A 3-2 majority of the South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday voided a secret judge’s order that allowed a convicted killer to be released from prison 16 years early and ordered that Jeroid Price be arrested and returned to prison.
The decision was confirmed by Attorney General Alan Wilson and 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who as an assistant Richland County solicitor in 2003 convicted Price, 38, of a Columbia nightclub murder.
The court’s decision was made only hours after justices heard arguments from Wilson and Price’s attorney Todd Rutherford, who also serves in the South Carolina House.
In the majority were justices John Kittredge, John Cannon Few and new Justice Garrison Hill. Dissenting were Chief Justice Donald Beatty and Associate Justice George “Buck” James.
“We’re pleased the Court heard our request with such urgency and agreed that Jeroid Price’s release was unlawful and that he should be remanded back to the Department of Corrections immediately,” Wilson said in a statement. “Secret orders and backroom deals have no place in our justice system. I hope this sends a clear message to the people of South Carolina: our procedures matter and no one is above the law.”
Rutherford was not immediately available for comment.
At Wednesday’s hearing, justices appeared frustrated over whether they had jurisdiction to overturn the order, which one justice called a “phantom order” and another, an “underground order.”
Price’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
Since he was released from prison in mid-March, he had not been under any kind of supervision or orders to report to law enforcement.
Price, convicted of murder in 2003 of Carl Smalls’ 2002 shooting death, was released from a New Mexico prison on March 15 despite only serving 19 years of a 35-year prison sentence.
His release was largely unknown to the public until last week, when Pascoe told media of Price’s early release and the secret order signed by now-retired Judge Casey Manning that allowed him out.
The case has since sparked widespread controversy and outrage, particularly after the victim’s family said they were only notified the day of Price’s release on March 15 and were not given an opportunity to speak against his release in a courtroom.
State law requires that victims be given an opportunity to attend a public hearing about a prisoner’s release.
Price’s release has raised questions about the cozy nonpublic relationships of lawyers to solicitors and judges and about lawyer-legislators who vet and elect judges that they sometimes practice in front of.
Rutherford had urged the justices Wednesday to uphold the release of Price, saying he’ll be a target and his life will be in danger if returned to prison.
Price was released because he provided substantial assistance to law enforcement that saved lives, Rutherford told the justices.
Although the dispute over Price’s release was originally scheduled to go before a state court judge last week, Wilson raised legal objections to the state’s highest court, which agreed to unseal the judge order.