A $2 trillion bill was just one part of an odd hearing for an Horry County murderer
An all-over-the-place court hearing — featuring the defendant speaking in the third person and a $2 trillion bill — ended with a murderer previously convicted as a juvenile returning to prison.
Roger Legette — who was convicted in 1997 as a 16-year-old for killing an Horry County cab driver — was in Horry County Court Tuesday to discuss his sentence. A judge initially sentenced Legette to life in prison despite being a juvenile.
That sentenced was tossed out by the state’s Supreme Court and Judge Larry Hyman resentenced Legette to 40 years in prison.
Legette requested Tuesday’s hearing in hopes of reducing the four-decade term. It started with defense attorneys saying they no longer wanted a resentencing hearing, a decision that blindsided Legette.
The attorneys noted that Legette previously requested their removal and they had little contact in recent months. When discussing some of the issues, one of his attorneys said Legette sent a bill to the state’s Attorney General’s Office for $2,382,720,000,000 for their involvement in the case.
Legette’s competency was previously questioned and a psychologist determined he understood the proceedings. The judge allowed him to then fire his attorneys.
The hearing only got more bizarre from there.
Legette said he was there to “represent the defendant” — which was himself. Hyman told Legette that he was not an admitted member of the South Carolina Bar Association and therefore could not represent an alter-ego. Legette said he wanted to represent himself and ended his third-person discussion.
For about 40 minutes, Legette discussed his case as he wore a bright-orange prison jumpsuit and remained in handcuffs, which barely allowed him to lift his arms.
Legette said he wanted his sentence reconsidered and didn’t feel Hyman had the authority to hear the case. Legette never specially said it, but made arguments about “sovereign citizenship” and said he felt the constitution did not apply to himself.
“The basis for my motion is that standing objection to jurisdiction,” Legette said, occasionally getting agitated as he spoke.
The claimed created a catch-22, which Hyman noted. If the judge did not have jurisdiction, then he could not change Legette’s sentence. Legette continued to press on the jurisdiction issue, which Hyman eventually denied.
Legette also questioned whether Hyman had the correct title, whether the grand jury properly indicted him and whether he was given documents related to his case. At one point, Legette passed the judge a thick, purple folder with the evidence in the case.
When initially resentenced, Legette said he believed he would only spend 30 years in prison. He read a portion of state code that calls for a person convicted of murder to be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. Legette alluded to the idea that code calls for someone to be sentenced to either 30 years or life.
But Hyman corrected him and said he could sentence a person to a term of any length between 30 years and life. Hyman also said a judge has sole discretion in sentence length.
Legette said he didn’t have anything further to add about why his sentence should be reduced and Hyman denied his request.
