Alan Hovorka

1 week ago | aikenstandard.com | Alan Hovorka

CHARLESTON — A Hardeeville man acquitted in the murder of an elderly fire chief will end up in prison for the shooting after all, a federal judge has ruled. Almost eight years have passed since Devon Dontray Dunham, 35, admitted to the fatal shooting of former Hardeeville volunteer fire chief Ernest Martin Stevens, 77, in a Jasper County parking lot. Dunham was charged in Stevens' killing in August 2017. A jury acquitted him in May 2021.

1 week ago | postandcourier.com | Alan Hovorka

CHARLESTON — A Florida man stole the identities of Lowe's business customers for years, defrauding them and the retailer out of $1.1 million. Daniel Cavey, 51, will serve nine years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and identity theft. He played a key role in a scheme targeting Lowe's and construction companies with special credit accounts. These Lowe's accounts rewarded frequent buyers with bulk pricing, discounts and other services.

1 week ago | postandcourier.com | Alan Hovorka

CHARLESTON — A horse carriage company's longstanding effort to label a video posted online by animal advocacy groups as defamatory has failed. Again. Charleston Carriage Works failed to meet standards for actual malice for a 2017 video showing a horse named Big John lying its side near Meeting and Hassell streets, the S.C. Court of Appeals ruled. The three-minute YouTube video now with 77,000 views is a form of protected speech, the courts ruled.

2 weeks ago | postandcourier.com | Alan Hovorka

CHARLESTON — An ailing accounting executive avoided a de facto death sentence for wire fraud after a federal judge sentenced her to probation on April 29. "I would have liked to put her in prison for what she did to that company," U.S. District Judge Bruce Howe Hendrick said.  Katherine Duska, 55, will spend five years on probation. She must pay back $191,000 to Schuf USA, her former employer, as part of her sentence.

2 weeks ago | postandcourier.com | Alan Hovorka

A teen killed by a Berkeley County sheriff's deputy this week was carrying a pistol modified for automatic fire, according to the State Law Enforcement Division. But, SLED did not say whether the teenager, 17-year-old Tyren Kinloch, aimed it at a deputy, according to an April 25 news release about the investigation.  Kinloch died during a traffic stop after 9 p.m. April 22 in Wando. He fled from an officer and was shot near Clements Ferry Road and Rivers Reach Drive on the Cainhoy Peninsula.