Speedy trial? Battle raging over when to try SC Sen. John Courson on corruption charges

Up to now, both special Prosecutor David Pascoe and the attorney for S.C. Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, have said they want a speedy trial on Courson’s public corruption charges.

But now Courson’s attorney, Rosemary Parham, is raising concerns about a trial in the near future.

Pascoe’s office “says it wants to set a trial date, but it has just given me some 70,000 pages of documents to review,” said Courson’s attorney, Rosemary Parham, on Monday.

“We want a speedy trial, but we want a fair trial,” said Parham, indicating she prefers a continuance that could delay any trial date for months. It can take a day or more to go through just 1,000 pages of documents, she said.

“Tucked away in those 70,000 pages could be 10 pages that could help you. But we won’t know until we go through it,” Parham said.

Under legal rules in criminal cases, prosecutors have to turn over to the defense any evidence that might be favorable to the defendant.

Reached Monday, Pascoe said that his comments to a reporter would be limited because “it is extremely inappropriate for attorneys to make public comments on issues pending in a criminal matter.”

However, added Pascoe, “I strongly disagree with Mrs. Parham’s representations, and these are matters that will be resolved by Judge (Carmen) Mullen.”

In October, Parham went before a judge to argue that Pascoe should be disqualified from prosecuting Courson because Pascoe’s authority to investigate and prosecute was limited to just three people named in a confidential section of a State Law Enforcement Division investigative report.

But state Judge Carmen Mullen sided with Pascoe, agreeing that his investigation of Courson properly grew out of his investigation of the other three individuals. Pascoe had the authority to follow the evidence where it led, Mullen concluded.

Parham then filed a motion that she would appeal Mullen’s decision with the S.C. Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court last week rejected that motion. Parham indicated Monday she would appeal that decision.

But for now, judges appear to have given Pascoe the green light to have a trial, perhaps as early as February.

Courson, 73, is charged with getting kickbacks from his longtime political adviser, Richard Quinn & Associates. According to Pascoe, Courson would pay the Quinn firm regularly from his campaign account for political advice and then receive a check made out to him personally. Courson would then cash that check in his personal Bank of American checking account and pocket the money, Pascoe has said in court hearings.

The crucial evidence in the Courson case would appear to be just a small batch of banking and checking records. Those records show that Courson received $159,000 in allegedly illegal payments from the Quinn firm from 2006 to 2012, Pascoe said in hearings this fall.

A trial in Courson’s case would attract statewide attention. As one of the state’s most senior and veteran senators, his indictment in March by a Pascoe state grand jury rocked the political world. A trial would also open a window into the secret but powerful world of Richard Quinn & Associates, which for many years has been the state’s most influential political consulting firm.

So far in Pascoe’s investigation of public corruption in the S.C. General Assembly, two lawmakers have pleaded guilty to misconduct charges and have been sentenced. Besides Courson, three other lawmakers and political consultant Richard Quinn are awaiting trial on various charges linked to illegal influence peddling.