Uncertainty is a terrible thing in the news reporting business. We community journalists are committed to attempting to tell you the who, what, when, where, and why of every issue.
So, with that being said, it pains me to say that it is “unclear” what will happen now to Cassandra Philson, now that the county elections has ruled that she, indeed, has an invalid voting address and voted incorrectly in the 2024 election. Is that perjury, as Laurens County Council Former Chairman Brown Patterson alleges? Will she be criminally charged, or will it be considered a harmless mistake. If Arthur Philson Jr.’s attorney, and by extension Cassandra Philson’s attorney, had been able to attend last Monday morning’s hearing, perhaps he/she would have been able to get an answer to that question.
Not that attorneys are smarter than anyone else.
But they do, presumably, know the law.
In the spirit of full disclosure here, I have to say my former wife has worked for an attorney for more than 30 years. She was hired from being a church secretary by one attorney, who brought in a partner, and then the attorney who hired her died, and the partner and my wife have held together the practice ever since.
The Philsons’ attorney was unable to make it because weather predictors said Laurens was going to get snow last Friday, and the hearing was postponed until Monday when, presumably, all the snow and ice would have been melted. But the attorney had a conflicting court appointment, so he/she was unable to attend.
So, Philson represented himself. And did an admirable job, in my opinion. (In the photo above, Patterson’s attorney, Rob Tyson, at left, is talking to Philson supporter, the Rev. David Kennedy, as the elections commission adjourns into a closed session.)
I always cringe when I see someone representing themself in a court-like environment. This last Monday hearing was not court, because the witnesses were no sworn, but it was close enough.
I once worked in a neighboring county, and I watched the best lawyer in that county tie in knots a State Trooper and a Magistrate in a trial involving a DUI charge against a law enforcement officer. The Trooper was not allowed to say he “heard” the dispatcher say a person was allegedly driving drunk, and therefore effect a traffic stop, because that would be considered “hear-say” in the attorney’s opinion. No one picked up on my mental thoughts of “hear-say exemptions” - there are times when hear-say is acceptable in testimony.
Anyway, I digress, the election commission’s ruling left Mrs. Philson wondering, I’m sure, “what should I do now?”
Change her voter registration address? If she does that, she needs to change her driver’s license. In South Carolina, you have to show the driver’s license to vote and I betcha it has better match the address that have on file for you in the voter registration books. The way state law is set up, it’s useless to present your voter registration card at the polls, even though it is considered an official state document - it is too easily forged and, everybody knows, you can’t forge a driver’s license.
And, another “Why?” question surfaced the day after the hearing on a totally unrelated topic. The City of Clinton has been told that the cause of the Musgrove Street fire in August is “undetermined” - it’s kind of like what they say about a tie in sports. We’re not going to be able know why the most devastating fire in Clinton’s recent history started?
The investigator hired by the insurance company has told the city to pass along to us that his report will not be shared with the public. To me, it is “unclear” if the full report will even be shared with the City - once a private report passes to a public body, it becomes a public document. So we’re going to reach out to the State Fire Marshal’s Office for some guidance.
Again, not to be a snoop, not to be an agitator, but just to combat as best we can the bane of all community journalists’ existence - Uncertainty.
The City has spent money to clean up Musgrove Street. The County has spent money to clean up Musgrove Street. And, by extension, the taxpayers have spent money to clean up Musgrove Street. The cause of the fire is vital to our knowing “Why did we have to spend this money?”
Musgrove Street is turning a corner, and its redevelopment will be a major 2025 story. As soon as we wrap up what happened in 2024.
Contact Vic MacDonald at 864-833-1900.