In the Media

After nearly a year on paid leave, Bluffton officer under FBI investigation resigns

The Island Packet
A Bluffton police officer under federal civil rights investigation after dropping a handcuffed man to the pavement during a 2017 traffic stop has resigned after spending nearly a year on paid administrative leave.
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Bluffton police officer on paid leave as FBI investigates him. Officials won’t say why

The Island Packet
When Bluffton Officer Cody Kirkman hoisted the ankles of a handcuffed man he was arresting, causing the man to pitch forward face-first into the pavement and pinning him there in a pool of his own blood, police officials reviewing the incident found the use of force “reasonable.”
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‘You can’t bring anyone back’: Hilton Head OBGYN sued for malpractice after infant death

The Island Packet
Brianne Gurganus’ pregnancy was full-term when she went to Hilton Head Hospital with contractions. She was 39 weeks along with a baby boy on July 16, 2016, and like any woman in the third trimester, she was ready to meet him.
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Di’s Lionel Lofton Named Among ‘America’s Top 100 Attorneys’

The Daniel Island News
Lionel Lofton of the Daniel Island law firm Lofton & Lofton P.C. was recently named one of “America’s Top 100 Attorneys.” According to a press release, the designation is an invitation-only honor for the nation’s most exceptional attorneys “whose accomplishments and impact on the legal profession merit a Lifetime Achievement award.”
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Lawsuits allege negligence by guards in two Lowcountry club shootings

by Glenn Smith
A Wando man alleges that a trio of trigger-happy security guards acted outside all bounds of decency when they blasted 40 rounds at him during a confrontation outside a Dorchester County nightclub last year, peppering his body with 11 bullets, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
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Delta St. Murder Trial Postponed

By Christina Elmore
A murder trial that was set to begin Tuesday morning ended up being postponed before opposing sides could utter opening statements after a key witness for the prosecution failed to appear for court.
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Suit claims unprovoked attack by deputy

The Post and Courier
After deputies stopped him for failing to use a turn signal a month ago in West Ashley, Devante Antwan Pittman lost several of his teeth.
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Cockfighting trial date set

The State
A federal judge Wednesday set April 29 as the start day for criminal trials in a large ongoing state and federal cockfighting investigation.
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Ware Shoals grads suing school district over Jill Moore’s employment

The Index-Journal
A pair of former Ware Shoals High School students have filed lawsuits against Ware Shoals School District 51 and its board of trustees in relation to the district’s employment of ex-cheerleading coach and guidance clerk Jill Moore.
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Lionel Lofton mixes it up in the courtroom

The Daniel Island News
After he graduated from high school, Lionel Lofton seemed destined for a life in the swamps, surrounded by the cypress and sweetgum trees of his native Palmetto State. In fact, his guidance-counselor mother encouraged her outdoorsy son to get a forestry degree.
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Criminal Defense High School Drug Case

High School Drug Bust turns ugly in Goose Creek

by Joni Fletcher
sspba Staff Attorney
. . . As of this date, five PBA attorneys are representing the involved members in the ongoing criminal investigation of their actions as well as in the defense of the lawsuits which have been filed against them. Attorneys Andrew Savage and Lionel Lofton became involved in the matter very early on and have worked to keep the situation under control.
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Video shows deputy hitting driver

The Post and Courier
About 45 seconds after they stop the car, three sheriff’s deputies pull its driver from his seat.
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PRESS RELEASE

LOFTON & LOFTON, P.C. is pleased to announce that Lionel S. Lofton, ESQ. has again been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2010 edition of the Best Lawyers in America in the specialties of personal injury litigation and criminal defense. Mr. Lofton is one of a distinguished group of attorneys who have now been listed in the Best Lawyers for ten years or longer. Because the selection to Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is rightly considered a singular honor.

Parents sue School District 56 and board of trustees

By Larry Franklin
The Clinton Chronicle
The parents of three former students at Bell Street Middle School are suing School District 56 and the district’s board of trustees.
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Friendship or a Fast One?

By Ron Menchaca
The Post and Courier
In 1997, Eleanor and Bernard Breedlove hired Lisa Cramer to help them pay their bills. In 2004, Cramer was arrested on charges of exploiting a vulnerable adult. Did Cramer con the Breedloves out of millions?
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Bondsmen’s failure to track suspect led to rape, Moncks Corner victim alleges

When Brandom Bannister strayed from the Moncks Corner home where he was supposed to be on house arrest, the company tracking the electronic bracelet on his ankle should have sent him back to jail, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
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Osaka accused of employing illegals

Two years ago, a squad of federal agents swarmed the popular Osaka restaurant in West Ashley, shutting it down for a day as they searched the business under a tight lid of secrecy.
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Successes

Beaufort doctor sentenced to 1 year for role in cocaine, prescription drug ring

The Island Packet
By Erin Moody
A well-known Beaufort doctor involved in a cocaine-for-prescription-drugs ring was sentenced to a year and a day in a minimum-security prison in Florida.
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Charleston Restaurant Owner Gets Jail Time For Tax Evasion and Undocumented Workers

Bloomberg BNA
Dao Ping Lin, the owner of a Chinese restaurant in Charleston, S.C., has been sentenced to prison on charges of tax fraud and employing illegal aliens, federal prosecutors said.
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‘Johnny Suzuki’ will not serve prison time for car dealership scheme

The Post and Courier
The car dealer known around the Lowcontry as “Johnny Suzuki” was spared prison time for his involvement in a scheme that earned him and other at least a quarter of a million dollars in dealer incentives based on fake car sales, according to prosecutors.
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Deputy Gets Community Service Over Assault Case.

The Post and Courier
By Andrew Knapp
A former sheriff’s deputy accused of using excessive force during a traffic stop last year in West Ashley can avoid a criminal conviction if he does some community service.
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South Carolina Chinese Restaurant Owner Sentenced for Tax Evasion, Harboring Aliens.

The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
Restaurants South Carolina Chinese Restaurant Owner Sentenced for Tax Evasion, Harboring Aliens. Downward Variance Granted.
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Former death row inmate Spann wins parole, plans move to Conn.

Associated Press
Former death row inmate Sterling Spann plans to move to Connecticut after winning parole Wednesday when the Probation, Parole and Pardon Services board voted 5-1 to release him.
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Insurance Company Gets Unfavorable Decision

Defendant Wins Over Insurance Company

The Carolina Verdict Reporter
Declaratory judgment for defendant against plaintiff insurance company. The parties had previously stipulated to the amount of $95,000 in available coverage in the event the court found for the defendant.
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Lofton Represents North Carolina Plaintiffs

Fraud/Forgery Case Awarded to Plaintiffs

The Carolina Verdict Reporter
In a fraud/forgery case in which the surviving children of a businessman claimed that their rightful property was conveyed to their uncle pursuant to forged documents, a Martin County jury determined that the documents were indeed forged. As a result of the jury verdict, the children’s property was returned to them and thereafter the parties settled an additional punitive damages claim for $200,000.
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Feds Find No Violation at Stratford

Justice Dept. ends probe of drug raid at high school

Post and Courier/August 20, 2004
BY TONY BARTELME
Of The Post and Courier Staff
The U.S. Justice Department said Goose Creek police did not violate federal civil rights laws in last year’s drug sweep at Stratford High School.

In a letter to Goose Creek Police Chief Harvey Becker, a Justice Department official said “the evidence does not establish a prosecutable violation” of federal civil rights laws, and that “accordingly, we have closed our investigation. . . .”

. . .” There was never any intent to do anything criminal,” added Lionel Lofton, an attorney for the officers. “Our clients are glad to be getting back to what they do best, protect the people of Goose Creek.”
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BSMS parents settle district suit

The Clinton Chronicle
A lawsuit filed by the parents of three former Bell Street Middle School students against School District 56 was settled last week, according to the two attorneys representing the parents.
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Press Release

Judge Clips Jail Time for MB Drug Doctors

By Kenneth A. Gailliard
The Sun News
A federal judge on Monday slashed prison sentences for three former doctors from a now-closed Myrtle Beach pain clinic where federal prosecutors say drugs were illegally prescribed. In a federal courtroom in Florence, U.S. District Judge Weston Houck changed Michael Jackson’s sentence to 30 months from 292, and Deborah Bordeaux’s and Ricardo Alerre’s to 24 months from 97 and 235, respectively, prosecutors said.
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Criminal Defense Success for Dockworkers Case

Victory for Charleston Five!

Socialist Action/December 2001
By DAVID BERNT
The international campaign to free five victimized dockworkers ended with a victory just before the beginning of their Nov. 13 trial.

The dockworkers, known as the Charleston Five, had been charged with “inciting a riot” in connection with a Jan. 21, 1999, incident.

The Charleston Five are members of International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) Local 1422, which represents employees of Nordana a lines in Charleston, S.C. In late 1998, Nordana began using non-union workers to load their ships. To protest the use of non-union dockworkers, the local set up informational picket lines-which successfully delayed two Nordana ships.

. . . The longshoremen pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges-which means they admitted no guilt-and paid a token fine of $100 each. The state government had no choice but to back down in the face of tremendous union solidarity across the U.S. and around the world.

. . . In this time of reaction against the rights and liberties of workers, immigrants, students, and all others who fight against the profiteering of the bosses and their allies in the government, the case of the Charleston Five serves as an example of how to fight back in defense of the right to protest.
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Civil Success in School Sexual Molestation Case

Schools Settle for $1.78 Million

Times-News Staff Writer
Jonathan Rich
The Henderson County School Board has agreed to pay a $1.78 million settlement to the families of 17 children who were sexually molested by a former teaching assistant.
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