part. 23 Q. Do you understand that you would be 24 prohibited from seeking a pledge or committee until 25 48 hours after the formal release of the 0089 1 commission's report? 2 A. Absolutely. 3 Q. Have you reviewed the commission's 4 guidelines on pledging? 5 A. Yes, ma'am. 6 Q. Are you aware of the penalties for 7 violating the pledging rules; that is, it is a 8 misdemeanor and upon conviction the violator must 9 be fined not more than $1,000 or in prison not more 10 than 90 days? 11 A. Yes. 12 MS. WELLS: I would note for the 13 record, members of the commission, that the Low 14 Country Citizens Committee reported that 15 Ms. Wetmore met the constitutional qualifications 16 for the judicial position she seeks. They 17 indicated that she was considered ethical. They 18 gave her a good rating in the professional 19 academics ability area. They reported that her 20 character is unquestionable. They reported she 21 enjoys a good reputation among her peers. There is 22 evidence that Ms. Wetmore is physically and 23 mentally capable of performing the duties require 24 of a judge in the Circuit Court. The committee 25 recognized that Ms. Wetmore has adequate legal 0090 1 experience and they gave her a good rating on the 2 category of judicial temperament. 3 For the record, any concerns, 4 Mr. Chairman, raised during the investigation 5 regarding this candidate were incorporated in the 6 questioning I did of her, and I have no further 7 questions. 8 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, ma'am. 9 Senator Ford. 10 BY SEN. FORD: 11 Q. Welcome to Columbia, Ms. Wetmore. 12 A. Thank you. 13 Q. Can we talk about the Ninth Judicial 14 Circuit for a minute? 15 A. Absolutely. 16 Q. Where you and I live. 17 A. Absolutely. 18 Q. Of the Sixteenth Circuit we have 19 one-third of the pending cases. Did you know that? 20 A. In the Ninth Circuit? 21 Q. Yeah. We have one-third. 22 A. I've talked to Julie Armstrong about 23 that, our clerk of court. 24 Q. What did she say about it? 25 A. That she's concerned that we have such 0091 1 a backlog of cases that need to be resolved in both 2 general sessions and common pleas, and that she'd 3 like to see more judges to help with that. 4 Q. More judges is not going to happen for 5 a while. The judges we've got now -- I hope you 6 make it because I think you're going to be a 7 dynamic judge. But I don't want you to shadow no 8 judges in Charleston or any county. Because, 9 Ms. Wetmore, they come to work when they get ready, 10 nine, ten, 11 o'clock, leaves two and 11 three o'clock, might take one or two cases, 12 Thursdays you can't find them. They don't even 13 come to work on Fridays. 14 In other words, they're doing us a 15 favor by sitting on the bench doing nothing. And 16 the lawyers are just as bad. They use all kind of 17 legal tactics to bored down the system, don't let 18 their clients come to trial. And did you know that 19 most of the murders in Charleston and most of the 20 higher crime in Charleston are done by repeat 21 offender? Did you know that? 22 A. Absolutely. My husband's a prosecutor 23 and it's just something that -- he speaks to a lot 24 of communities in Charleston about their concern 25 over that, and that's a conversation we have at my 0092 1 dinner table an awful lot. 2 Q. But I want you to expand that a little 3 bit. You said that tomorrow you're meeting with 4 lawyers? 5 A. Yes, and judges. 6 Q. Please, please make them understand 7 what they're doing to the Charleston County Ninth 8 Circuit. I mean, it's all right if I lived in 9 Folly Beach like you and I pick up the paper and 10 see all these people in the eastside, westside, 11 North Charleston, you know, killing each other. I 12 don't know if that would affect you or not. But 13 that kind of stuff -- it hurt me big time. Most of 14 the lawyers in Charleston don't live in those kind 15 of -- they don't live in 05, or 03, or maybe 07, or 16 maybe -- where else is high crime -- some parts of 17 64. They live in these big time neighborhoods like 18 my senator from Charleston, Senator McConnell, and 19 they don't see crime. They hear about it in the 20 newspaper. I mean, they read about it in the 21 newspaper and on the radio and television. But 22 myself and David Mack, we see crime. We see 23 murders. We know parents and their loved ones. 24 We've got to make those people understand they're 25 basically responsible for this mess by not trying 0093 1 these cases. 2 A. I couldn't agree with you more. I 3 think that's one of the reasons that I'm doing what 4 I'm doing. Because I want to be part of a judicial 5 system that addresses that. I want to be part of 6 the solution. 7 Q. And I will hope you can invite me to 8 come tomorrow to talk to these people. 9 A. Absolutely. I would love for you to 10 come. I think it would make for a wonderful 11 discussion. We've got Judge Young coming and we've 12 got Fredrick Ann and Tom Wells coming. And 13 hopefully the solicitor Scarlett Wilson and the 14 public defender Ashley Pennington. And we should 15 have a pretty good panel. 16 Q. You should invite Senator McConnell 17 also. 18 REP. DELLENEY: I'm sorry? 19 SEN. FORD: No, that I feel she should 20 invite Senator McConnell also. 21 MS. WETMORE: To the CLE that I'm 22 giving tomorrow. 23 REP. DELLENEY: Any further questions? 24 There being no further questions, 25 Ms. Wetmore, I'd just like to remind you about the 0094 1 48-hour rule. Once we issue a report, it's a draft 2 report initially and then after it's been on the 3 desk of the senators and representatives for 4 48 hours, it turns into the final report of the 5 commission. But up until that point we can 6 reconvene a public hearing to bring you back here 7 to testify and ask you any questions that we'd 8 like. Ordinarily that doesn't happen, but it has 9 happened in the past on occasions. Those occasions 10 dealt with procedures and proprieties as far as the 11 election process went. 12 Let me just remind you of that and 13 thank you for participating with us today, and I 14 hope you have a safe trip home back to Charleston. 15 MS. WETMORE: Thank you. I appreciate 16 the opportunity. I really do. 17 Senator Ford, I hope I answered some 18 of your questions and concerns. 19 SEN. FORD: I'll see you tomorrow. 20 MS. WETMORE: Well, I've got my 21 business card. So if we can step in the hallway -- 22 SEN. FORD: He's going to -- 23 MS. WETMORE: Perfect, and I'll give 24 you my mobile phone number. 25 Thank you. Do I need to hand my 0095 1 questionnaire or statement? 2 (Ms. Wetmore exits the room.) 3 REP. DELLENEY: Staff advises me that 4 we need to go into another executive session. 5 REP. CLEMMONS: So moved. 6 REP. DELLENEY: All in favor say aye. 7 (Members respond.) 8 (The Members went into Executive 9 Session at 1:12 p.m.) 10 * * * * * 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0105 1 (The Members came out of Executive 2 Session at 1:54 p.m.) 3 REP. DELLENEY: Anybody know where 4 Ms. McLester went? 5 MS. BENSON: I saw her go out this 6 way. 7 (A recess transpired.) 8 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. We are in open 9 session now, and we are ready to vote. 10 MS. SHULER: Let's take the three 11 sitting -- actually, yeah, three sitting. 12 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. First of all, 13 we'll vote on the Honorable Clifton M. Newman. 14 Does anybody not think he is qualified and 15 nominated? All in favor of qualified and 16 nominated? It's unanimous. 17 Next is the Honorable James R. Barber. 18 Does anybody think he is not qualified and 19 nominated? Anybody that thinks he is, raise your 20 hand. It's unanimous. 21 Next is the Honorable Joseph 22 Strickland. 23 SEN. KNOTTS: Qualified and nominated. 24 REP. DELLENEY: Everybody in favor of 25 qualified and nominated? 0106 1 MS. SHULER: And you are voting? 2 MR. HARRELL: Yes, I am. 3 MS. SHULER: So ten. 4 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. And then the 5 guy that Senator McConnell and John Harrell have 6 recused themselves on, and that is the Circuit 7 Court At Large, seat number six. 8 SEN. FORD: Mr. Chairman? 9 REP. DELLENEY: Yes, sir. 10 SEN. FORD: Since those three 11 gentleman are not going to vote, what's the magic 12 number for winning? 13 MS. SHULER: Seven. 14 SEN. FORD: No. It can't be four. 15 REP. DELLENEY: The magic number is 16 four. We have seven voting and we need four to 17 win. 18 Okay. The first candidate -- well, 19 first of all, does everybody agree that everybody 20 is qualified? All in favor of finding everybody 21 qualified? All right. That's all seven. 22 All right. The first candidate is 23 Daniel Francis Blanchard, III, all finding him 24 qualified and nominated, raise your hands. 25 SEN. FORD: You said Blanchard? 0107 1 REP. DELLENEY: Yes, sir. 2 MS. SHULER: He was last night. 3 REP. DELLENEY: He was last night. 4 SEN. FORD: That's the gentleman from 5 Charleston, right? He made 103 on the test? 6 REP. DELLENEY: Correct. 7 Okay. One vote. 8 All right. Next is Phillip 9 Ferderigos. All in favor of finding Mr. Ferderigos 10 qualified and nominated, raise you hand. 11 Next is Leland Greely. All in favor 12 of finding Leland Greely qualified and nominated, 13 raise your hand. 14 Next is Daniel Dewitt Hall. All in 15 favor of finding Daniel Dewitt Hall qualified and 16 nominated, raise your hand. 17 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four. 18 REP. DELLENEY: Next is the Honorable 19 Roger E. Henderson. All in favor of finding Judge 20 Henderson qualified and nominated, raise your hand. 21 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four. 22 REP. DELLENEY: Next is the Honorable 23 William Henry Seals, Jr. All in favor of finding 24 Mr. Seals qualified and nominated, raise your hand. 25 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four, 0108 1 five, six. 2 MS. WELLS: Seven. 3 REP. DELLENEY: Seven. 4 All right. Next is William J. 5 Thrower. All in this favor of finding him 6 qualified and nominated, raise your hand. 7 Next is Sarah Elizabeth Wetmore. All 8 in favor of finding Ms. Wetmore qualified and 9 nominated, raise your hand. 10 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four. 11 REP. CLEMMONS: Four was the magic 12 number? 13 MS. SHULER: Well, we have Mr. Seals 14 definitely winning. We need to revote between 15 Hall, Henderson, and Wetmore. 16 SEN. FORD: Mr. Chairman? 17 REP. DELLENEY: Yes. 18 SEN. FORD: I think -- with the kind 19 of problems in Charleston, I think this young lady, 20 Wetmore, would be a fantastic addition to the 21 bench. 22 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. Well, you can 23 vote for her then. 24 SEN. FORD: Yeah, I know. But I'd 25 like everybody else to vote for her too. 0109 1 SEN. KNOTTS: Who? 2 PROF. FREEMAN: Wetmore. 3 REP. DELLENEY: No, can't do that. 4 MS. SHULER: So we're now down to 5 Hall, Henderson, and Wetmore for two spots. 6 REP. CLEMMONS: So we've got two votes 7 each now? 8 SEN. KNOTTS: The two that's been 9 nominated -- 10 REP. DELLENEY: What we've got to do 11 is revote on those three candidates. 12 MS. SHULER: And you get three votes 13 each. 14 REP. MACK: If you voted one time, you 15 only have two? 16 MS. SHULER: Right. 17 SEN. FORD: You're going to start from 18 the bottom up? 19 REP. DELLENEY: Yeah. Everybody gets 20 two votes. 21 SEN. FORD: You're going to start from 22 the bottom up. 23 REP. CLEMMONS: Everyone has two 24 votes. 25 MS. SHULER: Yes. 0110 1 SEN. KNOTTS: Hold on. So everybody 2 gets to vote again? 3 REP. DELLENEY: Everybody gets to vote 4 for two out of the three. 5 SEN. KNOTTS: Okay. 6 REP. DELLENEY: All right. Daniel 7 Dewitt Hall, all in favor of Daniel Dewitt Hall. 8 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four. 9 REP. DELLENEY: All in favor of Judge 10 Henderson, raise your hand. 11 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four. 12 REP. DELLENEY: All right. All in 13 favor of Sarah Elizabeth Wetmore, raise your hand. 14 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four, 15 five. 16 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. So it's down to 17 Hall and Judge Henderson. 18 SEN. KNOTTS: Hall and Henderson? 19 REP. DELLENEY: It's between those two 20 because we have two now. Seals and Wetmore are two 21 of the three. So now we have -- each -- each -- we 22 get one vote. 23 SEN. KNOTTS: Oh, okay. So we've got 24 two of the three? 25 REP. DELLENEY: We've got two of the 0111 1 three. Now we're working on the last one. 2 All right. All in favor of Daniel 3 Dewitt Hall. 4 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four. 5 REP. DELLENEY: All right. All in 6 favor of Judge Henderson. 7 MS. SHULER: One, two, three. 8 So it's Mr. Hall, Seals, and Wetmore. 9 Hall has four, Seals seven, and Wetmore five. 10 SEN. FORD: Mr. Chairman, I'd move to 11 reconsider the vote where we qualified Mr. Young -- 12 qualified Mr. Young. What did we do? 13 MS. SHULER: Waived. 14 REP. DELLENEY: Waived. 15 MS. McLESTER: Waived. 16 SEN. FORD: Waived, yeah. 17 REP. DELLENEY: All right. Senator 18 Ford's moves that we reconsider the vote whereby we 19 waived Judge Roger Young. Is there a -- 20 (Fire alarm sounds.) 21 SEN. FORD: I think that's Sanford 22 messing with us. 23 REP. DELLENEY: All in favor of 24 Senator Ford's motion to reconsider the vote 25 whereby we waived Judge Roger Young, raise your 0112 1 hand. 2 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four, 3 five. 4 REP. DELLENEY: All right. All 5 opposed. 6 MS. SHULER: One, two. 7 REP. DELLENEY: All right. Now, the 8 vote is back before us to -- the vote is to have a 9 public hearing for Judge Roger Moore -- 10 MS. SHULER: Young. 11 REP. DELLENEY: -- excuse me, Roger 12 Young. All in favor. 13 MS. SHULER: One, two. 14 REP. CLEMMONS: Excuse me, what are we 15 doing? I'm sorry. 16 PROF. FREEMAN: Bringing Roger back. 17 MS. SHULER: One, two, three, four, 18 five. 19 REP. DELLENEY: All opposed. 20 MS. SHULER: Two. 21 REP. DELLENEY: All right. I guess 22 we'll just add him onto tomorrows. 23 MS. SHULER: All right. 24 (Testimony not transcribed per 25 Judicial Merit Selection Committee's request.) 0113 1 MR. HARRELL: Jane, did I understand 2 that there was only one bench and bar survey about 3 Markley Dennis? 4 MS. SHULER: Let me look in my notes. 5 REP. DELLENEY: Are we ready to 6 proceed with Family Court? 7 MS. WELLS: He's right there. He's 8 outside. Do we have somebody that can get him? 9 MS. SHULER: Can I just say this on 10 the record? We have four bench and bar surveys on 11 Judge Markley Dennis and one is negative. One said 12 that he has a short temper, yells at lawyers, and 13 injects himself into cases because he becomes 14 impatient. Judge Dennis' response to the survey 15 commented in his interview by saying that he never 16 intended for anyone to think that he was 17 short-tempered and considers himself to be a 18 level-headed judge. 19 SEN. KNOTTS: Who is this? 20 PROF. FREEMAN: Markley Dennis. 21 SEN. KNOTTS: What tab is that? 22 PROF. FREEMAN: He's not in there. 23 SEN. KNOTTS: Oh, he's not in there. 24 (Mr. Long enters the room.) 25 REP. DELLENEY: Good afternoon, 0114 1 Mr. Long. 2 We have before us this afternoon Edgar 3 Henderson Long who seeks a position with Family 4 Court, seat number one. 5 If you would please raise your right 6 hand to be sworn. 7 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 8 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 9 so help you God? 10 MR. LONG: I do. 11 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 12 The Judicial Merit Selection 13 Commission has thoroughly investigated your 14 qualifications for service on the bench. Our 15 inquiry has focused primarily on nine evaluative 16 criteria which has included bench and bar surveys, 17 a thorough study of your application materials, a 18 verification of your compliance with state ethics 19 laws, a search of newspaper articles in which your 20 name may appear, and any previous screenings you 21 may have participated in as well as a check for 22 economic conflicts of interest. 23 We have no affidavits filed in 24 opposition to your election and there are no 25 witnesses here to testify. 0115 1 Do you have a brief opening statement 2 that you'd like to make? 3 MR. LONG: Waive any opening 4 statement. 5 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 6 Did you bring anybody with you? 7 MR. LONG: I did. I brought my wife 8 of 33 years, Amy Long. 9 REP. DELLENEY: We're pleased to have 10 you here, Mrs. Long. Thank you for coming. 11 With that, will you answer any 12 questions that counsel might have for you, sir. 13 MS. WELLS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 14 BY MS. WELLS: 15 Q. Mr. Long, you have before you your 16 personal data questionnaire that you submitted as 17 part of your application. 18 Is there any amendment that you would 19 like to make at this time? 20 A. I do have an amendment to the 21 application. I have that typed up. 22 Q. Thank you. 23 MS. WELLS: At this time, 24 Mr. Chairman, I would ask that Mr. Long's personal 25 data questionnaire and amendment be entered as an 0116 1 exhibit into the hearing record. 2 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, it 3 will be done at this point in the transcript. 4 (Exhibit Number 5 was marked for 5 identification.) 6 BY MS. WELLS: 7 Q. Mr. Long, also, you have the sworn 8 statement before you that you submitted as part of 9 your application. 10 Is there any amendment that you would 11 like to make at this time to that document? 12 A. No, ma'am. 13 MS. WELLS: At this time, 14 Mr. Chairman, I would ask that Mr. Long's sworn 15 statement be entered as an exhibit into the record. 16 REP. DELLENEY: It will be done at 17 this point in the transcript without objection. 18 MS. WELLS: Thank you. 19 Members of the commission and 20 Mr. Chairman, I note for the record that based on 21 the testimony contained in the candidate's personal 22 data questionnaire, Mr. Long meets the statutory 23 requirements for this position regarding, age, 24 residence, and years of experience. 25 BY MS. WELLS: 0117 1 Q. Mr. Long, would you please state the 2 county of your residency for the record. 3 A. Anderson County. 4 Q. Mr. Long, why do you want to serve now 5 as a Family Court Judge? 6 A. In my practice of 27 years, the 7 majority of my -- 8 Q. Could you turn on the mic. I think 9 it's not on. 10 A. I've been an attorney for 27 years and 11 the majority of my practice has been in the area of 12 Family Court. Not only representing parties, 13 private parties in Family Court, I've also been the 14 solicitor handling juvenile justice cases and I 15 have extensive experience as a DSS attorney. I 16 believe that my background in the Family Court 17 area, my experience, my knowledge of the law, and 18 my age and patience, I think I've come to be a more 19 patient person as I've gotten older, and I think 20 those qualities will suit me well as a judge in 21 South Carolina. 22 Q. Based on your legal experience and 23 practice thus far, are there any areas that you 24 feel you would need to additionally prepare for to 25 be an effective Family Court Judge, and how would 0118 1 you go about handling that preparation? 2 A. I believe the one area that I might 3 need to touch up a little bit might be in the area 4 of criminal defense. Most of my career has been as 5 solicitor or prosecutor, and I think that it would 6 be wise to do a little bit of research and possibly 7 attend a seminar especially in juvenile justice and 8 the Family Court system. 9 Q. And, Mr. Long, how do you feel that 10 your background in the civil area of Family Court 11 would help you to be an effective Circuit Court 12 Judge? 13 A. Family Court Judge. 14 Q. Family Court Judge, I'm sorry. 15 A. I've represented persons from all 16 levels of society. I've started off as an attorney 17 at Legal Services. I've also been a member of a 18 firm that handled clients that had -- that were 19 higher social economic than that. And I think I've 20 gotten a lot of experience at all different levels 21 of society dealing with people. And I believe that 22 that would suit me well to deal with litigants that 23 come into a courtroom. Not only indigent litigants 24 but also litigants that are well-heeledd 25 financially. 0119 1 Q. Thank you. 2 Although you addressed this in your 3 sworn affidavit, would you please tell the members 4 of the commission what you believe would be the 5 appropriate demeanor of a Family Court Judge. 6 A. I believe that a Family Court judge 7 has to create or instill an understanding with the 8 attorneys that this is how I hope to be anytime any 9 parties come before me. I'm aware that Family 10 Court Judgeship can -- that position can be very 11 frustrating. And it can often lead judges to 12 become impatient, and I think that that's something 13 that you have to avoid as a judge. I would hope 14 that I will be able to manifest that patience in 15 dealing with litigants and allow the litigants to 16 feel that they're in a fair and impartial forum. 17 Q. Thank you. 18 Do you have any suggestions you can 19 offer to the members of the commission for 20 improving the backlog of cases that exist on most 21 of the dockets in Family Court? 22 A. I am keenly aware of the serious 23 problem that all parties, litigants, judges have in 24 the backlog of the Family Court system. In my 25 particular county, Anderson, it was not unusual for 0120 1 divorce cases to take two or three years, which was 2 unacceptable. 3 I was -- I have been very happy with 4 the results of mandatory mediation which is ongoing 5 in Anderson County. And I believe that mediation 6 is being a successful tool for other types of 7 cases. For example, Department of Social Services 8 cases, I believe, could be appropriately mediated. 9 I think that moving towards mediation earlier in 10 the process might be one way of cutting through 11 some of the backlog. 12 Q. Thank you very much. 13 Have you sought or received the pledge 14 of any legislator prior to this date? 15 A. No, ma'am. 16 Q. Have you sought or have you been 17 offered a conditional pledge of support of any 18 legislator pending the outcome of your screening? 19 A. No, ma'am. 20 Q. Have you asked any third parties to 21 contact members of the General Assembly on your 22 behalf? 23 A. I have not. Although I did become 24 aware after the fact that my former law partner -- 25 a friend of my former law partner had contacted a 0121 1 legislator. And I immediately asked him to relate 2 back that I had not requested that contact. And 3 anyone else who has questioned me about what they 4 could do, I've instructed them to do nothing at 5 this point until the screening is complete. 6 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 7 commission? 8 A. No, ma'am. 9 Q. Do you understand that you are 10 prohibited from seeking a pledge or commitment if 11 nominated until the 48 hours after the formal 12 release of the commission's report? 13 A. Yes, ma'am. 14 Q. Have you reviewed the commission's 15 guidelines on pledging? 16 A. Yes, ma'am. 17 Q. And you are aware then of the 18 penalties for violating the pledging rules which 19 are -- it's a misdemeanor and upon conviction the 20 violator must be fined not more than $1,000 or in 21 prison not more than 90 days? 22 A. Yes, ma'am. 23 MS. WELLS: I would note for the 24 record that Mr. Long met the qualification set 25 forth in the evaluated criteria and determined that 0122 1 he is well-qualified for the position he notes. 2 I would also note for the record that 3 any concerns raised during the investigation 4 regarding this candidate were incorporated into my 5 questioning of him today. And I have no further 6 questions. 7 SEN. McCONNELL: All right. Does any 8 member of the Commission -- Representative Mack. 9 REP. MACK: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 10 BY REP. MACK: 11 Q. Mr. Long, looking at your background, 12 you have a -- you have very good experience as it 13 relates to children and families, guardian ad 14 litem, DSS, divorce cases, and I was very impressed 15 by that. 16 Was that something you just happened 17 to fall into, or did you sort of guide your career 18 in that area because you had an interest? 19 A. I would say that probably both. In my 20 initial -- early stages of my career, I had the 21 opportunity to be hired as an assistant solicitor 22 and did the DSS work and the juvenile justice work 23 in that capacity. 24 But I've always -- very early on I 25 realized that children are the forgotten parties in 0123 1 a divorce action or custody action. And I have 2 always felt that children need to have a voice. 3 And I was able to fulfill that in my role as 4 guardian ad litem. And as an attorney representing 5 litigants, I've always tried to impress on them the 6 impact that a divorce or separation can have on 7 their family and their children. And tried to make 8 them aware of that and tried to address whatever 9 problems might develop. 10 Q. Another question, what's your 11 strategy -- because I was again impressed by what 12 you said. 13 What's your strategy in terms of 14 putting children first in a lot of these painful 15 cases, and divorce, and things of that nature? 16 A. I think that being aware of the effect 17 is the first thing. I'm also aware of a problem 18 that occurs in DSS cases where children are the 19 victims of abuse or neglect and then they are 20 removed from the family home and placed in a foster 21 home or a group home, which may be safer for them 22 under the circumstances, but it's almost as if 23 they're being ostracized and punished for 24 disclosing the information they have. 25 I'm currently handling a case right 0124 1 now where the child is a victim of sexual abuse and 2 she's been out of the home for a year and a half. 3 And in meeting with her, her desire to me was not 4 that justice will be done or that I will have my 5 day in court. Her desire was will I be able to go 6 home to my family. And I think that that's 7 something that needs to be addressed particularly 8 in DSS cases here and there. And there may be 9 other alternatives such as having the defender move 10 out of the home as opposed to removing the child 11 from the home. 12 Q. Last questions, one of the things that 13 has gotten a lot of attention, and I think 14 rightfully so over the last several years, is the 15 rights of the grandparents. 16 How have you looked at that issue? 17 A. That's a very difficult situation. 18 And I've been involved in several grandparent cases 19 that were heart-wrenching. Nonetheless, the 20 current law is that grandparents, except under 21 certain circumstances, don't have rights to 22 visitation and contact. 23 I think that that has to weighed very 24 carefully as to the impact on the children. I'm 25 not so much concerned about the desires of the 0125 1 grandparents, although many times they are sincere 2 and very heart-felt. And there are many 3 heart-breaking stories that grandparents can tell 4 about being excluded from their children's lives. 5 But I think that looking carefully at 6 the impact that it has on the children being out of 7 contact with grandparents is necessary and 8 appropriate in cases involving a request for 9 grandparent visitation. 10 SEN. McCONNELL: All right. Any other 11 questions? Senator from Lexington. 12 SEN. KNOTTS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 13 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 14 Q. What is your feelings on cases, I'm 15 sure you're seen, where children are being used not 16 as loveable little kids but as weapons used in a 17 divorce case as far as whether you pay me child 18 support or you don't see your child? What's your 19 feelings with that and how would you address that? 20 A. Those are extremely troubling cases 21 and I've been involved in several cases where I 22 felt that parental alienation was in fact being 23 practice and was going on. I do think the court 24 has to stringently protect the rights of 25 non-custodial parents to access with the children 0126 1 and attempt to discourage that type of conduct. 2 It's sort of like the admonition or the prohibition 3 that you have. Don't discuss the case with the 4 children. It's an extremely difficult admonition 5 to enforce. But I do think it is something that we 6 need to stringently address and try to protect the 7 children from being utilized as pawns in this 8 situation or influenced to say what their desires 9 are. 10 Q. I'm sure you've also seen that a lot 11 of times that a case has been pending for a year, 12 year and a half, two years just waiting for a day 13 in court to finalize the divorce. And in some 14 circuits they require the person to be on standby 15 to come to court at a moment's notice like in 16 Lexington now. Of course, the chief justice was 17 gracious enough to send a Richland judge over there 18 to straighten out that situation. 19 But what would you do to speed up the 20 process on uncontested divorce cases or either -- 21 uncontested divorce cases? 22 A. Obviously the solution, which is not 23 feasible, would be to have more judges and more 24 court time. And I understand the limitations on 25 that. I do think that as a judge I will try to 0127 1 make myself available to working cases that have 2 either been to mediation and have an agreement or 3 cases that were uncontested and simply needed a 4 hearing time. Possibly holding court on Friday 5 afternoons. Starting a little bit earlier in the 6 day. 7 Q. You say possibly holding court on 8 Friday afternoons? 9 A. Well, our current judges in my circuit 10 don't hold court on Friday afternoons. But I think 11 that's an opportunity that we can utilize to allow 12 uncontested courses -- cases to get on the docket 13 quicker and get them concluded. 14 Q. Okay. How about cases that DSS 15 handles as far as, you know, problems with kids and 16 accusations of abuse by kids and stuff like that, 17 we have an emergency proceeding; how would you 18 better that situation in getting it done quicker? 19 A. I think that a lot of those DSS 20 cases -- and I deal with those on a daily basis. I 21 think a lot of times DSS cases could be resolved, 22 again, by utilizing mediation. A lot of times the 23 people involved in DSS are not adequately informed 24 as to what to expect when they go to court. They 25 show up. They don't know what's going to happen. 0128 1 There's some discussion about trying to resolve it, 2 but there's very limited discussion. I'm aware 3 that one of our resident judges is talking to some 4 other local judges in other areas of the state 5 where they have utilized mediation in DSS cases and 6 have been very successful at that. And I believe 7 what they have done in those cases is allow 8 attorneys to elect to mediate cases as opposed to 9 being appointed to represent the parents. And I do 10 think that mediation would be very effective in a 11 number of DSS cases. It could be disposed of. And 12 the more serious abuse and neglect cases, 13 especially contested cases could move through the 14 process faster. 15 Q. Do you believe that a child is best 16 served by being with a relative instead of being in 17 foster care, if at all possible? 18 A. Absolutely. 19 Q. Last question, you answered my 20 question about the grandparents. I've got two 21 question. The next to the last question is 22 adoption. 23 Do you believe a child should have 24 some remedy at some age, maybe 25, to be able to 25 find out the birth parent if he so desires? 0129 1 A. I'm aware that there's a process that 2 the adoptee can go through. But I'm also aware 3 that that is dealt with very definitely in 4 different parts of the states. 5 Q. What is that process, because we can't 6 seem to find it? 7 A. I'm aware that there's -- you can file 8 a motion to have the record unsealed. One of our 9 resident judges grants that fairly routinely. On 10 another case -- I was actually appointed as 11 guardian by the judge that heard that case. I was 12 not involved in it, but he appointed me as guardian 13 to review the file and determine whether it's 14 appropriate to release that information. 15 I think that is probably more 16 appropriate than having a standard, once you get to 17 a certain age you can do this without any 18 questions. I do think there needs to be some 19 screening. But I think that adoptees with 20 legitimate concerns, especially family history and 21 health reasons, should be able to find out that 22 information. There should be a fairly standardized 23 process that we can go through to obtain it. 24 Q. What about the kid that gets, say he 25 gets 25 years of age, and he just says, you know, I 0130 1 need to know what my mother or my father looks 2 like. I want to find them and I was to meet them. 3 I don't care about anything else, but just knowing 4 it. 5 Do you think that person at some age 6 should have that right? 7 A. I think they should have the right to 8 pursue it. I do think they're probably -- since 9 they're two parties to this, you've got the 10 biological mother and you have the child. Of 11 course, you also have the father too, but primarily 12 it's going to be the biological mother and the 13 child. I do think there should be some process 14 where both parties should be apprised to what's 15 going on. And if they have objections to it, they 16 could raise it. And depending on what the 17 objections are and perhaps that's something that 18 can be addressed through a hearing, through 19 appointing a guardian ad litem. 20 But I'm not sure it's appropriate to 21 just allow the child, who certainly has a vested 22 interest to obtain that information, to say, okay, 23 here's the information, you can go ahead and call 24 these people. Perhaps they weigh the -- not only 25 the child's motivation but the parent's motivation 0131 1 for not wanting to be contacted could be assessed 2 and factored into that decision. 3 Q. So you would lean mostly towards 4 protecting the parent's right instead of the 5 child's right? 6 A. That's a difficult question. And I 7 think that you have to look at what the reasons are 8 as to whether it's a legitimate request, whether it 9 might be to potentially embarrass one of the two 10 parties to the situation. I do think there should 11 be a fairly standardize process that an adoptee 12 could go through to pursue this information as 13 opposed to, you can file a motion and ask the court 14 to address it. 15 Q. And the last thing, what would your 16 workweek, work ethic be like? When would you take 17 the bench and when would you go home? What days 18 would you work? 19 A. Our actual court schedule, of course, 20 runs from nine to five. I will try to be in my 21 office, I do now, by eight o' clock in the morning. 22 I would then expect to stay after court is over to 23 make sure that all of my responsibilities for that 24 day have been completed and concluded. I would 25 also want to be available on Friday afternoons. 0132 1 As I said, in our circuit we don't 2 hold court -- or the judges -- court is not held on 3 Friday afternoons. I would want to make myself 4 available during that time. 5 Q. What circuit is that? 6 A. Tenth Circuit. 7 Q. What county? 8 A. Anderson County. 9 Q. Any reason why they don't work on 10 Friday? 11 A. They work Friday mornings. 12 Q. And Friday afternoons? 13 A. Not that I'm aware of. That's the way 14 it's always been. I guess it's tradition. I don't 15 know. 16 Q. Thank you. 17 A. Yes, sir. 18 REP. DELLENEY: Professor Freeman. 19 BY PROF. FREEMAN: 20 Q. Yeah. I've heard horror stories about 21 delays in getting orders out in Family Court. And 22 I don't know if there's been a problem where you 23 are or not. 24 Have you heard these horror stories? 25 A. I have been aware of that problem. 0133 1 Q. What would your protocol be in getting 2 orders out? And in particularly, when is too long 3 to sit on an order? 4 A. Without question, when there is a date 5 that will occur in the order such as the 6 commencement of child support or visitation, a 7 delay beyond that point is extremely prejudice to 8 the parties. 9 As far as just standardized orders, I 10 think that they should be no later than 30 days. 11 And that should be the exception rather than the 12 rule. I know that Judge Jenkins from Greenville 13 requests those orders in ten days, and I think 14 that's a good practice. 15 I do think that sometimes it's not 16 possible to have the order completed during that 17 time, but I think that should be the goal. Rather 18 than the 30 days which is sort of standard with 19 other judges. 20 Q. Just to follow up, we hear a lot about 21 backlogs and crowded dockets, is a failure to get 22 orders out in a timely fashion, does that 23 contribute to that? 24 A. It can. And especially in DSS cases 25 that are driven by statute as far as certain time 0134 1 frames are concerned. It can be extremely 2 unsettling to be into a DSS case and there's been a 3 hearing already held, but there has not been an 4 order signed at that point. Many times the only 5 solution is to continue that hearing. 6 But I think that as a judge, I would 7 want the attorneys that practice in front of me to 8 know what I would expect as far as timeliness of 9 orders. I think that creating those expectations 10 with the attorneys on what I expect is critical in 11 that process. 12 Q. And you pledge to this commission that 13 if you're appointed, you would get your orders out 14 in a timely fashion and insist that lawyers help 15 you with that? 16 A. Yes, sir. 17 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. Any further 18 questions? There being no further questions, 19 Mr. Long, we appreciate you appearing before us 20 today. We appreciate your wife coming with you. 21 And I would remind you about the 48-hour rule. 22 Once we issue a report, it's a draft report until 23 after it's been on the desk of the General Assembly 24 for 48 hours. And then at that point it becomes 25 the final report up. 0135 1 Up until that time we can reconvene a 2 public hearing and bring you or any other candidate 3 back here to testify. And we have done that on 4 occasion. It's been a rare thing. However, it has 5 happened. And usually it's happened when there was 6 some impropriety or alleged impropriety concerning 7 the election process. 8 MR. LONG: Yes, sir. 9 REP. DELLENEY: And I will just remind 10 you about that, and hope you have a safe trip home. 11 MR. LONG: Thank you very much. 12 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 13 Okay. We're only an hour and a half 14 behind this morning. 15 The next candidate is M. Scott 16 McElhannon. 17 (Mr. Long exits the room.) 18 (A recess transpired.) 19 (Mr. McElhannon enters the room.) 20 REP. DELLENEY: Mr. McElhannon, we are 21 pleased to have you here with us today. 22 Mr. McElhannon seeks a position on the 23 Family Court Tenth Judicial Circuit, seat number 24 one. If you would please raise your right hand to 25 be sworn. 0136 1 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 2 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 3 so help you God? 4 MR. McELHANNON: I do. 5 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 6 The Judicial Merit Selection has 7 thoroughly investigated your qualifications for 8 service on the bench. Our inquiry has primarily 9 focused on nine evaluative criteria which have 10 included a bench and bar survey, a thorough study 11 of your application materials, a study of 12 verification of your compliance of state ethics 13 laws, a search of any newspaper articles in which 14 you name may have appeared, a study of any previous 15 screenings as well as a check of economic conflicts 16 of interest. 17 No affidavits have been filed in 18 opposition to your election and there are no 19 witnesses here to testify. 20 Do you have a brief opening statement 21 that you'd like to make? 22 MR. McELHANNON: I would. I am Scott 23 McElhannon. I'm from Anderson. I lived there all 24 my life. I'm 46 years old. I am married to 25 Shirley who's the registered deeds in Anderson. 0137 1 And we've been married 16, almost 17 years. I am 2 seeking a Family Court Judgeship and I do believe 3 that I am qualified. Experience-wise, my 20 years 4 of practice, I've practiced a lot of Family Court 5 and actually was the juvenile solicitor solely for 6 five and a half years for the solicitor's office. 7 In private practice I did a lot of Family Court 8 work. About half of my private practice from '88 9 to 2000 was Family Court. I have held or served in 10 about every capacity, I believe, except for DSS 11 attorney in Family Court and, basically, any type 12 of action in Family Court. I do believe that my 13 record speaks for itself and I am, in my opinion, 14 would be qualified to sit as a Family Court Judge. 15 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 16 Answer any questions -- you didn't 17 bring anybody with you today, did you? 18 MR. McELHANNON: I did not bring my 19 wife. She could not leave. They were shorthanded 20 at the courthouse. 21 REP. DELLENEY: I understand. 22 If you would answer any questions our 23 counsel might have for you. 24 BY MS. BENSON: 25 Q. Mr. McElhannon, you have submitted to 0138 1 us a personal data questionnaire. 2 A. Yes, ma'am. 3 Q. Do you have any amendments to make to 4 that data questionnaire? 5 A. No, ma'am. 6 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, I would ask 7 that the personal data questionnaire be submitted 8 for the record at this time. 9 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, it 10 will be done at this point in the transcript. 11 (Exhibit Number 6 was marked for 12 identification.) 13 BY MS. BENSON: 14 Q. Mr. McElhannon, you also submitted a 15 sworn statement with questions regarding judicial 16 conduct, statutory qualifications, office 17 administration, and temperament. 18 Do you have any amendments or 19 additions that you would make to that statement at 20 this time? 21 A. No, ma'am. 22 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, if I could 23 also ask that that document be included on the 24 record at this time. 25 REP. DELLENEY: Mr. McElhannon's sworn 0139 1 statement will be made a part of the record at this 2 point in the transcript without objection. 3 MS. BENSON: Mr. McElhannon -- I will 4 point out that according to these documents, 5 Mr. McElhannon meets the statutory requirements for 6 this position regarding, age, residence, and years 7 of practice. 8 BY MS. BENSON: 9 Q. Mr. McElhannon, for the record, will 10 you please declare your residency and the county in 11 which you live. 12 A. Anderson County, South Carolina. 13 Q. Thank you. 14 Mr. McElhannon, why do you now want to 15 serve as a Circuit Court Judge -- I'm sorry, Family 16 Court Judge? 17 A. As I stated earlier, I may have jumped 18 the gun on that. Throughout -- I actually feel 19 like through the 20 years I've been leading up to 20 this point. I have focused a lot of my 21 professional time on Family Court. 22 When the solicitor of Anderson County 23 came to me in 1999 and asked me to be the juvenile 24 solicitor, I thought that that would be a job that 25 would be perfect for me because I do enjoy and did 0140 1 enjoy Family Court work so much. And I did enjoy 2 my five and a half years in that position. I was 3 also, prior to that, in private practice, at a 4 contract public defender for juveniles and Family 5 Court. 6 In 2001 I was awarded the Earnest 7 Hollings Award for Excellence in State Prosecution 8 and Family Court about seven years ago. Since that 9 time I have continued to practice in Family Court 10 when needed with the juveniles in our office. 11 I just feel now is the right time for 12 me to seek the judgeship for Family Court. And as 13 I stated before, I do believe that I'm qualified 14 and have the judicial temperament to be in Family 15 Court. 16 Q. Mr. McElhannon, you and I have talked 17 about that we have received two bench and bar 18 surveys about you. And they had -- one had a 19 comment about -- that your primary weakness, which 20 may not be the right word, is that you're not very 21 good at manipulating people of higher rank to see 22 things the way you want them to see them. The 23 other bench and bar survey was a little bit more 24 negative. 25 PROF. FREEMAN: Was that a positive or 0141 1 a negative? 2 (Laughter.) 3 MS. BENSON: Well, Mr. Chairman, in 4 discussing this with Mr. McElhannon, we weren't 5 sure. 6 BY MS. BENSON: 7 Q. The other survey did have some more 8 negative comments about your being able to 9 objectively carried out duties without bias, and 10 about anger in the courtroom, and ability to accept 11 constructive criticism. And although it did say, 12 while punctual, that you were not self-motivated. 13 A. The first thing I have to say to that 14 is, that is not true. I do not know where that 15 came from, to be honest. The only thing that I can 16 think of in my job, especially in the last nine 17 years as assistant solicitor and then the previous 18 11, so 20 total, I've really made some opposing 19 counsel angry for some reason. I cannot for the 20 life of me think of what that would have been. And 21 I just have to say that those are false statement 22 by that person. 23 I'm not like that. I'm like what I 24 put in my affidavit on my temperament. And I 25 believe all the telephone calls that were made and 0142 1 all would support that. I don't know how many 2 actual were made on my behalf or to ask about me. 3 But I think all those, I was told, came back above 4 average or average for everything. 5 But I guess after 20 years and, like I 6 said, working with defense counsel for the past 7 nine, I'm surprised I've only got one, I guess, 8 that said that. But that's the nature of the 9 business. And being an assistant solicitor, when 10 you try to put someone's client away or put them in 11 jail, I guess. But I can't explain why someone 12 would say that about me. 13 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, I would 14 note that Upstate Citizens Committee has said based 15 on the investigation of this committee, we find 16 that Mr. McElhannon meets the qualifications set 17 forth in the evaluative criteria. The interviews 18 and other sources utilized led us to determine that 19 he is well-qualified for the position he seeks. 20 BY MS. BENSON: 21 Q. Mr. McElhannon, just a few 22 housekeeping issues. Have you sought or received 23 the pledge of any legislator prior to this date? 24 A. No, ma'am. 25 Q. Have you asked any third parties to 0143 1 contact members of the General Assembly on your 2 behalf? 3 A. No, ma'am. 4 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 5 commission? 6 A. No, ma'am. 7 Q. And do you understand the 48-hour 8 rule? 9 A. Yes, ma'am. 10 MS. BENSON: Mr. Chairman, I would 11 have no further questions. 12 REP. DELLENEY: Any member of the 13 Commission, Senator Ford -- excuse me, Senator 14 Knotts. 15 SEN. KNOTTS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 16 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 17 Q. Tell me about your punctuality and 18 your work ethic. 19 A. I think that most of the 20 questionnaires that came back -- 21 Q. First of all, what solicitor do you 22 work for? 23 A. Well, George Duckworth hired me. And 24 Druanne White kept me on. 25 Q. Did you receive that award down at the 0144 1 Solicitor's Association? 2 A. Yes, sir, I did. 3 And then Chrissy Adams kept me on. So 4 I'm on my third solicitor at this point. And I've 5 forgotten your question, I'm sorry. 6 Q. Well, tell me about your punctuality 7 and your work ethic. 8 A. I'm the first attorney into our office 9 every day. 10 Q. What time is that, though? 11 A. It's eight o'clock. 12 Q. You know, some solicitors have the 13 same work ethics as judges. 14 A. I'm there earlier than I'm supposed to 15 be. My work ethic is, I handle a caseload of about 16 300 cases right now, 300 defendants. And I work 17 every case up to try to go to trial if they don't 18 plead. As a matter of fact, I've got a murder 19 trial starting Monday morning that I've got to pick 20 a jury on. So I think my work ethic speaks for 21 itself as far as the cases that I've tried and won 22 actually. 23 Q. You've seen judges that come in late 24 and go home early? 25 A. Yes, sir. 0145 1 Q. If you -- what's your feeling towards 2 whenever you say you're going to be on the bench? 3 A. I will be on the bench. 4 Q. You'll be on the bench at that time? 5 You wouldn't keep them waiting? 6 A. No, sir. And I know as attorney and 7 assistant solicitor how frustrating that can be, 8 waiting. 9 Q. Well, I understand that Family Court 10 judges don't work on Friday afternoon up in your 11 area. 12 A. I wouldn't know about that. I'm not 13 in Family Court in afternoons anyway. Circuit 14 Court is where I would be on a Friday afternoon. 15 Q. Okay. But you are running for Family 16 Court, right? 17 A. Yes, sir. 18 Q. So you don't know in your circuit 19 whether the judge works on Friday afternoon? 20 A. I know they do on an emergency basis. 21 But they normally handle anything Friday morning 22 that they have up until lunchtime and then they're 23 in their chambers normally on a Friday afternoon. 24 Q. But you would work on a Friday 25 afternoon? 0146 1 A. Yes, sir. 2 Q. Monday through Friday? 3 A. Yes, sir. 4 Q. Let me ask you this -- let me go ahead 5 and ask you the same thing I did on the other guy. 6 What's your position on grandparent's 7 custody or grandparent's rights? 8 A. Well, the case law is that if the 9 parents have custody of the child, then they can 10 say what the grandparent's visitation is. I'm a 11 strong believer, though, that grandparents need to 12 be involved in a child's life. I think that's a 13 special circumstance where I do believe that they 14 should be entitled. 15 Q. Do you believe they need to have a 16 place at the table, but not the whole table? 17 A. No, sir. But I believe that if the 18 parents -- the natural parents -- or the parents, 19 it doesn't have to be the natural parents. But if 20 the parents of the child are raising the child in 21 that child's best interest, I believe that they 22 should have a say so as to when that child sees the 23 grandparent and not necessarily restricting the 24 grandparent from seeing the child. I'm a 25 grandparent myself. So I know how devastating that 0147 1 would be if I couldn't see my two grandsons. 2 So I do believe that grandparents do 3 need to have a strong role in our society. And a 4 lot of grandparents are actually raising the 5 grandchildren and they're doing a good job. 6 Q. What about adoption rights of the 7 child; should the child have some way of finding 8 out who the parent is at a certain age? 9 A. I think that if they wish to, they 10 should have that right. 11 Q. They should have it? 12 A. Yes, sir. 13 Q. How about in divorce cases where 14 children are used as weapons; have you seen that? 15 And how would you react to that when two parents 16 are getting a divorce and the child is being used 17 as a weapon as to whether the child support is paid 18 and whether they get to see the child? 19 A. That's definitely a no-no. They would 20 be sanctioned or held in contempt if they are -- if 21 it's proven by facts that they are using that child 22 as a weapon, because that's only detrimental to the 23 child. That's not in the child's best interest. 24 Q. How about deadbeat dads and moms? 25 A. Well, they need to pay their child 0148 1 support. We see it every Tuesday in Anderson. 2 They're just loaded up in the lobby not paying. 3 Q. What's happening to them? 4 A. Well, some of them go to jail but most 5 of them walk back out. And I guess it's a hard 6 situation for the judge. Because if you put a 7 parent in jail, they're certainly not going to be 8 making any money to pay the child support. So it's 9 a catch 22. But some of them have been through it 10 so many times that they need to go to jail and see 11 what's going to happen to them if they continue on 12 that track. 13 Q. But if you don't put them in jail, 14 he's in contempt of the order, right? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. So basically you've got to decide 17 whether you mean what you say or say what you mean, 18 right? 19 A. That's right. That's right. 20 Q. How would you do? 21 A. I would give them probably one chance 22 to -- unless they're in arrears a lot, thousands 23 and thousands of dollars. But give them one chance 24 to show that they're going to do right. And if 25 they're not, tell them the next time you're going 0149 1 to jail if you don't follow this order. 2 Q. In some counties like in Lexington we 3 found a law in the books that the clerk of court is 4 enforcing deadbeat dads for non -- it's an old, 5 old, old law. Like an 1891 law or something like 6 that. Where it's a criminal violation not to 7 support your child. 8 Do you see any merit in trying to use 9 that as a weapon to make some of these people 10 support their child to get them off of welfare and 11 food stamps? 12 A. As far as being an assistant 13 solicitor, if you're talking about it being a 14 criminal offense where it would come to the 15 solicitor's office -- 16 Q. It is a law in the books and we 17 utilize it in Anderson. 18 A. Then in Anderson family we don't 19 because we don't ever get those type of cases 20 coming through our office. But I can see that 21 working if you had some kind of a criminal penalty 22 hanging over their head. I can definitely see why 23 they may want to pay a little bit more than what 24 they're doing now. 25 Q. We utilize it basically in Lexington 0150 1 to extradite them from states like Texas, it's hard 2 to get them from. 3 A. Yes, sir. 4 REP. DELLENEY: Anybody else have any 5 questions of Mr. McElhannon? Anybody else? 6 There being no further questions, we 7 appreciate your willingness to participate in the 8 process and to be with us here today. 9 And I would -- in closing, I would 10 just like to remind you of the 48-hour rule. Once 11 we issue a report, initially it's a draft report. 12 48 hours after it's been on the desk of the General 13 Assembly, it becomes a report of this commission 14 and we can't change that report. However, up until 15 that time, if we so desire, we could reconvene a 16 public hearing and bring any candidate back here to 17 testify, which we have done on occasion. It's 18 rare, but we have done it. 19 It usually came about when there was 20 some perceived impropriety as to the election 21 process. May I just remind you of that. And I 22 hope you have a safe trip home. And thank you for 23 being with us. 24 MR. McELHANNON: Thank you for your 25 time. 0151 1 REP. DELLENEY: Yes, sir. 2 (Mr. McElhannon exits the room.) 3 (A recess transpired.) 4 (Mr. Phillips enters the room.) 5 REP. DELLENEY: We have before us 6 today Mr. David Earl Phillips who seeks a position 7 on a Family Court Bench, Judicial Circuit, seat 8 number one. If you would, sir, please raise your 9 right hand to be sworn. 10 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 11 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 12 so help you God? 13 MR. PHILLIPS: I do. 14 REP. DELLENEY: Did you bring anybody 15 with you today? 16 MR. PHILLIPS: I did. I brought my 17 wife, Maryanne Phillips. 18 REP. DELLENEY: Mrs. Phillips, we're 19 glad to have you here today and we appreciate you 20 come. 21 MRS. PHILLIPS: Thank you. 22 REP. DELLENEY: The Judicial Merit 23 Selection Committee has thoroughly investigated 24 your qualifications for service on the bench. Our 25 inquiry has focused primarily on nine evaluative 0152 1 criteria which has included a bench and bar survey, 2 a study of your application materials, a 3 verification of state ethics requirement, a search 4 of any newspaper articles in which your name may 5 have appeared -- a study of newspaper articles in 6 which your name might have appeared, and also a 7 study of any previous screenings as well as a check 8 for economic conflicts of interests. 9 There are no affidavits filed in 10 opposition to your election and there are no 11 witnesses here to testify. 12 Do you have a brief opening statement 13 that you'd like to make? 14 MR. PHILLIPS: I do. I just briefly 15 want to thank the commission for its time. And the 16 work that you do here, I feel like it's a real 17 important thing that you do and it insures that we 18 have a fair and unbiased and qualified judiciary. 19 And I'm real thankful for the opportunity and the 20 time you've invested in me to this point in 21 allowing me to come here and seek this office. 22 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 23 If you would at this time answer any 24 questions our counsel might have for you. 25 MR. PHILLIPS: Thank you. 0153 1 BY MS. SHULER: 2 Q. Good afternoon, Mr. Phillips. 3 Before you you have your personal data 4 questionnaire. Did you bring any amendments today 5 to your PDQ? 6 A. I did not, and I do not have any 7 amendments at this time. 8 MS. SHULER: All right. Mr. Chairman, 9 I would like to offer Mr. Phillips' personal data 10 questionnaire as an exhibit for the record. 11 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, 12 Mr. Phillips' PDQ will be admitted into the 13 record -- place into the record at this point. 14 (Exhibit Number 7 was marked for 15 identification.) 16 BY MS. SHULER: 17 Q. Mr. Phillips, you also have before you 18 the sworn statement that you filed in connection 19 with your application package. 20 Are there any amendments that you'd 21 like to make to that sworn statement today? 22 A. No, they're not. 23 Q. Thank you. 24 One final procedural matter. I note 25 for the record that based on the testimony 0154 1 contained in the candidate's PDQ which has been 2 included in the record, that Mr. Phillips meets the 3 statutory requirements for this position regarding 4 age, residence, and years of practice. 5 Mr. Phillips, will you please declare 6 your residency on the record for this Family Court 7 seat. 8 A. I am a resident of Anderson County, 9 South Carolina. And actually I've lived there all 10 my life. 11 Q. Thank you. 12 MS. SHULER: I would also like to 13 offer your sworn statement as an exhibit at this 14 time, Mr. Chairman. 15 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, it 16 will be made a part of the transcript record at 17 this point. 18 MS. SHULER: Thank you. 19 BY MS. SHULER: 20 Q. Mr. Phillips, after practicing law for 21 11 years, why do now want to serve as a Family 22 Court judge? 23 A. Family Court is a position that would 24 allow me to have frequent contact with families in 25 crisis. And I believe that our families are the 0155 1 core unit that make up our larger communities with 2 regard to -- not just Anderson County, but South 3 Carolina as well. 4 As a Family Court Judge I'll have an 5 opportunity to have interaction and input into 6 family situations when they are in crisis, and help 7 to hopefully bring about something positive in 8 their lives and something positive in their family. 9 So that we can make not only that one family better 10 but our overall community as a whole. And that's 11 the reason I'm seeking this office. 12 Q. Thank you, Mr. Phillips. 13 Are there any additional areas, 14 including but not limited to abuse and neglect 15 cases, that you feel that you would need to undergo 16 additional preparations? 17 A. I don't believe so at this time. I 18 feel very comfortable -- even with abuse and 19 neglect cases. I wouldn't classify that as I guess 20 a weakness, but it's a weaker area out of the 21 matters that the Family Court handles. 22 Q. Thank you. 23 Would you describe to the commission 24 what you believe to be the appropriate demeanor of 25 a judge. 0156 1 A. Well, I've always -- as an attorney 2 for the last 11 years, I would want to be the kind 3 of judge that I want to appear in front of. And 4 the main thing is fairness. I've always wanted a 5 judge who was fair to all the parties regardless of 6 their personalities. A judge that's intelligent 7 and can read and understand the law. And a judge 8 who will be fair and courteous to all the parties. 9 And I think that that is -- fairness 10 is really the foundation of that. But in terms of 11 demeanor, I don't see any reason for a judge not to 12 be civil or courteous to the litigants. That may 13 be the only time that they ever see or have contact 14 with our judicial system, is in their divorce case. 15 The people who come before the Family 16 Court may never enter a courtroom again. And I 17 understand that not only would I have -- as a 18 Family Court Judge have the role of being the 19 referee, so to speak, in their case and also the 20 trier of fact in their case. But I may as well -- 21 I would also be an ambassador for our legal system 22 in our state and representing our state there in 23 Family Court. 24 Q. Thank you. 25 When you leave the bench, if selected, 0157 1 what would you like your legacy to be as a judge in 2 Family Court? 3 A. Well, I'd like for everyone to agree 4 and for it to be true, that I treated everyone 5 fairly. That I treated everyone with respect and 6 that I handled cases in a diligent fashion, and I 7 left the Family Court a better place than when I 8 entered the bench. That I left that office a 9 better office. 10 Q. Thank you. 11 Mr. Phillips, what suggestions would 12 you offer for improving the backlog of cases on the 13 docket in Family Court? 14 A. That's obviously quite a difficult 15 question. I know that there are a lot of people 16 who have more data than I do who have studied that, 17 and I don't know that there is a magic answer to 18 that. And I would preface my response to that 19 question by stating that I have not served as a 20 Family Court judge or as a judge in any capacity. 21 And so given that my perspective is 22 going to be that of an outsider or at least one 23 who's never held the office of a judge. But the 24 thing that I think that we can do is, we can -- 25 court time is our most scarce resource in Family 0158 1 Court. And things that we could do to free up 2 court time may include eliminating the need for 3 hearings in certain uncontested matters. Whether 4 there's a lower index or a lower need for it or 5 having a hearing to actually hear live testimony. 6 I think if we did that kind of thing. For 7 instance, in an uncontested divorce where you would 8 be very limited with it, there are no children 9 involved, and no children's interest at stake, we 10 may be able to submit the testimony even of the 11 corroborated witnesses and testimony as to the 12 fairness of the agreement, for the property 13 settlement, by way of affidavit or even some kind 14 of court-adopted affidavit. This would take 15 legislative action. It wouldn't be something that 16 any Family Court Judge could do without legislative 17 authority. 18 But, for instance, in Anderson County 19 when you have uncontested divorce cases on Friday 20 mornings, you would clear up most of that morning, 21 if not all of it. It would free up a half day of 22 court at least or maybe more. Where the court 23 could schedule an A case and a B case. And also 24 you may get both of those cases settled just by 25 having them on the trial docket for that one day. 0159 1 So I think that's one approach that we could take. 2 The other approaches would just be 3 making sure that everyone handles their cases in a 4 timely fashion. Unfortunately, it seems that a lot 5 of attorneys will wait until they're later on in 6 the process or until they get some kind of reminder 7 from the court to actually contact the other side 8 about, less talk about trying to work this case 9 out. 10 Well, I find that in most of the cases 11 that I have, it's economically not practical for 12 most of those cases to go to court. They're going 13 to pay more money to their attorneys than whatever 14 they seek to get or benefit they would receive if 15 they just settled the case. I mean, if they tried 16 the case, they wouldn't get as much out of it as it 17 would save in attorney's fees. 18 Q. Thank you, Mr. Phillips. 19 Have you sought or have you received 20 the pledge of any legislator prior to this date? 21 A. No, I haven't. 22 Q. Have you sought or have you been 23 offered a conditional pledge of support of any 24 legislator pending the outcome of your screening? 25 A. No. 0160 1 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 2 commission? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Do you understand that you are 5 prohibited from seeking a pledge or commitment 6 until 48 hours after the formal release of 7 commission's report? 8 A. I do understand. 9 Q. Have you reviewed the commission's 10 guidelines on pledging? 11 A. Yes, I have. 12 Q. Are you aware of the penalty for 13 violating the pledging rules; that is, it is 14 considered a misdemeanor and upon conviction the 15 violator must be fined not more than $1,000 and i 16 prison not more than 90 days? 17 A. I am aware of that. 18 MS. SHULER: I would note that the 19 Upstate Citizens Committee reported the following 20 regarding Mr. Phillips. Based on the investigation 21 of this committee, we find that Mr. Phillips meets 22 the qualifications as set forth in the evaluative 23 criteria. The interviews and the other sources 24 utilized have led us to determine that he is well 25 qualified for the position he seeks. 0161 1 And I would just note for the record 2 that any concerns raised during the investigation 3 regarding the candidate were incorporated into the 4 questioning of the candidate today. 5 Mr. Chairman, I have no further 6 questions for Mr. Phillips. 7 REP. DELLENEY: Any member of the 8 Commission got any questions for Mr. Phillips? 9 Senator Knotts. 10 SEN. KNOTTS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 11 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 12 Q. Mr. Phillips, you've seen cases where 13 children were used as a weapon in a divorce 14 settlement? 15 A. I have seen that where children were 16 essentially pawns. That either side was trying to 17 use the children to gain an advantage or to get 18 some kind of emotional jab at the other side. I 19 have seen that. 20 Q. They had visitation used as leverage 21 and stuff like that? 22 A. That's correct. 23 Q. How would you handle that? 24 A. Well, first of all, what many of the 25 Family Court judges that we have been out there in 0162 1 front of in Anderson, or Greenville, or Pickens 2 County, they have form driven restrictions on 3 parent conduct and guidelines for parent conduct 4 that they incorporate into their temporary orders 5 and also their final orders. And those almost 6 uniformly state that the children are not to be 7 exposed to the litigation process. 8 And as a Family Court Judge, I will be 9 very -- I will closely scrutinize any allegation 10 that a parent's placing a child in that kind of 11 situation. The child is not the source of the 12 parent's problems, and the child doesn't need to be 13 exposed to that. And in fact, the child needs to 14 be protected. So I would take every opportunity to 15 try to protect the child from being used as a pawn 16 in any kind of divorce proceeding or otherwise. 17 Q. What about grandparent rights? 18 A. Well, that's a tougher issue that I 19 think has been litigated recently even in our 20 state. The paramount and controlling concern in 21 any case in Family Court concerning a child is to 22 ascertain and effectuate what is in the child's 23 best interest and put that into effect. Take 24 whatever measures need to be taken to protect the 25 child's best interest. 0163 1 There's also a balance between that 2 and the fundamental right of a parent to act as a 3 parent and make decisions for a child. However, it 4 may be that there are cases where the grandparent 5 having visitation would be in the child's best 6 interest. And so that's a very tough issue that 7 has to be addressed on the case-by-case basis based 8 on the facts of each given case. 9 Q. How would you handle guardian ad litem 10 appointments or guardian ad litems that have 11 complaints about not doing their job and meeting 12 with the people they supposedly be meeting with in 13 the best interest of the child? 14 A. Sir, first of all, I make sure that 15 when I appoint a guardian to a case, I take steps 16 at the very beginning of the case. And there may 17 be another judge who appoints a guardian to the 18 case. But once they have contacted me, I would 19 make sure that they're following up and doing the 20 things that they're supposed to do on a timely 21 basis. 22 And that may be another thing that we 23 can do to help with the backlog of cases. To maybe 24 set some kind of time frame for deadlines for the 25 guardian to have a report issued and then make sure 0164 1 that those guidelines are enforced. But those are 2 the things that just would have to be calendared 3 and stay on top of. That's really the only thing I 4 know that you could do and make sure that they 5 understand. 6 When the judge tells me to do 7 something, I take it very seriously and I try to do 8 it. And I think that all of the other attorneys or 9 most of the other attorneys would do that or make 10 sure that they weren't appointed as guardians 11 anymore at least by me. 12 Q. How about child support violations for 13 deadbeat dads and deadbeat mamas? 14 A. I think that's an area that we're 15 probably going to see a lot more of. And the 16 understanding for those cases is that there has to 17 be a willful violation of a court order. 18 I would certainly not automatically 19 say that every father who is behind on their child 20 support is a deadbeat dad, but there are certainly 21 plenty of those out there. And I would have to 22 examine the facts of each case just to make sure in 23 the economic circumstances that there's something 24 going on there, or something physical, or 25 health-wise, then that's not a willful violation of 0165 1 the court's order regarding child support. 2 But those parents have to pay support. 3 They have to support their children. There's just 4 no way around that, and I would enforce that 5 strongly. 6 Q. At what point do you consider a person 7 behind in child support to be a deadbeat dad and 8 how many frequent violations? Explain to me how 9 you would determine a deadbeat dad or a deadbeat 10 mama. 11 A. Once they get behind and they're 12 willfully in violation of the court order. 13 Q. Explain "willfully" to me. 14 A. Where they're not paying and they 15 really could pay. Or, for instance, they're 16 spending their money on other things. Not a 17 situation where somebody is placed under a child 18 support order, but then they become disabled. I 19 mean, it would take a very serious problem to 20 excuse the nonpayment of support for a period of 21 time. They still have that responsible and that 22 obligation to pay it. But once it's shown -- not 23 that they can't pay child support but that they 24 could and refuse to do so, then that's clearly a 25 situation where that's a deadbeat. 0166 1 Q. What about a parent that leaves the 2 state to avoid child support? 3 A. They are Uniform Acts, Interstate Acts 4 in place to help enforce that. 5 Q. Once you got them back, would you 6 handle them properly? 7 A. I would. I would. 8 Q. Your work ethic, I understand that 9 Friday afternoons in your county are sort of 10 limited. 11 Is that right, in Family Court? 12 A. That seems to be the case at the 13 point. 14 Q. How would you change that? 15 A. I'm open to work. I work on Friday 16 afternoons now and it wouldn't be any change for me 17 to continue doing so. I wouldn't have any problems 18 with that whatsoever. It would be an additional 19 half a day of court that we could use. 20 Q. Would you work Monday through Friday 21 at the certain time and be on bench when you say 22 you're going to be on the bench? 23 A. I would. I would treat it just like I 24 treat my practice now. I'm at the office at 8:30 25 and stay until the work is done. 0167 1 Q. Thank you. 2 REP. DELLENEY: Representative Mack. 3 REP. MACK: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 4 BY REP. MACK: 5 Q. Mr. Phillips, I wanted to ask you 6 about the aspect of being a Family Court Judge away 7 from the bench, when you have to bring family 8 members back in your chamber and do really a sales 9 job on them, downgrading the anger, getting rid of 10 the emotion, and doing what's right for the child. 11 Talk about the skills that you have in 12 that setting to work through a situation and do 13 what's best for the child. 14 A. That's one of the things that over the 15 11 years I've practiced law I've been able to 16 develop. And dealing with diverse people, dealing 17 with people who are in very difficult emotional 18 states, Family Court is rich with people who are 19 like that. 20 One of the things that I possess that 21 I believe makes me qualified and more qualified 22 maybe than others to be a Family Court Judge for 23 this seat, is that I am usually able to talk to 24 people and reason with people in such a way that it 25 brings down the emotional level to some degree. 0168 1 And it allows and opens the door for rational 2 thought to enter the process. And I think that we 3 get a lot of decisions that are made by 4 emotional -- by an emotional response rather than 5 by rational thought processes. 6 So I think that's one of the things 7 that I bring to the table that maybe others don't 8 have. I have a very reasonable way of dealing with 9 people. And I try to deal with people in polite 10 tones whenever I can. And that's almost always. I 11 rarely find that I have to do anything that's 12 impolite. And at the same time you have to 13 maintain order in the court -- I mean, the 14 courtroom as well. So, I mean, you may have to be 15 firm at times as well. But I think those are some 16 the things that I would bring to the table and 17 offer as a Family Court Judge. 18 REP. DELLENEY: Any further questions? 19 Okay. There being no further 20 questions, Mr. Phillips, I'd like to remind you 21 about the 48-hour rule. We issue a draft report, 22 it goes on the desk of the General Assembly and 23 48 hours later it turns into the final report of 24 this commission. 25 Up until that time we could reconvene 0169 1 a public hearing in your case or any other case and 2 conduct -- call you back down hereto and questions. 3 We very rarely do that. Some of the few times that 4 we have done that have primarily been about 5 allegations of impropriety as far as the election 6 process goes. May I just remind you of that. 7 Thank you and your wife for being here 8 with you today, and hope you have a safe trip home. 9 MR. PHILLIPS: Thank you, sir. 10 (Mr. Phillips exits the room.) 11 REP. DELLENEY: Okay. We'll wait to 12 deal with this until we deal with some more 13 elections. And now we're on the 1:40 hearing, and 14 it's 3:05. 15 (Mrs. Christophillis enters the room.) 16 REP. DELLENEY: Let's see, Catherine 17 Christophillis. 18 We have before us Mrs. Catherine C. 19 Christophillis; is that correct? 20 MRS. CHRISTOPHILLIS: Yes, that's 21 correct. Thank you. 22 REP. DELLENEY: Mrs. Christophillis 23 seeks a position with the Family Court, Thirteenth 24 Judicial Circuit, seat number six. 25 If you would, please, ma'am, raise 0170 1 your right hand to be sworn. 2 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 3 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 4 so help you God? 5 MRS. CHRISTOPHILLIS: Yes, I do. 6 REP. DELLENEY: Did you bring anyone 7 with you today? 8 MRS. CHRISTOPHILLIS: Yes. I have my 9 husband here, Constantine Christophillis, of 30 10 years. 11 REP. DELLENEY: We're glad to have 12 you, Mr. Christophillis. 13 MR. CHRISTOPHILLIS: Thank you, sir. 14 REP. DELLENEY: The Judicial Merit 15 Selection Commission has thoroughly investigated 16 your qualifications for service on the bench. Our 17 inquiry has focused primarily on nine evaluative 18 criteria which has included a survey of the bench 19 and bar, a thorough study of your application 20 materials, verification of your compliance with 21 state ethics laws, a search of any newspaper 22 articles in which your name may have appeared, and 23 a check for economic conflicts of interest. 24 No affidavits have been filed in 25 opposition to your election. And there are no 0171 1 witnesses present here to testify. 2 Do you have a brief opening statement 3 that you'd like to make? 4 MRS. CHRISTOPHILLIS: Yes. I just 5 want to say I'm glad to be here this afternoon. 6 I'm glad that my husband of 30 years is here. We 7 met in law school here in Columbia 33 years ago. 8 And I'm happy to answer any questions y'all might 9 have for me. 10 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, ma'am. 11 Answer any questions that counsel 12 might have for you. 13 MRS. CHRISTOPHILLIS: Thank you. 14 MR. GENTRY: Mr. Chairman and members 15 of the commission, I have a few procedural matters 16 to take care of. 17 BY MR. GENTRY: 18 Q. Mrs. Christophillis, in front of you 19 are two documents. Do you recognize the first 20 document as the personal data questionnaire you 21 submitted as part of your application? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. Is there any amendment that you'd like 24 to make at this time to your personal data 25 questionnaire? 0172 1 A. Yes, there is. I have a written 2 letter that I'll put on top of this questionnaire. 3 Subsequent to filing the questionnaire, I did send 4 a letter -- a general letter out to members of the 5 house and senate just as an introduction including 6 my vitae which amounted to a little bit over a 7 $100, so that was different. And then I therefore 8 filed the appropriate paperwork with the ethics 9 committee for the House and Senate. That would be 10 an amendment to number 40. 11 There's also an amendment to 12 number 45. At the time that I sent the letter out, 13 which was earlier, at that time -- at that time I 14 didn't know all the people on the Judicial Merit 15 Committee. Well, there were two people that were 16 added recently. And they were to receive my 17 letter. I just amended number 45 to know that I 18 didn't realize, of course, at that time that there 19 would be two different House members to the 20 commission. 21 Q. Do you recognize the second document 22 as the sworn statement you submitted as part of 23 your application? 24 A. Yes, I did. 25 Q. Is there any amendment that you'd like 0173 1 to make to your sworn statement? 2 A. No, there's not. 3 MR. GENTRY: At this time, 4 Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask that 5 Mrs. Christophillis' personal data questionnaire 6 and amendment and sworn statement be entered as an 7 exhibit into the hearing record. 8 REP. DELLENEY: Without objection, the 9 personal data questionnaire and the amendment, as 10 well as the sworn statement will be entered into 11 the transcript and record at this point. 12 (Exhibit Number 8 was marked for 13 identification.) 14 MR. GENTRY: Mrs. Christophillis' 15 sworn statement with detailed answers to over 30 16 questions regarding judicial conduct, statutory 17 qualifications, office administration, and 18 temperament is included in your notebooks. I have 19 no concerns with the statement and with the 20 commission's approval I would ask that those 21 questions be waived in this public hearing today. 22 One final procedural matter, I would 23 note for the record that based on the testimony 24 contained in the candidate's PDQ which has been 25 included in the record with the candidate's 0174 1 consent, Mrs. Christophillis meets the statutory 2 requirements for this position regarding age, 3 residence, and years of practice. 4 BY MR. GENTRY: 5 Q. Mrs. Christophillis, why do you want 6 to serve as a Family Court Judge? 7 A. For the past 30 years I have been 8 practicing law primarily in the Family Court and as 9 a public servant in Greenville County, State of 10 South Carolina, in a different capacity which I'll 11 go into as. I believe there is no higher public 12 servant job that I could have and imagine then 13 serving the people of my community in Greenville 14 and my State of South Carolina on a Family Court 15 bench. 16 And I -- to elaborate a little bit 17 further into a little more detail about my 18 background, when I started practicing 30 years ago 19 it was in the Family Court in the area of private 20 practice, representing men and women in their 21 divorces, their property settlements, their name 22 changes, adoptions, representing juveniles in 23 juvenile court for seven years. After that time, I 24 was very respectfully had the position of special 25 unit in charge of child abuse and neglect for the 0175 1 Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Greenville County. 2 At that time there were no attorneys 3 for DSS. The contracts were with the solicitor's 4 office. So I handled hundreds of cases of child 5 abuse, neglect in Family Court for a period of 6 seven years. During that time I also wrote some 7 legislation, Homicide by Child Abuse. I was 8 chairman of the State Child Fatality Committee for 9 eight years and helped write the statute that 10 implemented the state Child Fatality's Committee. 11 I served in various other gubernatorial and 12 legislative positions. While I was at the 13 solicitor's office in my job as an advocate for 14 children and then at the attorney general's office, 15 I was chairman of a committee that was a 16 multidisciplinary committee that was in charge of 17 the drug-impaired infants issue. 18 We were a multidisciplinary task force 19 and team looking into those issues and we developed 20 a protocol that was a team approach to handling 21 those type of cases. And when I was with the 22 attorney general's office, I traveled around the 23 state and dealt with those issues and trained other 24 multidisciplinary teams in that area as well as the 25 elder abuse unit. 0176 1 I have also served as an appointed 2 guardian ad litem in many contested custody cases 3 in Greenville County where I've represented 4 children's issues in those matters. And I feel 5 that my background in all the areas involving 6 Family Court expands over 30 years. And that gives 7 me a lot of expertise and compassion and advocacy 8 for children and families and would qualify me for 9 this position. 10 Q. Are there any legal or procedural 11 areas that you feel you would need to further 12 prepare for? And if so, how would you go about 13 that preparation? 14 A. I don't feel that there's any areas 15 because of my background in all the other areas. 16 However, I would be wanting to serve in any 17 capacity with other members of the judiciary to get 18 experience behind the bench. I've been an 19 advocate, of course, before the bench. And in this 20 position, I would want to be able to observe and 21 train with other Family Court judges in this area 22 as well as attend any CLEs or any type of training 23 in the judicial capacity. 24 Q. Could you please tell the members of 25 the commission what you think is the appropriate 0177 1 demeanor for a judge. 2 A. The appropriate demeanor is to be fair 3 and compassionate. To have a strength but have a 4 passion. To know that the people in front of you 5 are in crisis. The people that come before the 6 Family Court are people in a most crisis situation. 7 You must have a calm manner of dealing with all of 8 those types of people. Fair to anyone that appears 9 before you and have a sense of responsibility to 10 them that the judicial system is there to listen, 11 and so that they will know that you're being fair 12 and equitable to everyone. 13 Q. Do you have any suggestions you would 14 offer for improving the backlog of cases in Family 15 Court? 16 A. Yes. In my experience, I can see a 17 lot of things. Particularly at the temporary 18 hearing level. I think that mediation should be 19 ordered in those temporary hearings. Mediation in 20 90 days works very well. 21 I also neglected to say that I was a 22 trained mediator in the 1990s. I had to actually 23 go to Atlanta to be trained in Family Court 24 mediation because South Carolina wasn't doing it at 25 that time. But mediation has been a great tool in 0178 1 Greenville County. It's one of the mandatory 2 counties. But it's been a great tool. 3 Also, the issue of arbitration could 4 be used in areas of -- particularly the division of 5 personal property. An arbitrator would be an 6 attorney, not a judge, and that would help move 7 some of the cases from the backlog of the bench. 8 Also, using pretrial conferences and status 9 hearings would be appropriate. 10 One of the things that I got 11 interested in at the attorney general's office was 12 an area -- I was looking at drug court. I was 13 lucky enough to go down to Miami to two of the 14 first drug courts. I believe that so many issues 15 that I've seen involve extreme drug abuse and 16 alcohol abuse. The idea of having drug courts and 17 Family Courts, I think, would be another option to 18 look at because you don't want to have repeat 19 offenders. If you can get to the issue, which 20 would be to stop the alcohol and drug abuse, that 21 would be an important issue as well. 22 One other thing would be to try to 23 appoint guardian ad litems prior to the temporary 24 hearing. I've had the ability to serve as a 25 guardian ad litem even before a temporary hearing 0179 1 by consent of both attorneys. That way a guardian 2 will get out and review cases and actually come up 3 with a preliminary report, so that some of the 4 issues that might not be able to be decided, the 5 guardian can come in with recommendations. And 6 that's another way. And mediation also in DSS 7 cases. We just started doing that in Greenville 8 County. Mediating a lot of the deep -- and 9 offering a diversion in juvenile offender cases and 10 mediation in juvenile offender cases as well. 11 Q. If you are elected to the bench, what 12 would you want for your legacy to be as a judge in 13 the Family Court? 14 A. I think it's not so much as a personal 15 legacy for me, but to know that I did a hard job. 16 I did an appropriate job. I was fair. I was 17 equitable. I helped with families in crisis, and I 18 helped the backlog of cases. I believe that judges 19 should have a very strong work ethic and a very 20 strong responsibility to the people that come 21 before them. Who, again, are people in a crisis 22 situation and need some understanding. 23 So I think the legacy would be to have 24 the public know, the people of South Carolina, that 25 they have a fair and equitable, hardworking forum 0180 1 for their issues. 2 Q. The commission received one anonymous 3 bench and bar survey. They expressed concerns 4 regarding your diligence, attentativeness to cases, 5 and communication skills. The person also 6 questioned whether you'd be passionate about 7 serving on the bench. 8 Would you like to respond to the bench 9 and bar survey? 10 A. Yes. I believe that I am -- I think 11 the people that know me personally, have worked 12 with me, know that I'm fair. I am very passionate. 13 I've been an advocate concerning children's issues 14 and family issues for 30 years. I guess that just 15 only one -- one person in 30 years is pretty good. 16 But I think if you would know me and know the work 17 that I've done, and the responsibility, and the 18 hard issues that I think that I've looked at, that 19 you would know that I have a good record. 20 Q. In 1984, you as a first mortgage 21 holder were joined as a party defendant in a 22 foreclosure action brought by a second mortgage 23 holder against the landowner. 24 What was the outcome of that case? 25 A. That was dismissed. It was merely an 0181 1 adding on as a party. And it was dismissed right 2 away. The mortgage had been paid by another 3 person. 4 Q. Thank you, Mrs. Christophillis. 5 Have you sought or received the pledge 6 of any legislator prior to this date? 7 A. No, I haven't. 8 Q. Have you sought or have you been 9 offered a conditional pledge of support of any 10 legislator pending the outcome of your screening? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Have you asked any third parties to 13 contact members of the General Assembly on your 14 behalf? 15 A. I think that -- in my talks with 16 people, people might have contacted people. But 17 I've made it very clear and very strong about the 18 48-hour rule. And that no pledges or commitments 19 can be made at that time. 20 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 21 commission? 22 A. No. Except for in my amendment when 23 the letter was sent out to two members that I 24 didn't know were on the commission at that time. 25 Q. Do you understand that you're 0182 1 prohibited from seeking a pledge or a commitment 2 until 48 hours after the formal release of the 3 commission's report? 4 A. Yes, I do. 5 Q. Have you reviewed the commission's 6 guidelines on pledging? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. As a followup, are you aware of the 9 penalties for violating the pledging rules? 10 A. Yes. 11 MR. GENTRY: I would note that the 12 Upstate Citizens Committee found that 13 Mrs. Christophillis meets the qualifications as set 14 forth in the evaluative criteria. The committee 15 noted that the interviews and other sources 16 utilized have led the committee to determine that 17 she is well qualified for the position she seeks. 18 I would note for the record that any 19 concerns raised during the investigation regarding 20 the candidate were incorporated in the questioning 21 of the candidate today. 22 Mr. Chairman, I have no further 23 questions. 24 REP. DELLENEY: Questions by the 25 commission? All right. Senator Knotts. 0183 1 BY SEN. KNOTTS: 2 Q. Do they work on Friday afternoons in 3 Greenville County? 4 A. No. No, they do not. 5 Q. What would you do? 6 A. I would work. 7 Q. Is it needed? 8 A. Yes, sir, it is. Because we have a 9 tremendous backlog. Typically in the private areas 10 and all the areas, domestic violence, child 11 abuse/neglect. 12 Q. What is the normal work schedule of 13 the court in Greenville County now that you see 14 that you practice in? Is it hard to get a judge? 15 A. No. I wouldn't say it's hard to get a 16 judge. I think our judges are committed. 17 Q. Starting on Monday to say Friday at 18 noon? 19 A. Friday at noon. Nine o'clock or 8:30, 20 depending, until usually typically until five or 21 sometimes later. I think -- my opinion would be, 22 that you have to work and do whatever it takes to 23 get these cases heard. 24 Q. Thank you. 25 REP. DELLENEY: Any further questions? 0184 1 There being none, I would like to 2 thank you, Mrs. Christophillis, for being here with 3 us today. I thank your husband for being with you. 4 And I would remind you about the 48-hour rule. We 5 issue a report which goes on the desk of the 6 members of the General Assembly. It's a draft 7 report initially, and after 48 hours it becomes the 8 final report of this commission which we cannot 9 alter or amend. But up until that point, we can 10 reconvene a public hearing and recall candidates to 11 come testify before us or any other witness we 12 would like to hear from. We don't do that very 13 often, but we have done that in the past. And most 14 of the time it was because of some perceived 15 irregularities in the election process. 16 So I would just tell you about that 17 and remind you about that rule, and hope you have a 18 safe trip back home. 19 MRS. CHRISTOPHILLIS: Thank you very 20 much. Thank you for your attention. 21 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, ma'am. 22 Thank you, sir. 23 (Mrs. Christophillis exits the room.) 24 (A recess transpired.) 25 (Mr. Culp enters the room.) 0185 1 REP. DELLENEY: We have -- our next 2 candidate is Mr. W. Wallace Culp. After that we'll 3 be at -- all right. We have before us today Mr. W. 4 Wallace Culp III, who seeks a position on the 5 Family Court for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, 6 seat number six. 7 If you would, sir, please raise your 8 right hand to be sworn. 9 Do you solemnly swear to tell the 10 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 11 so help you God? 12 MR. CULP: I do. 13 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 14 The Judicial Merit Selection Committee 15 has thoroughly investigated your qualifications for 16 service on the bench. Our inquiry has primarily 17 focused on nine evaluative criteria which have 18 included a survey of the bench and bar, a study of 19 your application materials, a verification of your 20 compliance with state ethics laws, a search of any 21 newspaper articles in which your name may have 22 appeared, a study of any previous screenings you 23 may have been involved in, and a check for economic 24 conflicts of interest. 25 There are no affidavits filed in 0186 1 opposition to your candidacy or election. Nor are 2 there any witnesses here to testify. 3 Do you have a brief opening statement 4 that you'd like to make? 5 MR. CULP: I would like to say 6 something briefly. I appreciate being here today. 7 I'm very interested in serving on this seat. I've 8 provided service to the State of South Carolina in 9 Greenville County. I have been practicing law for 10 22 years. I have focused on family law for about 11 17 years and do a good bit of a work in the Family 12 Court both as a private attorney and also in about 13 30 to 40 Department of Social Service cases per 14 year. And that's why I'm placing myself for this 15 candidacy. 16 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 17 Please answer any questions that our 18 able counsel might have for you. 19 MS. GOLDSMITH: Mr. Chairman and 20 members of the commission, I have a few procedural 21 matters to take care of. 22 BY MS. GOLDSMITH: 23 Q. Mr. Culp, I think you have two 24 documents in front of you right now. Is one of 25 those documents your personal data questionnaire 0187 1 that you submitted as part of your application? 2 A. That's correct. 3 Q. At this time, do you have any 4 amendments that you'd like to make? 5 A. I do have a few amendments which are 6 technical amendments which I've made in regard to 7 the application. 8 Q. Okay. Thank you. 9 MS. GOLDSMITH: At this time, 10 Mr. Chairman, I would ask that both the personal 11 data questionnaire and the amendment submitted by 12 Mr. Culp entered into the record as an exhibit. 13 REP. DELLENEY: It will be done at 14 this point in the transcript record. 15 (Exhibit Number 9 was marked for 16 identification.) 17 MS. GOLDSMITH: Mr. Culp also provided 18 a sworn statement with detailed answers to over 30 19 questions regarding judicial conduct, statutory 20 qualification, office administration, and 21 temperament. That statement has been provided to 22 all commission members and is included in your 23 notebook. 24 I have no concerns with the statement 25 and with the commission's approval, I would ask 0188 1 that those questions be waived in this public 2 hearing today. 3 BY MS. GOLDSMITH: 4 Q. Mr. Culp, is the second document 5 that's in front of you your sworn statement? 6 A. It is. 7 Q. Do you have any amendment that you 8 would like to make to that today? 9 A. I do not. 10 MS. GOLDSMITH: At this time then I 11 would ask that Mr. Culp's sworn statement be 12 entered into the record as an exhibit as well. 13 REP. DELLENEY: Mr. Culp's sworn 14 statement will be entered into the record at this 15 point in time without any objection. 16 MS. GOLDSMITH: One final procedural 17 matter. I note for the record that based on the 18 testimony contained in Mr. Culp's personal data 19 questionnaire, which has been included in the 20 record, Mr. Wallace Culp III, meets the statutory 21 requirement for this position regarding age, 22 residence, and years of practice. 23 BY MS. GOLDSMITH: 24 Q. Mr. Culp, will you please tell the 25 commission, the city, county, and circuit in which 0189 1 you reside. 2 A. Greenville, Greenville County, and 3 Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. 4 Q. Mr. Culp, why do you want to serve as 5 a Family Court Judge? 6 A. Well, as I've said, I've been doing 7 Family Court work for about 17 years. I enjoy 8 helping people who have problems in this area. 9 This is an area of law in which people come in with 10 great issues. Obviously, a lot of personal issues 11 and I like trying to help them with their problems 12 and do a service to them. I feel like this is 13 something that I was called to do. I have a family 14 history of people -- doing work with individuals 15 who are in need of crisis. 16 My father was a Methodist minister for 17 34 years in South Carolina. And basically dealt 18 with a lot of the same issues in his area. He 19 wasn't a lawyer, but he did similar things in 20 dealing with people in crisis. My mother was a 21 registered nurse, and I feel like we have had a 22 history of the family providing service to people. 23 And I would like to make sure that I use my talents 24 and my experience to provide service to the people 25 of Greenville County in a judicial capacity. 0190 1 Q. Thank you. 2 Mr. Culp, although you address this in 3 your sworn affidavit, could you please tell the 4 members of the commission what you believe is the 5 appropriate demeanor for a judge. 6 A. Well, I think the judge, first of all, 7 has to listen to all the arguments, remain calm, 8 not get upset with people. And also make a very 9 analytical choice in terms of how they may deal 10 with a situation and try to treat everybody fairly 11 under the circumstances. 12 Q. Is there any area of the law that you 13 think you would need additional preparation, and 14 how would you go about that preparation? 15 A. Well, as I said, I've got pretty 16 extensive experience as far as private Family Court 17 cases. I also have very extensive experience in 18 regard to social service cases. The one area that 19 I will probably need some learning in would be the 20 Department of Justice, juvenile justice matters. 21 But I believe based on my extensive 22 experience with social service matters that carry 23 over there. And I've typically done pretty well in 24 terms of learning. I know people who practice in 25 that area who have already offered to give me 0191 1 materials and give me some help. So I think I can 2 do that pretty quickly. 3 Q. Thank you. 4 When you leave the bench, what would 5 you like for your legacy to be as a judge for the 6 Family Court? 7 A. I would like it to be that I've 8 provided service to the people of my community and 9 also treated people fairly, and was able to help 10 them deal with very difficult situations. 11 Q. What suggestions would you offer for 12 improving the backlog of cases on the docket in the 13 Family Court? 14 A. Well, one thing that I've talked to 15 people about before is I think that we need to move 16 towards dividing up the way the Family Court is 17 structured. Right now you have three major areas. 18 You have private cases, private matters. You have 19 Department of Juvenile Justice matters. And you 20 have the Department of Social Services matters. 21 I think the way to deal with this 22 ultimately and also to make sure that the citizens 23 are treated fairly and have a better view of the 24 courts is, I think that we need to move towards 25 dividing those up and actually making certain 0192 1 judges hear only the Department of Juvenile Justice 2 cases and probably even have those judges only hear 3 certain -- like Department of Social Service cases. 4 I think that would make the system more efficient. 5 And it would also make people, especially private 6 litigants, who will see the system as being better. 7 I think we also need to go to a 8 docketing system that's much more efficient in 9 terms of making sure the cases that are settled 10 are -- or no-contest cases get heard quickly. 11 Because a lot of times even when we have cases that 12 are resolved or mediated, we still have to wait a 13 month or two to get a hearing on a non-contested 14 matter. And this does not sit well with the 15 private litigants. And I think we need to move 16 towards -- and, of course, I'm in the largest 17 county in the state. So we may have a little bit 18 more backlog than other counties although I'm not 19 sure that's true. 20 But I think we need to get those cases 21 to trial and hearings quicker. And that would also 22 encourage mediation. Because one of the things in 23 mediation is that people are told that you can wrap 24 your matter up or you can quickly litigate, but 25 sometimes you still have to wait two months for a 0193 1 hearing. 2 So I'd like to see more of a push 3 towards that. I think, though, that we need to 4 move towards designating certain judges and certain 5 matters, and I think that will move things along 6 better. And also part of the reason we don't get 7 to court a lot of times in private cases is we're 8 waiting on the Department of Social Services docket 9 to have its cases. Because I do both and know how 10 that happens. 11 Q. Thank you, Mr. Culp. 12 Have you sought or received the pledge 13 of any legislator prior to today? 14 A. No. 15 Q. Have you sought or have you been 16 offered a conditional pledge of support of any 17 legislator pending the outcome of your screening? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Have you asked any third parties to 20 contact members of the General Assembly on your 21 behalf? 22 A. No. 23 Q. Have you contacted any members of the 24 commission? 25 A. No. 0194 1 Q. Do you understand that you are 2 prohibited from seeking a pledge or committee until 3 48 hours after the formal release of the 4 commission's report? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Have you reviewed the commission's 7 guidelines on pledging? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. As a followup, are you aware that the 10 penalties for violating the pledging rules is a 11 misdemeanor and upon conviction the violator must 12 be fined not more than $1,000 or in prison not more 13 than 90 days? 14 A. Yes. 15 MS. GOLDSMITH: I would note for the 16 commission that the Upstate Citizens Committee 17 reported that Mr. Culp appears to have all the 18 necessary constitutional qualifications to serve as 19 a Family Court Judge. The committee also noted 20 that it had not discovered any information that 21 would lead it to question the ethical fitness of 22 Mr. Culp. The committee indicated that Mr. Culp 23 appears to have all the necessary professional and 24 academic ability to serve as a Family Court Judge. 25 The committee also noted that it had no reason to 0195 1 believe that Mr. Culp had any negative character 2 traits. 3 Additionally, the committee found that 4 Mr. Culp enjoys a favorable reputation in the 5 community and amongst his legal peers. The 6 committee indicated that Mr. Culp appears to be in 7 good physical and mental health. The committee 8 also noted that Mr. Culp has sufficient experience 9 in Family Court setting. And finally, the 10 committee indicated that it believed that Mr. Culp 11 would have an excellent judicial temperament. 12 I would note for the record that any 13 concerns raised during the investigation regarding 14 the candidate were incorporated into the 15 questioning of him today. 16 Mr. Chairman, I have no further 17 questions. 18 REP. DELLENEY: Questions from the 19 commission? Senator Ford. 20 BY SEN. FORD: 21 Q. Good afternoon, Mr. Culp. 22 A. Good afternoon. 23 Q. What Family Court judge in Greenville 24 County would you like to carry yourself after? 25 A. Well, I thought that Judge Cleveland 0196 1 Barber [phonetic] was a good judge. He's no longer 2 on the bench, but he always carried a good 3 demeanor. He always was very good about hearing 4 both sides. And also the way he made his decisions 5 and his demeanor. 6 Q. The classification you gave a few 7 minutes ago about the dockets, did he meet those 8 classifications that you gave? 9 A. About the dockets? 10 Q. Yeah. You were saying that there are 11 five days a week from nine to five, worked with 12 different groups and everything, DSS, to try to get 13 the docket with the Family Court system in 14 Greenville moved, because of all the backlog. 15 A. Well, I think all the judges up there 16 have tried to do what they can in order to move 17 things along. And I think the problem is more in 18 the fact that the Department of Social Services 19 cases have priority and there's a lot of them. 20 But I think all the judges have done 21 what they can to move the cases along. I think 22 it's just the question that it's so much. 23 Q. No. Well, that's not enough. We have 24 to solve it. How would you solve it? 25 A. Well, as I said earlier, what I would 0197 1 try to do -- one thing is to try to divide up 2 certain judges to handled just Department of Social 3 Service cases as opposed to private cases and have 4 a specific way to do that and then make sure we 5 allocate enough judges to deal with those 6 particular matters. I think that's one way to do 7 it. 8 Another way to do it would be to have 9 more people on standby for certain cases like 10 private cases. Although Greenville County have 11 gone to a system where they have like three cases 12 that could go to trial at one time. They may have 13 to go where they go more. But I think one of the 14 things that's probably going to have to be done is 15 to have more judges as well. But that's a budget 16 issue right there. 17 Q. What about -- something about nine 18 weeks, nine weeks that judges give where they 19 would -- where they give two up or something. 20 What's that about? Nine weeks of what? 21 A. I'm not quite sure what that is. 22 Q. What's that about nine weeks of what? 23 A. I'm not sure what that is. 24 Q. Judges get nine weeks of some kind of 25 time and they give two weeks up? 0198 1 MR. HARRELL: Chambers time. 2 SEN. FORD: Chambers time. 3 BY SEN. FORD: 4 Q. Would you be willing to give -- let's 5 say you're elected. You've got nine weeks of 6 chamber time. 7 Would you be willing to give up, let's 8 say two weeks, maybe three weeks to help get rid of 9 the backlog in Greenville County? 10 A. If I've got -- assuming I get nine 11 total weeks a year, I don't mind giving up two, 12 three weeks of that to deal with backlog. I think 13 that some chamber will be necessary just to catch 14 up on orders and other matters. Of course, I have 15 not been a judge before but I would think if 16 they've got nine weeks already, I'm probably 17 willing to give up two or three weeks to deal with 18 backlog. 19 Q. One more question. Now, the views 20 that you've expressed, have you expressed those 21 views to sitting judges or other members of the 22 judiciary -- not judiciary, other lawyers in 23 Greenville County? 24 A. I have discussed them with other 25 attorneys at times, and also other people that work 0199 1 with -- like the guardian ad litem system. And 2 also people who work with the foster care system, 3 they're concerned about the backlog as well. 4 Q. What about sitting judges? 5 A. Not sitting judges. I haven't talked 6 to them about it. 7 Q. Well, I think you should. Because 8 we've got to do something about these backlogs. 9 I'm not too familiar with the Family Court. But I 10 know in Charleston we've got a lot of problems with 11 the Circuit Court and backlogs. But I've got to 12 look at the Family Court. 13 A. I don't -- I would be glad to do that. 14 I've got no problem with that. 15 REP. DELLENEY: Any further questions? 16 There being no other questions, 17 Mr. Culp, we appreciate you being here today. 18 MR. CULP: Thank you for having me 19 here. 20 REP. DELLENEY: I'll just remind you 21 about the 48-hour rule. We issue a draft report. 22 That report remains a draft until it's been on the 23 desk of General Assembly for 48 hours. At that 24 point you're free to solicit commitments and have 25 others to do also. Up until that time we can 0200 1 reconvene a public hearing and bring candidates or 2 witnesses back here to testify. We don't do that 3 very often. Some of the times that we have done 4 that have been involved with perceived 5 improprieties in the election process. I would 6 just caution you about that. 7 And thank you for being here, and I 8 hope you have a safe trip home back to Greenville. 9 MR. CULP: Thank you. 10 Does this statement need to go 11 anywhere else? 12 MS. GOLDSMITH: Hand that to the 13 staff. 14 REP. DELLENEY: Thank you, sir. 15 Next we have Catherine Fairey who was 16 the 2:50 scheduled time. 17 (Mr. Culp exits the room.) 18 (Court reporter was relieved at 19 3:44 p.m., and the proceedings continued in 20 Volume IV.) 21 22 23 24 25 0201 1 2 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 3 4 I, Sonia I. Mendez, Court Reporter and Notary Public for the State of South Carolina at Large, do 5 hereby certify: 6 That the foregoing proceedings were taken before me on the date and at the time mentioned on 7 page 1 and the proceedings were recorded stenographically by me and were thereafter 8 transcribed under my direction; that the foregoing transcript as typed is a true, accurate and 9 complete record of the proceedings to the best of my ability. 10 I further certify that I am neither related to 11 nor counsel for any party to the cause pending or interested in the events thereof. 12 Witness my hand, I have hereunto affixed my 13 official seal this 15th day of December 2008, at Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina. 14 15 16 17 ____________________________________ Sonia I. Mendez, 18 Court Reporter, Notary Public State of South Carolina 19 at Large. My Commission expires 20 March 23, 2017. 21 22 23 24 25 0202 1 2 I N D E X 3 CANDIDATE Page 4 HONORABLE CLIFTON NEWMAN 10 5 HONORABLE WILLIAM HENRY SEALS, JR. 32 6 WILLIAM J. THROWER 54 7 SARAH ELIZABETH WETMORE 73 8 EDGAR HENDERSON LONG 113 9 M. SCOTT McELHANNON 135 10 DAVID EARL PHILLIPS 151 11 CATHERINE C. CHRISTOPHILLIS 169 12 W. WALLACE CULP, III 184