South Carolina

History of the Death Penalty

Famous Cases

Serial killer Donald Henry "Pee Wee" Gaskins, Jr., who grew up in an extremely violent household, attempted his first murder at the age of 13. He confessed to killing more than 100 people and was executed in the electric chair in 1991.

Susan Smith was convicted of murdering her two young sons by restraining them in their car seats and driving the car into a lake, drowning the boys. She initially claimed that two African American men had kidnapped her sons, but soon confessed to their murder. In pretrial hearings, her attorney was able to convince the presiding judge to bar cameras from the courtroom, arguing that if the trial were televised prosecutors would be more likely to push for the death penalty and witnesses may shade their testimony. Although the prosecution did ask for the death penalty, jurors returned a verdict of life in prison.

Notable Exonerations

Michael Linder was sentenced to death in 1975 for killing a highway patrol officer. He was later found to have killed the officer in self defense and was acquitted in 1981.

Warren Douglas Manning was convicted in 1989 of murdering a police officer. The conviction relied entirely on circumstantial evidence, and Manning was acquitted in 1999.

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

Herbert Fielding introduced a bill to abolish the death penalty during every legislative session he spent in the South Carolina legislature. None of the bills passed either chamber, but during his tenure (1970-1973 and 1983-1992) the bills kept the issue alive in the minds of South Carolina legislators.

Although bills are introduced during nearly every legislative period that would expand the use of the death penalty (for example, by allowing ten jurors to impose the death penalty instead of twelve), so far those bills have been rejected.

Resources

South Carolinians Abolishing the Death Penalty

Department of Corrections

South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense

South Carolina Victim Assistance Network

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Many thanks to South Carolinians Abolishing the Death Penalty for contributing to this page.