Pubdate: Fri, 02 Jul 2004
Source: Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC)
Copyright: 2004 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Author: Bruce Smith, Associated Press
Note: apparent 150 word limit on LTEs
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/goose+creek

DECISION NEARS IN SCHOOL-RAID CASE

Attorney General To Announce Whether Charges Will Be Filed

CHARLESTON - Almost eight months after Goose Creek police swept
through Stratford High School with guns drawn looking for drugs,
Attorney General Henry McMaster will announce today whether criminal
charges will be filed in the raid that brought national attention.

McMaster has been investigating the Nov. 5 drug sweep in which
students were ordered to the floor and a drug dog was used. No drugs
were found and no arrests were made, and the sweep spawned two civil
lawsuits.

Seventeen Stratford students sued in December, saying Goose Creek
police and school officials terrorized them during the raid. Later,
the American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of 20 other students
alleging violations of constitutional protections against unlawful
search and seizure. The suits later were consolidated.

The raid drew national attention as videotape of officers with guns
drawn and students on the floor was televised nationwide. Also in
December, the Rev. Jesse Jackson led hundreds through nearby North
Charleston in protest.

The Attorney General's Office began investigating at the request of
Charleston-area Solicitor Ralph Hoisington.

Trey Walker, a spokesman for McMaster, would not comment Thursday on
why the investigation took so long. He said McMaster would provide
details today during a news conference at the Charleston County Courthouse.

After reviewing surveillance tapes and a 200-page State Law
Enforcement Division report, Hoisington said he had questions about
the incident.

"While I am confident the goals of the Goose Creek Police Department
were appropriate, the actual methods employed by certain officers were
ill-advised," Hoisington said in December when he announced he was
referring the case to McMaster because Hoisington would have to
prosecute cases brought by the local police.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin