UPDATE: Following the publication of this article, Chris Spradley withdrew from the 11th Judicial Circuit seat nomination.
South Carolina Circuit Court nominee Chris Spradley is being put under the microscope after two letters surfaced requesting investigations into Spradley over a series of allegations that include witness tampering, witness intimidation, and much more.
Palmetto State Watch Foundation obtained a letter written by Saluda Clerk of Court Sheri Coleman addressed to President of the Senate Thomas Alexander and Speaker of the House G. Murrell Smith.
In her letter, Ms. Coleman starts off by stating that she is afraid of retribution but feels that it is her civic duty as the Saluda Clerk of Court to share her concerns over Circuit Court Judicial Candidate Christian Giresi Spradley, who Coleman claims she has known for many years.
The letter alleges that Chris Spradley has exhibited “serious misconduct”, including an alleged investigation by SLED for witness tampering. Coleman states that Spradley “intimidated a witness with losing her child to DSS if she testified in a criminal case; he refused to take a lie detector test when SLED was investigating him.”
As County attorney, Spradley represented both criminal clients against Saluda County citizens and the County Sheriff’s office. “Once he pulled every trick in the book to get out of a criminal trial. When that didn’t work and the trial was called, all his client’s criminal indictments went mysteriously missing from the clerk of court’s office. The trial had to be postponed.”
This is Where It Gets Interesting…
“One thing that I saw with my own eyes was when he illegally came into the locked Clerk of Court’s office with a key when he thought no one was there. I remember that day well–I was in the clerk’s office and sitting back in my private office. The Clerk’s office was closed and the doors were locked; there were no employees there. I heard someone unlock the door to the Clerk’s working areas. I watched on my security camera monitor and saw Mr. Spradley come in the room with some papers in his hand. I was shocked to see that he had a key to my county office.“
“I watched him walk around the room and go into the area where my Court personnel record legal documents. I saw him use our equipment to mark the papers he had and then he made copies of his papers…he then initialed and stamped each copy to make it look like they had been recorded by Court staff. He then left the office with the copies in his hand, locking the door back on his way out. Seeing that happen brought back memories of when his criminal client’s indictments went mysteriously missing right before the trial was to start.“
Coleman makes it clear in her letter that Spradley had no credentials to enter the locked Clerk of court’s office, nor use any of the clerk’s equipment to stamp and sign documents. Coleman hints at what we are all wondering while reading this account: how many times has Spradley entered the clerk’s office when no one else was there?
According to Coleman, those that have worked with Spradley on a regular basis “think that he is arrogant, dishonest, and condescending, especially towards women. I think a candidate for judge should have ethics and a reputation beyond question. But his lack of integrity and the actions I have witnessed are why I am writing you this letter. On what I know, Chris Spradley should not even be considered for a judgeship. I would never want to work with such a man, and I hope that our legislature will investigate him.”
JMSC Staff Ignores Coleman’s Account
The second concern raised by Ms. Coleman is about the JMSC staff. “They knew about my strong concerns about Mr. Spradley’s character, his condescending treatment of women and his illegal actions in my office.”
According to Coleman, the JMSC staff told her they were “too busy” to talk to Coleman and that they did not have the resources or the time to investigate complaints against Spradley, along with that she had not provided an affidavit. In her letter, the Clerk of Court apologizes for not providing an affidavit as she did not realize that it was required, but she felt that as the Clerk of Court for Saluda Coleman thought that the JMSC staff would want to talk with her as a “candidate for a judgeship should have an impeccable reputation and respect.”
To this day, Coleman has never been contacted by the JMSC in regards to her concerns relating to the nomination of Chris Spradley for the 11th circuit court judgeship nomination. “Had they [JMSC] done their job, they would have learned what I witnessed and that attorney Spradley had also been terminated from both the position of Saluda County attorney and the position of Batesburg-Leesville town attorney.“
The Honorable Sheri Coleman previously worked as a Tri-County paralegal for the 11th Circuit Solicitor, Donald “Donnie” Myers, for eight years before being elected as the Saluda County Clerk of Court in 2016.
Deceased 11th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Ervin Maye’s Letter Confirms Spradley’s Alleged Misconduct in Detail
Palmetto State Watch Foundation obtained a 13-page letter written in 2013 by former 11th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Ervin Maye to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel regarding “a series of events arising out of my involvement in the series of burglary cases in Saluda County and Edgefield County.” Mr. Maye is now deceased.
Maye explains in this detailed letter how attorney Chris Spradley allegedly intimidated a witness and convinced a witness to retract previous statements which resulted in that witness being prosecuted for giving a false statement, to name a few.
In early September 2013, Maye was “preparing to try a four defendant armed robbery/home invasions in McCormick County” and there were “four attorneys for the defense. Townes Jones represented one of the defendants.” According to Maye, Jones “stated that there was a motion that was to be filed in the Holloway case regarding prosecutorial misconduct on my part that would somehow stop me from prosecuting cases in which he was involved.”
Later, Maye spoke with Jones and Fred Spivey, an associate attorney in Jones’ office. “They told me that they had a major falling out with Rauch Wise regarding filing a motion to dismiss the charges against Jimmy Markese Holloway for prosecutorial misconduct on my part. They each said that they thought Rauch Wise had lost his mind and they were adamantly opposed to his filing of this motion. Both of them said that they refused to sign onto the motion and had told him not to put their names on it.” Later in the case, Jones informed Maye “that Wise was being encouraged to file this motion by Attorney Chris Spradley of Saluda, the attorney who represents Nikita Canty on the perjury charges. I [Maye] believe that Chris Spradley has motive beyond the representation of Canty in attempting to push this issue forward.“
On page 9 of Maye’s letter, he describes another case in May of 2009 where a Saluda county residence was burglarized and the resident had a suspicion “that his ex-wife, Summer Shealy was involved.” When Summer Shealy was interviewed, she “admitted that she had knowledge of the burglary and provided a written statement that her husband, Robert Lynn Shealy, acting along with a co-defendant, Cecil Robert Corbett, burglarized Rikard’s residence and perpetrated the theft.”
“Shortly after [Robert] Shealy’s arrest, Chris Spradley was retained to represent him. Sometime after Chris Spradley was retained to represent Shealy, the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s office was informed by Spradley that he had a written statement from both Summer Shealy and Cecil Ray Corbett retracting their previous statements and providing information totally exonerating his client. I read the statements and was certainly suspicious of the circumstances that led to two individuals totally retracting written statements given to law enforcement.”
“In nineteen years of being a prosecutor I have almost never experienced a similar circumstance. The only previous similar instance with the same suspicious character that I can recall also involved Chris Spradley.”
“I was informed that Summer Shealy wished to cooperate and would provide information to the State…Shealy provided that she had been induced to go to the office of Attorney Chris Spradley by her husband Robert Lynn Shealy. Summer Shealy relayed that she met with Chris Spradley who told her that she had to change her statement and write a new one that was the exact opposite. Summer Shealy relayed that she felt very intimidated by Spradley and that he informed her that if she did not execute a new statement that she was going to get in trouble, go to jail, and would lose her kids. She indicated that a new statement was drafted, and she signed it. She assured me and her Attorney, Mr. Casto, that her subsequent statement was false and she was prepared to testify to the circumstances surrounding the generation of the false statement at Spradley’s office.”
Further into the letter, Maye added, “…I informed Judge William Keesley and Chris Spradley of the information Summer Shealy provided to the State. Chris Spradley has withdrawn as counsel for Robert Lynn Shealy…I have asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate the entire matter.”
Maye continues to relay another “similar instance” in the county regarding narcotics distribution charges that were pending against one of Spradley’s clients, Travis Montae Barnes around 2008. “During the time the charges were pending Spradley went to the jail and met with an inmate, that he did not represent, in the Saluda County Detention Center, Edward Holloway.”
“Mr. Spradley met with Holloway who did not have any opportunity to consult with another attorney. Afterwards, Spradley went back to his office and prepared a statement which provided that he, Holloway, had never purchased drugs from Barnes–in contradiction to the audio tapes of the entire transaction—and that the officers involved in the undercover buy had not searched him or followed appropriate protocol in handling the case. The statement was basically a line-by-line retraction and repudiation of the information provided to the defense in discovery.”
“During the January 2008 term of General Sessions Court for Saluda County, Mr. Spradley produced the statement that he had written by his own admission and had Holloway sign as a defense for his client. The statement that Mr. Spradley obtained resulted in Holloway being prosecuted for giving a false, sworn statement. As I previously stated, in my entire career as a prosecutor this is the only second instance of receiving a line-by-line retraction of events and information provided to law enforcement that I can recall, and it involved the same attorney.”
Maye explains that since Spradley was serving as the Saluda County attorney, the Sheriff allegedly expressed his concern to Maye when seeking guidance from Spradley on prosecuting cases. “The current Sheriff of Saluda County has expressed concern that he is unable to seek the advice of the county attorney because that same individual is often involved in the very cases in which his department seeks guidance.”
At the end of his letter, Maye requests the Office of Disciplinary Council to “investigate the allegations of impropriety on the part of Chris Spradley in his representation of Nikita Canty and Robert Lynn Shealy. I am requesting that the Office of Disciplinary Council address the propriety of a lawyer serving as Saluda County Attorney while simultaneously representing clients against the Saluda Sheriff’s Office.”
I highly recommend that you read the entirety of Maye’s letter to fully understand the depth of these allegations:
Unfortunately, Ervin Maye is now deceased after committing suicide in West Virginia on March 30, 2021.
Attorney Chris Spradley is one of three nominees who are being considered for the Eleventh Circuit Court seat. According to S.237, it appears that the appointment of this seat will take place this Wednesday, February 5th at noon.
Spradley is a powerful name in Saluda and the surrounding areas, both in the community and within governance. Christian’s father, Elza “Sandy” Spradley Jr., was the last mayor of Batesburg and the first mayor of Batesburg-Leesville. Sandy served as a town council member, a member of the Batesburg Water Commission, a founding member of the community’s rescue squad from which he retired after 33 years.
Christian Spradley followed in his father’s heated footsteps and currently serves as a member of the Saluda Fire Department. After working as the county and town attorney, Chris Spradley now works as a managing partner for the law firm Moore, Bradley, Myers. According to his bio page on the law firm’s website, Spradley “has served as a State Prosecutor for the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office where he became the first prosecutor for the Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team. He has also served as the municipal judge for the Town of Ridge Spring.”
We reached out to SLED multiple times in regards to their investigation into attorney Chris Spradley but have not received a reply.
If you have any further information regarding this story, please reach out to us via email: info@palmettostatewatchfoundation.com
The post Midlands Clerk of Court Implores Legislature to “Investigate” Circuit Court Nominee appeared first on Palmetto State Watch Foundation.