A Richland County Sheriff's deputy was arrested on Memorial Day charged with Criminal Domestic Violence.The twenty-five year old deputy, who served as a resource officer to a local school, was arrested by the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.
The deputy's bond hearing was held on Memorial Day at the Lexington County Bond Court, 521 Gibson Road, Lexington. The deputy's initial appearance at the Lexington County CDV Court has been scheduled for 9:00 A.M. on June 21, 2010.
Lexington County's CDV Court is located in the old courthouse building at 139 East Main Street, in downtown Lexington.
Although the deputy is being charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, local media is reporting that the Richland County Sheriff's Department suspended him without pay pending their administrative review.
Examples such as this should show all of us that anyone can be arrested and charged with domestic violence. Although according to law the deputy, now a defendant, is presumed innocent until proven guilty; he must accept employment related consequences to his arrest.
Many times my clients report to me that as soon as they are arrested they are either suspended from work, or face a loss of hours or a pending promotion or pay raise. It is the result of the very difficult, but real world way that individuals charged with CDV are treated. I believe that one of the main reasons that CDV defendants are treated in this way is due to the social stigma that surrounds the charge; a stigma that is not always fair given the broad definition of the law and the "zero tolerance" approach taken by many law enforcement agencies.
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