“That just turned everything all over again,” he said in a news conference.
The Smalls family told Mr. Pascoe, who is now the chief prosecutor for a region southeast of Columbia, who was shocked and infuriated. He contacted the state’s attorney general, Alan Wilson, and reporters for The State and for The Post and Courier, two of the state’s largest newspapers.
South Carolina, like other states, has a law allowing for the early release of inmates who give substantial information helping law enforcement or corrections officials. But when the Price case reached the State Supreme Court, some of the justices expressed bewilderment, saying that the process had skirted the proper procedures and had involved a surprising level of secrecy.
“We have a sealed order with no hearing to seal it,” Justice John W. Kittredge said during oral arguments. “It was never filed. Who knew it? Who could file an appeal? It’s a phantom order.”
In a statement, Mr. Gipson said there had been no motion filed by his office because the order had been issued before he had a chance to move ahead with the motion, which prevented a public hearing from being held. Mr. Rutherford said that otherwise, the order met the standard set by law.
Mr. Pascoe has challenged the contents of the order; Mr. Price, he said, was a “huge menace” as an inmate. Prison records showed that Mr. Price was sanctioned multiple times for gang-related activity, leading to stints of 90 days or longer in disciplinary detention and the loss of phone, visitation and canteen privileges.
Starting in 2017, he was sent several times to a prison in New Mexico for extended stretches, including for the last two years before his release.
Mr. Pascoe also said that the claims of Mr. Price protecting corrections officers were based on flimsy accounts, including from another inmate who is now dead. Handling his release in such a covert way, he said, came with consequences, particularly for the Smalls family.
“This was all a sham,” Mr. Pascoe said. “Worse than that, it was a secret.”
