A look at the number of murder convictions overturned by the SC Supreme Court
The South Carolina Supreme Court has a history of overturning murder convictions due to faulty criminal trials.
Besides its most recent reversal — the 2023 double murder conviction of Alex Murdaugh — the state’s highest court has overturned five murder convictions dating back to 1994, two of which occurred in the same year.
State v. Brewer (2015)
Jaquan Brewer was convicted of multiple charges stemming from a nightclub shooting in Beaufort County where two people were shot and one killed in 2009.
During the trial, the prosecution showed jurors Brewer’s unredacted interrogation video that included “hearsay-laden” comments made by detectives, according to a 2015 S.C. Supreme Court opinion.
On appeal, the court held it was error to admit Brewer’s unredacted recorded police interrogation. While the error was deemed “harmless” with regard to Brewer’s lesser charges — assault and battery with intent to kill and possession of a weapon during a violent crime — the court reversed Brewer’s murder conviction and ordered a new trial.
State v. Cottrell (2008)
Luzenski Cottrell was convicted of murder and other offenses after being accused of shooting a police officer in the face in Myrtle Beach. He was sentenced to death.
The S.C. Supreme Court held the trial judge erred by refusing to charge voluntary manslaughter as a lesser-included offense where (viewing evidence favorably to defendant) a jury could find the officer used unnecessary violence in an attempted detention/arrest, creating sufficient provocation under case law. The court reversed the murder conviction and death sentence and ordered a new trial.
Lowry v. State (2008)
Joseph Lowry was convicted of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent offense, armed robbery and criminal conspiracy in connection with the robbery and murder of a motel desk clerk in York County in 1994.
On appeal, Lowry challenged his murder conviction based on his lawyer’s failure to object to a supplemental felony-murder instruction to the jury.
The S.C. Supreme Court held the supplemental instruction likely created an unconstitutional, burden-shifting presumption of malice — or ill will — violating due process. Finding counsel ineffective for not objecting, the Court reversed Lowry’s murder conviction.
State v. McIntosh (2004)
Martin McIntosh was convicted of murder after the body of a 36-year-old woman was found submerged in a pond in rural Marlboro County in 1994.
The State’s case lacked any physical evidence tying McIntosh to the crime and, instead, relied largely on testimony from co-defendants, whose credibility was heavily attacked due to their substance abuse, memory issues and inconsistent accounts, according to an S.C. Supreme Court Opinion.
McIntosh testified to an alibi (in New York) supported in part by a rental car receipt.
The issue on appeal was whether prosecutors acted in violation of case law by questioning McIntosh about events after he invoked his right to remain silent — specifically, that he did not share with police his alibi after he was arrested and Mirandized.
The SC Supreme Court held that the questioning by prosecutors was improper, reversing the murder conviction and ordering a new trial.
State v. Cooper (1994)
Gene Tony Cooper was convicted of murder and other charges after being accused of using a shotgun to kill a Cayce mother in 1989. He was sentenced to death.
The S.C. Supreme Court reversed both the murder conviction and death sentence because Cooper was not permitted to address the jury in closing arguments during the guilt phase of his trial.
The case was set for a new trial on the charge of murder.
