Convicted SC killer’s lawyer points finger at solicitor over prisoner’s early release

A South Carolina lawyer representing a convicted murderer released nearly 16 years early from prison says the 5th Circuit solicitor was largely responsible in getting a state judge to release Jeroid Price early from behind bars.

Todd Rutherford, who also is a Richland County legislator, made the claim Monday to the S.C. Supreme Court.

The state’s high court will hold a Wednesday session to consider arguments over whether Jeroid Price, convicted in the 2002 murder of Carl Smalls at a Columbia-area nightclub, was unlawfully released from prison on March 15.

For now, Price is out of prison and law enforcement sources have told The State in recent days they don’t know exactly where he is.

Rutherford’s version of events contradicts a statement issued last week by 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, who said Rutherford and now-retired Judge Casey Manning were largely responsible for Price’s release.

Gipson said his office decided to file a motion with Manning in December 2022 for a formal hearing to determine “how much, if any, of Mr. Price’s sentence merited a reduction.” But, Gipson said, his motion was never filed because Manning went ahead and issued the order “before the motion could be filed.”

Price, 38, was convicted of Smalls’ murder in 2003 and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Last week, 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who prosecuted Price in 2003, disclosed Price was released from prison after only serving nearly 19 years following a previously sealed order signed by Manning.

That order, unsealed by the state Supreme Court last Thursday, was signed by Manning on Dec. 30, 2022, and said that Price was to be released after serving 19 years. The order cited three examples of his help to law enforcement while an inmate that included saving the lives of corrections officers and the prompt capture of another inmate who escaped.

Although convicted felons can win an early release for helping law enforcement, news of Price’s release quickly exploded into a public controversy and questions were raised over whether state law was followed.

Adding further fuel was outrage expressed by law enforcement officials involved in prosecuting Price and Smalls’ parents, who said they were unaware Price would be released so early.

The judge at his trial, Reggie Lloyd, said Price would have to serve all 35 years of his sentence.

“It was an execution, cold blooded murder. Smalls was lying on the floor when he was shot,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told The State Monday.

In his Monday brief, Rutherford challenged Gipson’s version of events and said the solicitor played a far greater role in getting Price out of prison than he is acknowledging.

Last December, Rutherford wrote, he and Gipson met in Manning’s office, and “during this meeting Solicitor Gipson made an oral motion to reduce Mr. Price’s sentence,” Rutherford wrote.

On Dec. 15, 2022, Rutherford told the high court he gave Gipson a proposed order for Manning to sign releasing Price from prison. On Dec. 29, 2022, Gipson emailed Rutherford a revised version of the order, and Rutherford agreed to the revisions. Gipson then submitted the proposed order to Manning, and, on Dec. 30, 2022, Manning signed the order, Rutherford wrote.

Manning retired the next day, Dec. 31, 2022, due to the state’s 72-year-old age limit for judges.

In his brief, Rutherford included an email captioned, “Revised Order for Jeroid Price,” that showed that at 10:16 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2022, Gipson sent Rutherford ‘s office an email that said, “Attached is the final revision that will be submitted to Judge Manning for signature.”

Rutherford also asserted that “on numerous occasions” while in prison, Price rendered “substantial assistance” to law enforcement by interceding in situations where corrections officers stood to be killed or injured by inmates. The order also said Price tipped prison authorities to an undetected 2017 escape by convicted bank robber and kidnapper, Jimmy Lee Causey.

Rutherford also raised points of law in his motion.

Although Price was sentenced to a “mandatory” 35 years in prison, Rutherford said the law requiring inmates to serve all 35 years can be waived if the inmate provides “substantial assistance” to law enforcement. That is what was done with Price, he said.

“It is abundantly clear that ... Solicitor Gipson intended for Price to receive a reduction in his sentence,” Rutherford wrote. ”Solicitor Gipson initiated the communication with Judge Manning, proposed Price’s sentence reduction, and formalized his request by an oral motion before Judge Manning in chambers.”

Rutherford also said a hearing doesn’t have to be held in matters where an inmate provides assistance to law enforcement.

“This matter is currently pending before the South Carolina Supreme Court, as such I am not going to make comments at this time,” Gipson told The State by text Monday afternoon.

Pascoe, who was the assistant prosecutor in Richland County in 2003 when Price was tried, will appear at the South Carolina State House Tuesday morning with Lott, members of Smalls’ family and a bipartisan group of lawmakers seeking changes in how state judges are selected.

Currently, judges are vetted and elected by the Legislature.

Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office is expected to file a reply to Rutherford’s Monday filing by noon Tuesday.