South Carolina Criminal Lawyer Blog

Last Thursday, a 19 year old local woman was taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center because she was vomitting and bleeding. The woman reported that she had received liposuction in the back bedroom of a North Myrtle Beach condo. She told police that she paid $1500 to the three people she had contact with online to have this procedure done. Once she arrived to the condo, she was given pills to put her to sleep for the surgery and was taken home after it was finished.

Less than a week after the woman's surgery, three people have been arrested and charged with first degree assault and battery and unlawful practice of a regulated profession or occupation without a license. The three people, one man and two women, are all from South Carolina and are being held on $50,000 bond. It is unclear whether they have retained a criminal defense lawyer at this time.

Luckily, no deaths have resulted from procedures performed at this illegal clinic. Police would not have been able to catch the criminals unless this patient had come forward. North Myrtle Beach Police are currently in the process of tracking down another patient who received liposuction in the condo.

The charged trio will probably benefit from a consultation with a good criminal defense lawyer in Myrtle Beach. If you or someone you know has been charged with a crime, please call one of the Myrtle Beach criminal lawyers at The Mace Firm for a free consultation.

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An Horry County grand jury has indicted a teenage boy for assault and battery with intent to kill. This indictment is based on an incident that occurred earlier this year outside a store near Myrtle Beach. A myrtle beach attorney will most likely be appointed to represent the teen at his initial appearance. If he has already hired a myrtle beach lawyer, that attorney will have already started the defense of the case. The teen was shot in the incident, along with the other teen that was involved in the case. The teen will be facing prison time in relation to this case. Police have stated that the two boys knew each other. The boys may have already faced criminal charges and the solicitor's office has just now decided to take the case before the grand jury.

There have been several teens indicted in South Carolina this year for violent crime. This increase has pushed the criminal justice system in the state to the edge. With so many cases and so few public defenders, the system is almost at a stand still. Criminal defense attorneys cannot take cases for free and the clients are without financial resources to pay for private attorneys.

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Eight teenagers have been charged with abusing elderly victims at a nursing home in Minnesota. According to reports, the teens assaulted the victims by spitting at them, poking at them, and rubbing their genitals. The victims were suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

These teenagers allegedly took inappropriate pictures of the elderly residents and also intentionally antagonized them. The teenagers could be charged with a variety of crimes, including assault, battery, abuse of a vulnerable victim, and sexual assault. These teenagers will need to hire a criminal defense attorney to represent them because they could be facing jail time.

The victims may also have valid claims in civil court. They could sue the nursing home for negligence, negligent hiring, and negligent supervision. To prove negligent supervision, the victims would have to prove that the nursing home knew or had reason to know that the teenagers were harming the elderly residents. in other words, that nursing home employees were on notice of the abuse and did nothing to stop it. The victims could also sue the teenagers individually for civil assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Local authorities have not determined whether any other employees working at the nursing home will face criminal charges.

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In Conway a man was allegedly assaulted by two men after he "got the best of the them" in a verbal exchange. The man's lip was swollen ad he had a bump on his head according to the local police report by the City of Conway Police Department.

A person charged with criminal assault, battery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, or aggravated battery with intent to kill will mostly likely be charged with a felony and will have to appear in General Sessions Court in Conway, if arrested in Horry County, including Myrtle Beach, or North Myrtle Beach.

If charged with simple assault or battery, he charge is most likely a misdemeanor and the defendants will have to appear for an initial appearance, roster call, or court hearing in a municipal court or magistrate court in North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, or Conway.

An assault is a threat of physical force against another person and battery is the harmful touching of another person. The report does not state in this case whether the two mean involved have been arrested or our currently facing criminal charges.

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In recent news, the actor Christian Bale has allegedly been arrested and released on allegations of assault in London. Bale's mother and sister stated that Bale assaulted them at a hotel Sunday night, just before the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, premiered in Europe. The actor turned himself in and was released four hours later. He has denied these allegations.

If Bale was arrested in the United States, more specifically in the State of South Carolina and charged with assault, he could face up to 30 days in prison and/or a fine up to $500.00. According to the South Carolina Code, an assault is "an unlawful attempt to commit a violent injury to the person of another with a present ability to complete the act".

Battery on the other hand, is not an attempt crime like assault, but requires an act. Battery is defined under the South Carolina Code as "un unlawful act of violent injury to the person of another." Like assault, the penalty for battery is up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine up to $500.00.

There are several defenses to a state criminal charge of assault and battery, including consent, official duty, provocation. Usually mere words, even if these words are abusive, threatening and insulting, do not justify an assault and battery unless there is an actual suggestion of physical violence or behavior.

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