Clemson
Feticide and Assault and Battery with Intent to Kill
Deborah Horne was awaiting the birth of her preborn child, whom she knew to be a baby girl. Deborah was, in fact, already overdue to give birth.
In August 1982, her estranged husband Terrance savagely attacked Deborah, stabbing her in the neck, arms and abdomen. She lost so much blood that doctors could not save the life of her child, which suffocated before doctors could save her through an emergency Caesarian section. Deborah survived, and Terrance was convicted of assault and battery with intent to kill and manslaughter.
In 1984, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed Horne's conviction for voluntary manslaughter, and instated a charge of "feticide" instead. This Court also stated that, in the future, a viable preborn child would be a person within the meaning of South Carolina's murder statutes.
References: State of South Carolina v. Terrance Horne, 282 S.C. 444; 319 S.E.2d 703, decided August 17, 1984; Dana Page. "The Homicide by Child Abuse Conviction of Regina McKnight." Howard Law Journal, Winter 2003 [Volume 46, Issue 2], page 382.
Assault, Theft, Harassment and Violation of Civil Rights
In November 2005, Columbia Christians for Life conducted a six-day Show the Truth Tour throughout South Carolina. They had received a permit and had paid a fee in order to show their display at Clemson University. But when they arrived at the University, campus police shoved and blocked them, and one of the police deliberately stepped on the feet of 16-year-old Caleb Green. Caleb was also filming the scene, and one of the police grabbed his camera and returned it only after stealing the film. After all of this, the campus police kicked the group off the University campus and would not even allow them to show their pictures on an adjacent public sidewalk.
Reference: John Jansen. "Activism Update: Going Where They Live." Pro-Life Action News [Pro-Life Action League, Chicago, Illinois], Fall 2005, page 4.
Columbia
First-Degree Murder (2 counts)
Joseph "Jody" Ard's 17-year-old girlfriend Madeline Coffee was 8½ months pregnant with his child. In 1995, he shot her in the head, and then alleged that he was trying to wrestle the gun away from her to prevent her from committing suicide.
In 1996, a Lexington County jury found Ard guilty of the murder of his girlfriend, and he was sentenced to death. The South Carolina Supreme Court had ruled in 1986 that a viable preborn child was a "person" in murder cases, and South Carolina law allows seeking the death penalty in cases where more than one person is murdered, or where a victim is less than twelve years old. Ard was the first person in South Carolina sentenced to death for murdering an unborn child.
Reference: Kara Gormley. "Man Convicted of Killing Girlfriend, Unborn Child May Get New Trial." WIS Television [Columbia, South Carolina], January 5, 2005.
Rape, Assault, Larceny, Malpractice and Disorderly Conduct
Abortionist Jesse J. Floyd was indicted on charges of illegal abortion and murder in the death of a 2 pound, 5 ounce infant boy of approximately 27-28 weeks gestation who survived 20 days following a third-trimester abortion he performed in Richland Memorial Hospital, South Carolina in September, 1974; the state dropped charges due to reluctance of infant's mother to testify, and Floyd challenging the constitutionality of the abortion law. Floyd said that he had no reason to believe the fetus was over 20 weeks gestation, but also said he selected Prostaglandin to induce abortion in an effort not to harm the fetus.
Floyd was also indicted for the July 3, 1973 rape of a 19-year-old student nurse, who alleged that, several hours prior to the rape, he had written her, unsolicited and against her expressed wishes, a prescription for birth control pills. Examination of the nurse revealed presence of semen, but the charges were still dismissed.
Floyd was sued by Shannon Bell Little, who alleged that she was aborted by Floyd at The Ladies Clinic on April 7, 1995, and four days later, Shannon "delivered her dead baby at home." She said that Floyd was "maintaining a clinic in a filthy and unsanitary condition, including having [Shannon] wear robes and sit on linens which were covered with blood from other patients, in having her use a gas mask covered with lipstick from other patients, and in having her wait for an hour in a room with other patients without being washed or cleaned in any manner."
Floyd was also found guilty of disorderly conduct, sentenced $200 fine or 5 days jail, after "allegedly used racial slurs toward a black [pro-life] protester." He was also charged with simple assault. A victim alleged he and a companion were approached by Floyd during picket, verbally harassed, and asked for their permit; when the companion went to get permit from car, Floyd slapped the victim's face; Floyd admitted asking for the permit but denied the assault. Floyd called the Black female pro-lifer a "black bitch," and ordered a bystander to "keep that nigger quiet!" He was also fined $229.25 or given 5 days in jail for petty larceny on March 20, 1991.
Reference: The Columbia State, August 30, 1975; Indictment for murder #43590; Omaha World-Herald, October 19, 1979; The State, August 29 and 30, 1975; Philadelphia Inquirer, August 2, 1981; New York Times, March 6, 1979; Richland County Case Number 30159; The State, December 12, 1973; Complaint Number 900-9308, March 14, 1990; North Charleston Municipal Court Letter dated June 21, 1991; Columbia Sidewalk Counseling News Release dated February 6, 1995; Richland County Court of Common Pleas Fifth Judicial Court Case Number 95-CP; The State, February 10, 1995.
Greenville
Assault and Battery (2 incidents)
61-year old pro-life grandmother Ruth Trippi was sidewalk counseling at the Palmetto State Medical Center abortion mill on September 30, 1995, and was sitting on the seat of a car talking to two women at their invitation. Clinic escort Michael Deanhardt screamed at Trippi and pounded on the window of the car, then tried to forcibly pull her out of the car. When this failed, he and another escort, Elaine Norwood, repeatedly slammed the car door on Trippi's legs, causing a head contusion, neck and shoulder injuries, a bruised leg bone, and internal bleeding. The deathscorts said they did this "in hopes of causing enough pain to make her get out of the car."
On October 11, 1995, police issued warrants for assault and battery against Deanhardt and Norwood. Deanhardt is on the board of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Reference: Bryan Gilmer. "Clinic Escorts Face Assault Charges." The Greenville News, October 12, 1995; "ACLU Leader Charged With Assaulting Pro-Life Grandma." The Unreported News, January 19, 1996, page 9; Operation Rescue National Newsletter, December 1995.
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