Hill trial changed to April

Forensic psychiatrist withdraws from murder case of accused DSS shooter, citing conflict of interest

Web posted December 18, 1998

By Margaret N. O'Shea
Staff Writer

AIKEN -- A forensic psychiatrist hired by defense lawyers for David Mark Hill, who is charged with killing three social workers in North Augusta, has quit under apparent pressure from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health.

Finding a new defense doctor to evaluate Mr. Hill's court-ordered mental exam, which the state agency hasn't finished, means his death penalty trial won't occur until late April, if then. It was scheduled to start Jan. 25.

Circuit Judge Marc Westbrook authorized the delay Thursday after defense attorney Robert J. Harte requested it ``with reluctance and regret.'' The judge had some harsh words for the Department of Mental Health.

``It seems to me the state psychiatrist is trying to determine or have a veto on who your witnesses can be,'' the judge said. ``Those folks need to stay out of the issue of who is going to testify in these cases, but I can't do anything about it at this time.''

Dr. Donna Schwartz-Watts told the defense she could not participate after receiving a letter from the Department of Mental Health suggesting that the case would be a conflict of interests for her. Dr. Schwartz-Watts, now with the University of South Carolina medical school in neuro-psychiatry, once worked in forensic psychiatry at the state mental health agency.

State ethics law prohibits using prior state employment for personal gain.

Dr. Scwartz-Watts was hired by Mr. Hill's defense because of her present job, education and expertise, not her past experience with the mental health division that determines if someone is competent to stand trial, Mr. Harte said.

But she withdrew to avoid creating problems in the Hill case, he said.

``Our dilemma is that we are representing a man who needs a good, qualified mental examination and a thorough interpretation of that examination in order to defend himself against serious charges. This is a death penalty case. I thought I had a very qualified person to do this, and now I have to start over,'' he said.

Second Circuit Solicitor Barbara Morgan said she, too, is frustrated by the delay. With relatives of the victims listening in dismay, she said the state has tried four times to set the case for trial. Moving it to April will mean delaying another death case in Barnwell County.

That would put off the trial of Gregory Braxton, who is accused of shooting to death convenience store clerk Melissa ``Missy'' Griffiths in April 1997. Mr. Braxton's trial is scheduled for late April, two years after the body of the 30-year-old mother of two was found in a field off U.S. Highway 78.

The shootings with which Mr. Hill is charged took place in September 1996, and his trial apparently now will be nearly three years after the crime.

Mr. Hill allegedly walked into the North Augusta office of the Department of Social Services, looking for the case worker involved in placing his children in foster care. He shot that case worker, Jimmy Riddle, 52, and two others, Josie Curry, 35, and Michael Gregory, 30, the state contends.

Mr. Hill has a history of mental difficulties, including four suicide attempts and clinical treatment.

Obtaining all those records has been a problem, defense and prosecution attorneys said Thursday.

But the Department of Mental Health has just gotten around to asking for them, the lawyers said. The court order for a competency exam was filed on Sept. 23, but the state agency did not begin that exam for more than two months. Mr. Hill was first examined on Nov. 30, Mr. Harte said.

The work that Dr. Schwartz-Watts was to do could not begin until the state doctors were through, he said. ``If our experts ... take half as long as the Department of Mental Health is taking, we will be right up to trial.''

A spokesman for the Department of Mental Health said the agency won't take a formal position on whether its former employees, like Dr. Schwartz-Watts, should be disqualified from testifying in court cases that the agency is involved in ``until we are called upon to do so.''

Such a request would have to come from the courts, spokesman John Hutto said. The agency's written policy on competency exams does not address its stance toward doctors for the defense.

Margaret N. O'Shea can be reached at (803) 279-6895 or scbureau@augustachronicle.com.