Pubdate: Sat, 27 Sep 2003
Source: Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
Copyright: 2003 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.charleston.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567
Author: Herb Frazier, Post And Courier Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

ATTORNEY REFERRED TO PRETRIAL PROGRAM IN DRUG CASE

The Charleston attorney Dennis Rhoad and three others charged with cocaine 
possession at a College of Charleston fraternity house have been referred 
to a program that would dismiss the misdemeanor charges in exchange for 
drug testing and community service, a prosecutor said Friday.

Rhoad and the other defendants were arrested in June after a campus police 
officer reportedly saw them snorting cocaine around a pool table at the 
Sigma Chi fraternity house at 107 Wentworth St.

First-time offenders of a nonviolent crime qualify for the Pre-Trial 
Intervention Program, which is an alternative to jail, said Assistant 
Solicitor Ravi Sanyal.

By entering the program, Rhoad and the other defendants are not admitting 
guilt, Sanyal said. If they do not complete the program or get kicked out, 
they will be tried. If convicted, they could be sent to jail for a maximum 
of two years, he said.

Two others arrested with Rhoad have not been referred to PTI, Sanyal said. 
One of them does not qualify, and a decision hasn't been made on whether to 
refer the second case to PTI, he added.

Rhoad declined to comment Friday, referring questions to his attorney, Bart 
Daniel, who was not available.

Following his arrest, Rhoad, 41, resigned from The Citadel's Board of 
Visitors, the college's governing body. Rhoad also lost a position as a 
part-time assistant county attorney for the Charleston County Planning 
Commission.

Rhoad applied to the pre-trial program last month, said PTI coordinator 
Michelle Lloyd. The other defendants referred to PTI have not made a formal 
application, which can be made before a referral from the solicitor, she said.

In July, the S.C. Supreme Court placed Rhoad on interim suspension from the 
practice of law. The court appointed Charleston attorney Capers G. Barr III 
as a trustee of Rhoad's clients, bank accounts and files. Barr has a law 
office separate from Rhoad's Broad Street practice.

The S.C. Attorney General's Office is involved in a disciplinary proceeding 
against Rhoad, but agency spokesman Trey Walker said he couldn't provide 
details.

Henry B. Richardson Jr., with the Supreme Court's Office of the 
Disciplinary Counsel at the Supreme Court, said he couldn't discuss Rhoad's 
case.

If a defendant completes the program, the charge is dismissed, Sanyal said. 
The defendant then may apply to have the charge expunged from the record.

Richardson said if Rhoad completes the program and if his record is 
expunged, then the Supreme Court would decide whether he is reinstated. In 
general terms, Richardson said, "the code of professional responsibility 
makes it improper for a lawyer to commit a criminal offense. It does not 
necessarily speak to being convicted or charged of a criminal offense."

The PTI program has about 750 participants a year, almost half charged with 
drug offenses, Lloyd said.

About 70 to 75 percent of the people in PTI finish the three-month to 
one-year program.

Also charged with cocaine possession are James Peter Robinson, 35, of 
Charleston; Bryan Heath Brown, 24, of Longs; Jennifer Maja Harmon, 24, of 
Charleston; Bradley Andrew Patterson, 21, of Asheville, N.C.; and Michael 
Peter Dever, 22, of Charleston.

Sanyal said Brown, Patterson and Harmon also have been referred to PTI.

Robinson could be referred to the program later, Sanyal said. Dever is not 
eligible because he had a 2001 conviction for assault and battery of a high 
and aggravated nature, Sanyal said.
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