CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Pending cases that a former Charleston County Sheriff’s deputy was part of could be dismissed now that he faces criminal charges, a former solicitor says.
Last month, former Charleston County deputy James “Hank” Carter III was arrested and charged after it was discovered he assaulted a suspect.
“An officer’s credibility is the utmost importance,” attorney Bryan Alfaro said. “He’s innocent until proven guilty, but the impact doesn’t wait that long.”
Alfaro previously worked for the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office for nearly two decades, eventually serving as chief deputy solicitor. Before that, he also worked for the Mount Pleasant Police Department as an officer.
Carter was a veteran law enforcement officer with more than a decade of experience behind a badge.
Joseph Cannarella, his defense attorney, called Carter a “decorated law enforcement officer” when describing him during a bond hearing last month. His employment records state he continuously received top marks from supervisors for his efforts to pursue criminals.
The Sheriff’s Office fired Carter on Nov. 9, after a review of his body camera showed him punching Raschard Duncan multiple times in the face following a chase. The department released the video to the public on Dec. 4.
Following his termination, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division charged Carter with assault and misconduct in office.
“It’s fortunate that you have body cams that can bring the incident itself to light,” Alfaro said. “But the impact that those actions have on other cases and potentially other victims involved in some of those cases. That’s what’s unfortunate.”
Court records state Carter was the arresting officer in 18 open cases for a total of 39 pending charges, including Duncan’s case. The other cases range from drugs to unlawful weapons to child endangerment charges.
“A good number of them are probably going to be dismissed. Even if they’re not dismissed, even if there are witnesses that can testify to the same thing. It makes it harder to prosecute,” Alfaro said.
Alfaro also served on the team that prosecuted former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager in state court.
Slager was accused of murdering an unarmed Black man Walter Scott. That case ended in a mistrial.
He did eventually plead guilty to violating Scott’s civil rights in federal court and was sentenced to 20 years.
Alfaro says an officer’s word is vital to pursuing justice.
“The jurors are told that they are the sole judges of the credibility of the witnesses that testify in front of them,” Alfaro said. “If an officer runs into that kind of problem, that kind of trouble you, essentially it’s almost impossible to use them as witness. Just because their credibility is going to be destroyed during the course of the trial.”
It’s more difficult to track just how many ongoing cases Carter was a part of.
His attorneys report “he was the most productive deputy in confiscating illegal weapons” during his time at the sheriff’s office.
Alfaro says it’s unlikely that cases he worked on in the past would be affected unless there’s a question of other credibility issues at the time those other cases took place.
A previous report showed that Carter had five suspensions and several reprimands during his time in law enforcement, including once for pointing his personal gun at another off-duty deputy during a birthday celebration held in public.
During his seven years with the sheriff’s office, he was scolded for too-fast pursuits and failing to turn on his body camera multiple times.
In one case in May 2023, documents note he didn’t do so until after suspects had been apprehended.
In a letter of instruction from June, Sgt. J.C. White wrote, “Deputy Carter’s enthusiasm for wanting to catch suspects is admirable and very much appreciated by his supervisors. Still, his tunnel vision in wanting to apprehend the suspects affects his decision-making.”
In August, he also received a letter of reprimand after admitting to commanding his K9 to bite a suspect who was compliant.
He also previously faced an excessive force lawsuit which was later dismissed because of a lack of evidence.
“It was clear to me that he didn’t feel that he was going to have to answer for his actions. And this is something that’s probably gone on many times before and he’s probably gotten away with,” Duncan’s attorney, Edward Pritchard, said during a news conference following the release of the body camera footage.
“Beyond the cases,” Alfaro says. “Every instance erodes the public trust a little bit more.”
SLED’s investigation into the incident is ongoing. Solicitor Scarlett Wilson did not respond to requests for comment regarding this story.
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