Nearly five months after a fiery hearing in front of the South Carolina Supreme Court, the court released a formal opinion containing a strong rebuke for retired fifth circuit judge L. Casey Manning for his decision to set convicted murderer Jeroid Price free in a secret order last December.
Section 17-25-65 references the statute that allows for a sentence reduction when an inmate has provided substantial assistance to the state. Price’s attorney, Todd Rutherford — a lawyer-legislator who also sits on the Judicial Merit Selection Committee in South Carolina — claimed that Price provided assistance to the state by “saving” the life of two corrections officers and by alerting the department of corrections that an inmate named Jimmy Causey had escaped custody for the second time.
Manning was just days from retiring when he signed the secret order that would free Price 16 years before his 35-year-sentence for murdering USC football player Carl Smalls Jr was complete. After signing the order to reduce Price’s sentence on Dec. 30, he sealed the order and left the bench for the final time.
Price was being housed in New Mexico at the time of the order, and was released from a prison there in March 2023. His release was not made public until April. SC Attorney General Alan Wilson appeared to be blindsided by the release and asked the Supreme Court to unseal the order before ultimately asking that the early release order would be voided — a request that the court granted. At that point, Price became a wanted man.
Two of the Supreme Court justices, George James and Chief Justice Donald Beatty dissented from the majority opinion. Their position is that because Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson agreed to the sentence reduction that the Supreme Court has no business undoing what a state official did.
Price was apprehended in New York City on July 12 and taken into custody without incident. According to SCDC records, he is being housed at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia.
Contact Beth Braden
Beth Braden
Beth Braden is an award-winning investigative journalist who cut her reporting teeth in the hills and hollows of East Tennessee. She joined the LUNASHARK® Media team in 2023 as a researcher and journalist who handles FOIA requests, wading through and analyzing public records, and connecting with sources. She also provides a monthly update for premium members called Soundbites, which is a monthly review of everything happening at LUNASHARK®, and she occasionally writes and records for True Sunlight. Beth has her own solo podcast called Time of Death, which explores the 1992 homicide of Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam in East Tennessee.
Prior to joining the team, Beth’s newspaper work had taken her into deep-dive stories about faith-based serpent handling and Appalachian coal mining, as well as data journalism work to analyze euthanasia drug irregularities at an animal shelter, uncover the most dangerous intersections on her beat, and see whether or not the local judge’s rulings passed muster when cases were appealed to the state appellate court. And of course, she’s been to her fair share of court hearings, city council meetings, and board of education work sessions.
In addition to her newspaper experience, her byline appears on HGTV.com, nytimes.com, and other internationally known websites.
In her spare time, she enjoys quilting, rock climbing, strange museums, and good cups of coffee.