WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Quattlebaum gets life sentence after pleading guilty to '95 murder

Quattlebaum gets life sentence after pleading guilty to '95 murder

(Columbia) May 2, 2003 - BJ Quattlebaum has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole after pleading guilty to murder in a 1995 shooting death. Friday's plea ends eight years of legal turmoil that included an overturned conviction and allegations of misconduct by prosecutors.

A videotape of Quattlebaum, 30, talking with his lawyer at the Lexington County Sheriff's Department shortly before he was charged, prompted a retrial and caused a huge uproar in the legal community. The tape ultimately may have saved Quattlebaum from death row.

Quattlebaum Friday admitted killing William Swartz during a burglary at his home near Gilbert. Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for his plea. The plea, a day after Quattlebaum pleaded guilty to a burglary charge, means he will serve a life sentence without eligibility for parole.

Defense attorney David Bruck says both sides were able to work out a plea agreement, "Both sides found a way to structure his case so that he would never be eligible for parole, even though his crime was committed before parole was abolished."

Quattlebaum originally was convicted for killing Swartz and sentenced to death in 1998. But, the Supreme Court ordered a new trial and said former Lexington County deputy prosecutor Fran Humphries engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by eavesdropping on a private conversation between Quattlebaum and his lawyer, Jack Duncan.

Richland County took over the case because the state Supreme Court in 2000 banned Lexington County prosecutors from the retrial, but Richland County Solicitor Barney Giese says the issue of the videotape damaged his county's chances of winning a conviction against Quattlebaum, "To be honest with you, that was a very important factor in my decision. I just didn't feel like the case could be cleansed of that tape, and so I thought that the right thing to do in this case was to take a plea and make sure that Mr. Quattlebaum never gets out of prison."

Giese says the plea had the approval of Swartz' family, "They were ready to move on. They wanted to put this behind them so they could start a new life."

Swartz' wife Lisa, speaking for the family, told the court and Quattlebaum how much his actions had hurt them, "Robert J. Quattlebaum ended Bill's life that day and he ended the life that I knew. At the age of 30, I became a widow and a single parent. A three-year-old child became fatherless."

Former deputy prosecutor Humphries was acquitted of two perjury indictments in connection with the taping. Quattlebaum's former lawyer Duncan was suspended indefinitely after admitted he lied under oath about the tape.

One matter still unresolved is the status of an ethics panel recommendation aimed at Lexington Solicitor Donnie Myers. The panel said the state Supreme Court should issue a public reprimand.  Myers fought the recommendation and the court has not ruled.

By Jack Kuenzie
Updated 7:37pm by BrettWitt with AP