McBratney Law Firm, P.A.

On December 14, 2016, the Georgetown County Probate Court approved a six-figure settlement for the benefit of the child of Valerie Harrington, a 36-year-old woman shot and killed by Georgetown County Sherriff’s Deputies on July 12, 2014.

  This settlement ends a wrongful death lawsuit against Georgetown County, the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office and three of its deputies filed by Reta Abbott, mother of Valerie Harrington and personal representative of Harrington’s estate.  The lawsuit was originally filed in the Court of Common Pleas for Georgetown County and was moved to the Charleston Division of the U.S. District Court of South Carolina.

  Plaintiff Reta Abbott is represented by James T. McBratney, Jr. and Holly H. Wall, both of...

By   Wayne Drash , CNN

FAMILY PHOTO

Valerie Abbott Harrington adored her 3-year-old daughter, Lexi. It was Valerie’s mother, Reta Abbott, who called authorities on July 12 to seek help for Valerie when she threatened to harm herself.

The voice on the phone speaks in a soft, polite tone tinged with a few cracks from worry. Reta Abbott tells the 911 dispatcher that her daughter is posting suicidal thoughts on Facebook.

“I mean, she needs to be in a hospital,” the mother says.

Abbott called the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office in Litchfield Beach, South Carolina, at 4:57 p.m. on July 12. At times, the mother seems almost apologetic for seeking law enforcement’s help. The 911 operator responds with compassion: “All right, we’ll have...

LEXINGTON, SC — A Lexington County jury late last week took two hours to deliberate before awarding a woman $1.6 million in actual damages in a   civil case in which she claimed she was hounded by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, strip-searched and tossed in jail on felony charges that were later dismissed.

The case of lawyer Kay Paschal, who won the verdict against Sheriff Leon Lott, involved a dispute over a dead Columbia businessman’s multimillion-dollar estate, issues of sheriff’s department jurisdiction and charges of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Questions also arose about   whether one of Lott’s deputies was too personally close with heirs of the dead man.

Under S.C. law, sheriffs are responsible fo...