ARBITRARINESS: South Carolina Frees Man Who Faced Execution

Joseph Ard, who spent 11 years on South Carolina’s death row and a total of 19 years in confinement, was freed from prison on July 31. Ard was sentenced to death for the 1993 shooting of his pregnant girlfriend. After his conviction, new lawyers unearthed evidence that corroborated Ard’s claim that the shooting was accidental, resulting from a struggle with his girlfriend over a gun. Ard was granted a re-trial in 2007, and his lawyers presented scientific testimony that his girlfriend had gunshot residue on her hands, supporting Ard’s account of a struggle. The jury found Ard guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and the judge sentenced him to time served. Aimee Zmroczek, one of Ard’s lawyers, said, “The state Supreme Court once upheld his death sentence, so if that decision hadn’t been overturned, he might have been put to death by now.” Ard was the first person in South Carolina to be sentenced to death for murder involving an unborn child. The prosecution did not seek the death penalty in the re-trial.

(J. Monk, “Inmate goes from Death Row to freedom,” The State, July 31, 2012). See Arbitrariness. Listen to DPIC’s podcast on Arbitrariness.