Beaufort County works overtime in Wise trial

Web posted Wednesday, January 24, 2001

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By Greg Rickabaugh
South Carolina Bureau

BEAUFORT, S.C. - Three weeks into office and Beaufort County Clerk of Court Elizabeth Smith hasn't found time to hang her college diploma in her new office.

Circuit Judge Thomas W. Cooper Jr. (center) talks to Gregory Harlow (left) and Carl Grant, attorneys for Arthur Hastings Wise, during jury selection in Beaufort County. KELLIE MCCANN/MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

Things have been hectic since she took office Jan. 3, and much of it has to do with the death penalty trial of Arthur Hastings Wise, the ex-employee charged with the 1997 killings of four workers at the R.E. Phelon Co. plant in Aiken.

Jury selection continued in a Lowcountry courtroom Tuesday and should wrap up by the end of the week before the panel is transported to Aiken for trial.

Ms. Smith and her small staff of clerks sent out summonses for 300 Beaufort County residents, ordered courtroom supplies and handled lengthy jury questionnaires in preparation for jury selection in the Wise trial. They have answered telephone calls from jurors trying to get out of duty and helped sheriff's officials track down 30 people who were originally summoned.

Last weekend, Assistant Clerk of Court LaSandra Young worked a few hours overtime, leaving church Sunday to returned to the courthouse to finish preparations.

``Why did they pick Beaufort County?'' an exhausted Ms. Smith asked a reporter Monday, just before her telephone rang for the umpteenth time.

Although Aiken County will foot the bill for jury pay and travel expenses, Beaufort County inherited much of the extra work associated with jury selection in a death penalty trial. Beaufort County will pay the initial costs for the jurors' mileage and pay, and Aiken County will eventually reimburse the county, Ms. Smith said.

But the labor and overtime pay will come out of Beaufort's budget.

``There's a lot of paperwork that has to be processed before (court officials) can try a case,'' Ms. Smith said.

Ms. Smith said Aiken County court officials and attorneys have been useful to her staff in preparing for the Wise case.

``They've been great. Even though we have a very small office and we have two empty spots, they've been very helpful,'' she said.

Circuit Judge Thomas W. Cooper Jr. picked Beaufort County over three others with similar demographics to Aiken County, saying Beaufort County has a high number of transient residents who probably have little knowledge of the Phelon killings.

It is the second time in about a year's time that Aiken County has turned to another county for jurors in a high-profile capital murder case. A year ago, York County court officials played host to Aiken County for jury selection in the trial of David Mark Hill, who was sentenced to die for killing three social workers in North Augusta in 1996.

This week, 2nd Circuit Solicitor Barbara R. Morgan and defense attorneys Carl B. Grant and Gregory Harlow are in Beaufort trying to qualify jurors and seat a panel to decide Mr. Wise's fate. Jurors will be brought to Aiken for trial, which could begin as early as Saturday.

Mr. Wise, 46, is charged with four counts of murder, three counts of assault with intent to kill, four counts of possession of a gun while committing a violent crime and burglary.

Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (803) 648-1395.

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