York County prosecutor wins top honor from state association

A York County solicitor was recently honored with the state’s highest award for prosecutors.

Deputy 16th Circuit Solicitor Willy Thompson received the Ernest F. Hollings Award for Excellence in State Prosecution in General Sessions from the S.C. Solicitors’ Association.

The award, presented last week at the association’s conference, is given by federal prosecutors to recognize their state court colleagues “who generally have to do much more with much less,” according to the association. Winners are selected by a panel of peers in categories of General Sessions, Family Court and the Attorney General’s office.

“It’s humbling because it is a peer award,” said Thompson, now in his 24th year with the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. “I appreciate that other people look at the work I’ve done and agree that that’s someone who does a very good job. That’s someone you can relay on who does accomplish his goal of justice.”

Pursuing justice doesn’t always mean getting a conviction, Thompson said. Sometimes it even means dismissing charges.

“It’s not just going out and convicting someone that gives me great satisfaction,” he said. “It’s the fact that I’ve been fortunate enough to really fight for justice, no matter what the outcome was.”

The last York County prosecutor to win the award in the General Sessions category was Solicitor Kevin Brackett in 1998, who was a deputy solicitor at the time. Deputy Solicitor Ouida Dest won the Family Court award in 1999, and Assistant Solicitor Whitney Payne won the same category in 2011.

Brackett nominated Thompson, who has been with the solicitor’s office since it consisted of only five or six attorneys.

“He’s an example for the rest of the office,” Brackett said. “Everybody in the office looks up to Willy and strives to be more like him.”

Brackett’s nomination was joined by Sheriff Bruce Bryant, every police chief in York County, judges and public defenders.

Chief Chris Watts, of the Rock Hill Police Department, wrote in a letter that his department consulted with Thompson while investigating a rash of violent crimes in 2013 and 2014 that ended with 19 people arrested on more than 60 warrants.

“Solicitor Thompson worked diligently to ensure that this group of defendants was prosecuted swiftly but fairly,” Watts said. “The resulting prosecutions resulted in a sharp decrease of violent crimes in Rock Hill.”

Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III called Thompson “an example of what a prosecutor should be,” and 16th Circuit Public Defender Harry Dest said Thompson’s greatest attribute is “his insatiable desire to be fair.”

Thompson’s work in the 16th Circuit focuses on homicides, including murders, traffic fatalities and the deaths of vulnerable children or adults. He’s worked on some of the most heinous cases to come out of York County, including the 1998 sex assault and murder of 10-month-old Donald Jarrell Jr. by his parents and the 1989 murder of Mary Stewart, a retired school teacher whose killer saw his death penalty verdict overturned twice before finally pleading guilty in 2008.

Thompson said in some cases, prosecutors are a voice for those who have none, which makes getting justice in those cases particularly rewarding.

“I get a certain satisfaction out of it because there’d be no one else to stand up for these children, like the 10-month-old child of the Jarrells,” he said. “No one would stand up for that child except us. To me, that’s very satisfying to know that at least we stood up for the person who couldn’t stand up for themselves and who was victimized, and that the punishment was appropriate for what happened.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 12:58 PM with the headline "York County prosecutor wins top honor from state association."