How to get away with murder in SC. Law allows citizens to arrest, kill after dark
Buried in South Carolina’s laws is a way for someone to get away with murder.
The state’s citizen’s arrest law allows for someone who isn’t a police officer to make an arrest and take someone into custody under certain circumstances. It also legally allows for the killing of another during the arrest.
The law has been on the books for more than 150 years, giving residents the authority to detain and kill nighttime intruders, even if there was just a suspicion of a felony being committed.
The law has received criticism from both lawmakers and those in the legal field who say the statute is out of date, vague and doesn’t provide opportunity for probable cause.
A state representative has introduced an amendment to the bill that was sent to the judiciary committee.
But until it is changed, the law specifies when a person can make such an arrest, even if it’s not clear how they should do it.
How to make a citizen’s arrest
There doesn’t seem to be a record of arrests, or just how many, that have been made by citizens under the law that was first passed in 1866.
The law grants a resident authority to make a citizen’s arrest if they view a felony or larceny being committed or they have information that a felony has been committed. The person may take the “felon or thief” to a judge or magistrate, the law states.
Additionally, the law states that a person may arrest someone at night “by efficient means ... even if the life of the person should be taken,” if the suspect has entered a dwelling without permission, broken into a building, possesses stolen property or raises the suspicion that they plan to steal or commit some type of felony and flees when told to stopped.
Under the law, there is no requirement that a person has to have probable cause that a suspect committed a felony or larceny, according to Coastal Law Attorneys and Counselors, which has offices in Myrtle Beach, Conway and Charleston.
And while the law may protect you from criminal or civil liability if you witness what appears to be a felony or larceny or have information about a crime being committed, it does not protect you from potential civil, including lawsuits, or criminal liability if you are wrong, Coastal Law’s explanation of the law says.
Also, it’s not clear how a person is supposed to restrain a suspect after they are arrested to take them to a judge or magistrate’s office.
Most people would probably call the police for assistance. However, Coastal Law’s blog, written by attorney Bobby Frederick, points out that the statute is not clear on how to arrest someone and that “if you walk into an Horry County magistrate’s office with a ‘prisoner’ at gunpoint, you are probably not going to get the welcome, grateful reaction you were hoping for.”
‘A step in the wrong direction’
Rep. Kambrell Garvin (D-Richland) is working to amend the law that will limit the circumstances in which a person may arrest, including taking the life of a person.
Garvin filed Bill 3037 in 2024 and it was introduced during the legislature earlier this year.
Garvin said his concern is that the bill, as written, is too broad and provides too much discretion to “everyday citizens” as to what is and isn’t acceptable.
“I’m a firm believer that people should be able to defend themselves or their castles or homes when they are in danger,” Garvin said. “When (a suspect is) breaking or entering in the middle of the night, you should be able to detain until law enforcement arrives on the scene.
“I just think that citizen’s arrest is a step in the wrong direction.”
Garvin cited such cases as Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old jogger who was chased down and killed by three white men in a Georgia neighborhood in 2020.
By keeping such a law on South Carolina’s books, “we are playing with fire,” Garvin said.
The law has been discussed over the years, including 2020, when a bill was also filed to amend the bill.
Garvin said the odds of this particular bill passing are not great. However, “it’s worth having the conversation,” he said.
Garvin believes the state’s current Stand Your Ground law is sufficient to ensure that residents feel safe in their homes and property.
“I am not opposed to every aspect of the current statute that is in place,” Garvin said, “I just think that it needs to be refined.”
Law different than state’s self-defense statute
The citizen’s arrest law is different than the state’s self-defense, or Stand Your Ground law.
The Legislature implemented the Protection of Persons and Property Act in 2006. In addition to formalizing “Castle Doctrine,” a long-accepted common law allowing people to use force without attempting to retreat when faced with an assault within their home, South Carolina’s law expanded that no-retreat right to fight to anywhere a person is legally allowed to be.
The law allows a person to use deadly force when they have a reasonable fear of “imminent peril” from someone unlawfully entering a residence, occupied vehicle, or place of business.
The Stand Your Ground law is now at the center of a 2023 fatal shooting in Horry County that has attracted national attention after allegations of police misconduct has surfaced.
Weldon Boyd, a North Myrtle Beach businessman, and his friend Kenneth “Bradley” Williams shot and killed Scott Spivey, 33, of Tabor City, North Carolina, on Sept. 9, 2023, on Camp Swamp Road in the Longs area.
Police have said that a road rage incident prompted the exchange of gunfire between the three men. Law enforcement have declined to charge Boyd or Williams, who both say they were acting in self defense.
However, evidence uncovered in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Spivey’s family has cast doubt on that claim.
The lawsuit also uncovered instances of misconduct within the Horry County Police department in their handling of Spivey’s death.
A “Stand Your Ground” hearing could be scheduled soon in the civil case that would determine if Boyd and Williams are entitled to civil and criminal immunity related to their actions during the shooting.
