Felony DUI charge said to have 'teeth'

A fatal crash and subsequent arrest of a Salley man has generated tremendous debate on the charges levied against the driver.

Steven Corley, 38, was charged with two counts of felony DUI on allegations he was under the influence of alcohol when he caused a head-on collision that led to the deaths of two area college students on Dec. 29. Many readers and web commenters have called for charges of "vehicular homicide" or "vehicular manslaughter" charges. However, in South Carolina, there is no vehicular manslaughter or vehicular homicide charge, but the distinction is just a matter of semantics, said Solicitor J. Strom Thurmond.

He said the law, which carries with it a possibility of 25 years in prison for each count, has "teeth."

The solicitor did not speak on the specifics of any case; however, Stephen Corley, who is charged with two counts of felony DUI with death, could be sentenced to spend the next 50 years behind bars, if convicted. In such a conviction, the state would require he serve 85 percent of his sentence.

The state statute in place gives state solicitors the tools they need to prosecute, Thurmond explained.

Additionally, the state has the added ability to charge someone with murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter depending on how the vehicle is used in a death.

"A vehicle can be used as a deadly weapon," he explained.

A person who gets behind the wheel and intentionally runs over another person could face a murder charge, he explained.

Mark Plowden, communications director for the Attorney General's office, said solicitors throughout the sate use the felony DUI charge frequently.

"Whatever you choose to call it, the end result is the same," Plowden said. "All you are really talking about is a difference in title - what we have is a good strong tool."

Local law enforcement officers use the felony DUI and reckless driving statutes when they arrest a motorist for "gross negligence," police said.

Gross negligence could be driving while impaired or reckless driving, explained Lt. Ben Harm, a veteran officer who has worked on the City's accident reconstruction team for the past six years.

A reckless driver may not be under the influence of alcohol, but if convicted of reckless homicide, a driver can face 10 years in prison.

Harm said officers can often tell the exact speed of the motorist and look for a number of other factors to determine if the driver was acting in a reckless manner.

In December, Aiken Public Safety charged a Columbia man with reckless homicide on allegations he caused a head-on collision that claimed the life of an Aiken County man in late October.

John Thomas Ford, 20, of Columbia, turned himself in to police for his alleged role in the crash that fatally injured Walt Eugene Cook, of Aiken County.

The City of Aiken investigated the crash, and the results from the at-scene investigation and interviews with witnesses indicated that Ford was operating the vehicle in a reckless manner, said Aiken Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Jake Mahoney.

The highway patrol has a similar team that investigates crashes.

In December, state troopers charged a Williston man involved in a September crash that claimed the life of his 8-year-old daughter with reckless homicide.

According to the arrest warrant, Kenneth Bernard Heath, 35, disregarded a "clear and unobstructed stop sign" and struck a Ford Expedition. The girl was unrestrained and was ejected from the vehicle.

Mahoney said the public has made its demands for safer streets very clear.

"They are no longer going to tolerate impaired driving or reckless driving," he said.

In January 1999, Dexter Bernard Hearns and his children, 18-month-old Zainab N. Hearns and 3-year-old Imani K. Momodu, were killed in car crash on Interstate 20. Area resident Shayna Lively was charged with driving the wrong direction on the highway near the 7-mile marker.

She was convicted of felony DUI and sentenced to serve 25 years in prison. Her projected release date is April, 30, 2020.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.

The DUI law can also be applied when there is great bodily injury, which the state defines as creating a substantial risk of death of causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss of or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

A person convicted of felony DUI with great bodily injury faces imprisonment of 10 years.