USC trustee bird-killing case still unresolved
A federal criminal case involving endangered wildlife, brought against a politically connected member of the University of South Carolina board of trustees, appears stalled and has gone nowhere since the trustee appeared in federal court in January.
Charles Williams, 65, an Orangeburg lawyer, is charged with seven counts of unlawfully trapping and killing multiple federally protected migratory hawks. He has pleaded not guilty.
Williams’ two lawyers in the case are Gedney Howe, a Charleston criminal defense lawyer who has represented such clients as former House Speaker Bobby Harrell, and state Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, who is in Williams’ law firm.
On Friday, Hutto told The State newspaper that no follow-up court date has been scheduled.
Also on Friday, assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Klumb said, “No court appearances (have been) set as of yet.”
Three associates of Williams also pleaded not guilty to fewer, but similar, charges at Williams’ first court appearance in January.
Jimmy Aiken, 56, and John Dantzler, 66, are each charged with taking part with Williams in separate, unlawful hawk killings. Alejandro Renteria Noyola, 56, faces a single charge of unlawfully killing a hawk.
Hawks may be killed if someone holds a special federal permit, usually issued for research purposes.
Officials have not said what evidence they will use to try to secure a conviction in the case, which involves alleged illegal activities on private property, the vast 1,790-acre Willcreek Plantation, owned by Williams.
State and federal wildlife officers are allowed on private property to conduct surveillance as long as they do not go in the vicinity of houses on such property. In a 2014 case on an 8,000-acre S.C. plantation in Jasper County, wildlife officers erected hidden surveillance cameras and gathered evidence that way, according to court documents.
Federal authorities have not suggested a motive for Williams’ alleged hawk killings.
This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 10:57 PM with the headline "USC trustee bird-killing case still unresolved."