A South Carolina Judge is considering whether a sentence he ordered is too lenient
I'm posting this article because it is a really good illustration of one aspect of the criminal process in South Carolina that criminal attorneys use from time to time. Its called a Motion to Reconsider. In this particular case it was the prosecutor, a.k.a. the solicitor that filed the motion, although the defense lawyer can also file one.
A Motion for Reconsideration is filed in those cases where the attorney believes that the sentence the judge ordered it too harsh or too lenient. In this case, the solicitor felt it was too lenient. This sort of motion is not filed routinely, but rather on a limited basis. Attorneys need to be careful with these so as to not abuse the process and not lose credibility. In my experience, I have seen these filed more in relation to a Guilty Plea sentence than from a trial. The filing of one of these is not necessarily implying that the judge made a mistake. Sometimes there wasn't enough information about the defendant given to the judge at the time of sentencing. Clearly the defendant's lawyer knows more about the defendant than the judge does, and may not have enlightened the judge as much as he/she should or could have. As far as the judge having enough information about the particular crime, they usually know about as much as the defense attorney and the solicitor. The last time I filed one was in Myrtle Beach Municipal Court and the judge granted it. The right to file such a motion is probably more common in our General Sessions court in Conway, since those are mostly felonies and the sentences can be considerably more severe than the misdemeanor sentences that are handed out in Municipal and Magistrate courts.
In the case at hand, a man received a sentence of probation of three years and of community service in the amount of 500 hours. The defendant, John Ludwig, was convicted of Reckless Homicide after he drove his Maserati into a house in which the resident was killed. The charge in which he plead guilty to, Reckless Homicide, was originally murder, and was eventually reduced.
Just prior to driving his car through the house, he drove through a field, flew off an embankment and into the house. His attorneys said that he swerved in an effort to avoid hitting a number of deer.
A few days after Mr. Ludwig was sentenced, the solicitor Bob Ariail who called the sentenced"disproportionate" in comparing to other cases, filed the motion. He asked that the defendant be sentenced to 10 years which is the maximum on that criminal charge.
The judge, Circuit Judge James Williams Jr., said that he expects that in a few weeks he will have his decision on the motion to reconsider.
