Columbia SC Criminal Defense Law Blog

Drug charges can have a profound effect on a South Carolinians' future. First of all, there can be serious consequences for a conviction. A conviction will often mean a lengthy jail or prison sentence. Beyond jail or prison time, a conviction can have lifelong effects. These include consequences to the person's family life. Also, drug charges may lead to loss of a job or difficulty finding employment in the future.

Four South Carolina residents may now face these obstacles after recently being charged with various drug offenses. Three of the individuals were charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to deliver it. The other individual was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to deliver it and with the possession of cocaine.

Many South Carolina residents do an online search for sex offenders living in their neighborhood. This is especially common when people move into a new environment. However, did you know that these sex offender websites may not be accurate? In fact, in five states, these sites overestimate the number of sex offenders in a particular community by as much as 60 percent.

New research has found that these registries include people who are not actually living within the area. They list those that have died, are in jail or have moved out of the area. In fact, the study showed that out of 201,135 listed sex offenders, only 43 percent were actually living in the communities detailed by the registries.

With spring blossoming, South Carolina baseball followers are extremely excited for the start of Major League Baseball. One team, however, is dealing with a little bit of a criminal setback. In recent news, MLB pitcher Cristhian Martinez was taken into custody this week on drunk driving charges. Martinez is in his third season with the Atlanta Braves.

According to sources, the baseball pitcher was weaving in and out of a lane and traveling at a low speed on the highway. Eventually, Martinez was pulled over for a routine traffic stop. In the process, an officer allegedly smelled alcohol on the baseball player's breath. As a result, police initiated a field sobriety test. According to reports, Martinez's blood alcohol registered at 0.13 in a breath test, which is over the legal limit in most states.

All different types of criminal convictions can severely impact your life. However, sex offenses are viewed as especially egregious in the eyes of the law. Furthermore, the criminal justice system is sensitive to sex crimes involving children. Convictions for these offenses can result in massive fines, decades of prison time and a ruined reputation of the offender in his or her community.

A recent article reports that a South Carolina man has been accused of using Craigslist, the website, to solicit sex from someone he believed to be a kid. The South Carolina Attorney General announced that the arrest was a part of his office's "Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force."