BY THE NUMBERS

Area domestic-violence experts and law-enforcement officials applaud Attorney General Henry McMaster's plan to hire three full-time lawyers to prosecute only domestic-violence cases, but they say looking at the issue from a racial perspective, as McMaster did last week, could obscure the big picture: Domestic violence affects everyone.

In 2003, the State Law Enforcement Division ranked Horry County fifth out of the state's 46 counties for number of reported domestic-violence assaults. Georgetown County was ranked 21st.

In criminal domestic-violence cases in magistrate court, fewer than half of victims have lawyers, estimates 15th Circuit Solicitor Greg Hembree. In general sessions court, virtually all victims and defendants have an attorney, Hembree said.

In municipal or magistrate courts in which a jury trial is not requested, a prosecutor is not assigned to the case. This means victims or law-enforcement officers must act as prosecutors. This can be a daunting task for those untrained and unprepared for it.

"They're not going to get adequately prosecuted without a lawyer to handle it," Hembree said. "The other reason you need a lawyer is to evaluate the cases ... to make sure the charge is supported by the evidence. ... Any kind of case where the defendant is defended by counsel, that's a case where the victim needs a prosecutor."

Hembree said he doesn't think the 15th Judicial Circuit handles more cases from one race or one group.

"It really seems to cut across racial lines; it cuts across economic lines," Hembree said. "We don't pay attention in the reports when we're evaluating these cases whether people are black or white. ... It's all based on the evidence."

McMaster revealed his request for a $900,000 federal grant to hire prosecutors for seven rural Pee Dee counties during the annual meeting of the S.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

He cited statistics from the SLED database for 1996 to 2000 showing there were 100,278 crime-incident reports for nonwhite females - an incidence rate of 311.4 per 10,000 nonwhite females statewide. During the same time, there were 98,475 incident reports for white females - an incidence rate of 146 per 10,000 white females statewide.

"What this means to me is that black women are calling for help at a rate 2½ times that of whites," McMaster said.

Domestic-violence experts say this emphasis fails to take into account other factors, such as the victims' income and access to resources.

"Domestic violence knows no socioeconomic boundaries," said JoAnne Patterson, director of Citizens Against Spouse Abuse. "Someone with ample resources is probably not going to contact a nonprofit organization like CASA because they have the resources to obtain suitable housing, attorneys."

Vicki Bourus, director of the S.C. Coalition Against Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault, said: "We know that women who live in very rural areas have difficulty accessing services, no matter what race they are. The resources are spread thin. There are not enough shelters. They might have to travel long distances to get help. ... They have difficulties accessing services ... whether that be shelter or legal advocacy or legal representation."

Bourus, who helped write the proposal for the federal Department of Justice Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant, said the issue of race never came up as the request was created.

"It is unfortunate, in my opinion, that the racial issue came into the equation. I know that as a victim advocate for 15 years, that domestic violence cuts across all races, ages, religious preferences, incomes. ... Domestic violence is present in every community."

To better address the multiple issues domestic-abuse victims and offenders face, Patterson would like to see a domestic violence court in the Grand Strand.

"If the counties could provide a criminal domestic-violence court, they'd find it really beneficial to the cause we're all fighting," Patterson said.

Hembree said he has suggested creating a domestic-violence court next year.

"You really try to get to the root cause of the problem; it's as much of a treatment program as a court program. ... It's like drug court."

Offenders would be punished and also would receive counseling and other services aimed at stopping the cycle of domestic violence.

Capt. Jim Arnold of the Georgetown Police Department said victims and offenders immediately receive referrals for help: "Women to CASA, men to anger management."

Arnold said he thinks black women report domestic violence to the police more frequently than white women in Georgetown. He said that probably is due in part to the racial composition of the city of 8,900: 57 percent of residents are black. He said people with lower incomes probably call the police more often.

"Probably the thing that would help the most is ... community education programs," Arnold said. "The women in the past who have stayed in the household have become educated and are not staying in the home anymore. [They know] they have a lot more choices available to them, that they can leave, that it's OK to leave."

In Georgetown, the city attorney helps prosecute domestic-violence cases in municipal court. The victim also receives the assistance of an advocate, Sherry Smith.

When the abuse is more severe or the defendant has been charged with criminal domestic violence twice before, the case goes to general sessions court.

In Horry County, there are two lawyers in magistrate court who handle only trials for cases of criminal domestic violence, simple assault and battery, and driving under the influence-first offense. There also is a prosecutor in Georgetown County who focuses solely on those types of cases on a part-time basis.

Hembree supports McMaster's plan to hire more lawyers.

"I think it's a great idea to have prosecutors handling domestic-violence prosecutions," Hembree said. "In these small counties, they don't have the funds to pay for lawyers to handle these prosecutions."

Knight Ridder contributed to this report.

Contact SARAH KENNEDY at 444-1718 or skennedy@thesunnews.com.

GEORGETOWN COUNTY

Number of victims | 525

Number of arrests | 184

Number of homicides | 0

HORRY COUNTY

Number of victims | 2,844

Number of arrests | 1,124

Number of homicides | 1

Source: S.C. office of the attorney general Web site

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