An Edgefield County grand jury has indicted former North Augusta Department of Public Safety officer Justin Craven on Wednesday on a felony charge in the shooting death of 68-year-old Edgefield County resident Ernest Satterwhite Sr.
The Edgefield County Clerk of Court's Office confirmed the grand jury indicted Craven on a charge of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle following the 2014 shooting death of Satterwhite, who was unarmed. Grand jury proceedings are closed to the public and to the media.
The charge against Craven, brought by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division, is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000, or both, according to SLED.
An Edgefield County jury in August indicted Craven on one count of official misconduct in office - a misdemeanor - but no-billed a charge of voluntary manslaughter. Because Craven was indicted, Solicitor Donnie Myers, with the 11th Circuit Solicitor's Office, which oversees Edgefield County, said if Craven goes to trial, he will face both charges of felony and official misconduct.
Myers said as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, he had not seen the indictment but was "treating it as preparing for trial."
"The next terms of court are in September and there's a term in November; so, hopefully, we can get it (the trial) in one of those terms," Myers said.
The Associated Press reported that Craven's attorney Jack Swerling said Craven thinks the shooting was justified and plans to go to trial. Swerling did not return phone calls from the Aiken Standard by deadline.
Carter Elliott, the attorney for the Satterwhite family, said he and the family "are glad" following Wednesday's announcement.
"We still think the charges should have been stronger," Elliott said. "We are going to continue to monitor what's going on with the criminal case."
Earlier this year, the City of North Augusta and Edgefield County agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million to Satterwhite's estate to settle a wrongful-death suit filed by Anthony, Satterwhite's brother. Anthony sued the City of North Augusta, North Augusta Public Safety, Edgefield County and the Edgefield County Sheriff's Office for actual, consequential and punitive damages.
Last week Craven and both attorneys, including SLED investigator Freddie Pough, who was the lead investigator on the case, met in Edgefield County's Chief Magistrate Brenda Carpenter's office in a probable cause hearing. Carpenter found enough probable cause for Craven to stand trial.
On the night of Feb. 9, 2014, a 13-mile, or 15 minute, "high speed" pursuit ensued, Pough said, after Craven reportedly tried to initiate a traffic stop in North Augusta on suspicion of a man "violating the law."
Pough said at times, Satterwhite drove "in excess of 100 mph," with the pursuit ending on Satterwhite's dirt driveway on Rose Avenue.
According to reports, Craven approached the driver's side of the vehicle, shot "three or four" times into the vehicle and then stated "the suspect grabbed my gun."
The day after the incident, Pough said Craven told him that he was "in fear of his life" that night "so he discharged his firearm into the vehicle."
Pough said although he did view the dash-cam video that caught the shooting incident, he saw only an "exchange between the two (Craven and Satterwhite)," but couldn't say whether there was "definitely" a grab.
Swerling requested that Carpenter dismiss the case, citing that Craven was at the time of the incident a certified South Carolina police officer acting in the "course and scope as a police officer trying to apprehend someone" suspected of violating the law. Swerling also cited the issue of self-defense.
Myers responded that although Craven had the right to carry a pistol, he had "no right to shoot an unarmed man in a vehicle."
The Aiken Standard filed Freedom of Information Act requests in April to multiple agencies in an effort to view the dash-cam video of the shooting incident between Craven and Satterwhite - all of which were denied.
Craven's attorney issued a motion on April 20, asking a South Carolina Circuit judge to prohibit the release of any dash-cam video on the grounds that the video should only be viewed in a courtroom "so as not to influence any prospective jurors to be selected for the trial of this case."
In response, the Aiken Standard and WRDW News-12 have filed a court motion in an attempt to get the video released.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.
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