The Carolinas | Former U.S. Senate candidate Greene could see end to charges

South Carolina

COLUMBIA

Greene could see end to charges

Prosecutors say former U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene can enter a pretrial intervention program that will drop a misdemeanor obscenity charge against him as long as he completes community service and counseling.

Prosecutors also said Monday they will drop a felony obscenity charge against the 33-year-old unemployed Army veteran who stunned South Carolina by winning the Democratic Senate nomination last year.

Reached at his Manning home, Greene said he is glad prosecutors are letting him enter the program, but he hasn't decided whether to enroll.

He again insisted he did not show a pornographic picture to a University of South Carolina student at a campus computer lab.

Greene could have faced several years in prison.

CHARLESTON

Homeland security certificate offered

Students at The Citadel's graduate school can now learn how to deal with threats to the nation's security.

The military college in Charleston announced Monday that this fall it will begin offering a new graduate certificate in homeland security.

The program will include homeland security concepts, policy analysis, domestic terrorism and national security threats. Five 3-credit-hour courses are required for the certificate.

Homeland security courses will be taught by Jonathan Hoffman, former deputy assistant secretary for intergovernmental programs at the Department of Homeland Security.

There he helped coordinate relations between state and local governments and the Department of Homeland Security.

LEXINGTON

Woman charged in fatal wreck

A 24-year-old West Columbia woman has been charged with felony driving under the influence for a wreck that killed a 4-year-old girl and injured her father.

Lexington County jail records show Caitlin Elisabeth Braun was arrested Monday and charged with felony DUI involving a death and felony DUI involving great bodily injury.

Officers say Braun was driving a vehicle that collided head-on with a car driven by Devin P. Shumate on May 16. Shumate's 4-year-old daughter, Gabrielle, was killed in the crash. The 33-year-old father was sent to the hospital.

Authorities say Braun had been serving alcoholic beverages to golfers at a West Columbia course before the wreck.

Braun was set to have a bond hearing Monday. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney.

GRAY COURT

80-year-old man stabbed 18 times

Investigators say an 80-year-old man killed in a Laurens County home invasion was stabbed 18 times as he tried to fend off his killer.

Authorities say Charles Riddle was found dead in a pool of blood Sunday morning by his girlfriend when she stopped by his Gray Court house to take him to church.

Investigators say it appeared someone broke into Riddle's home Saturday evening and he fought for his life before he was killed. The coroner's office says Riddle was stabbed in the back and the chest.

Deputies have not named any suspects.

SALTERS

Man charged in double murder

Williamsburg County officials say a man has turned himself in on charges that he killed his grandmother and uncle.

Deputies say Anthony Anderson was arrested and charged with murder Monday after turning himself in to authorities in Horry County.

Deputy Coroner Vernell Fulton said 89-year-old Rosa Lee McCray and her son, Seward McCray, were found inside their Salters home early Sunday morning.

Fulton said Rosa Lee McCray died at her home. Seward McCray was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where he died.

Deputies say Seward McCray called 911 and told dispatchers his nephew shot them.

Autopsies were planned Monday. It was not clear if Anderson had an attorney.

North Carolina

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Edwards emails acknowledge payments

People involved in the John Edwards investigation say prosecutors have emails between the former presidential candidate and an aide that they plan to use against him at trial.

Edwards was indicted Friday for failing to report nearly $1 million allegedly spent to keep his pregnant mistress in hiding during the 2008 campaign.

Prosecutors must prove Edwards knew about the payments. He says he is innocent of any crime.

People involved in the investigation told The Associated Press the prosecutors have emails sent between Edwards and his former speechwriter, Wendy Button, in summer 2009 as they drafted a never-released statement to acknowledge paternity.

The sources requested anonymity to discuss evidence yet to be made public. But they say some included the admission he knew about payments from his former finance chairman, Fred Baron.