The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) regularly issues headline-grabbing press releases about high-profile crimes, inquiries of statewide significance, multi-jurisdictional investigations or detailed reports on the status of law and order in the Palmetto State.
The agency also issues what at first glance appear to be incredibly random news releases related to what can only be described as garden variety offenses …
For example, late Tuesday the agency issued a release announcing it had arrested a Rembert, S.C. man on a third degree assault and battery charge.
Huh?
Typically, SLED issues these more mundane-sounding releases when a local law enforcement agency requests its assistance due to a potential (or in this case, an actual) conflict of interest. Essentially, the requesting agencies want an independent review the facts to ensure that there is no bias in the investigation.
Which makes sense …
This is the basic premise of SLED’s longstanding practice of conducting independent investigations in nearly every officer-involved shooting in the Palmetto State (a practice we believe should be standardized for all such incidents).
For years, SLED has done exemplary independent investigatory work in these officer-involved shooting cases – and there is simply no reason we can see for any local law enforcement leader not to turn such investigations over to the agency.
Anyway, the Rembert, S.C. arrest involved a 36-year-old man named Marvin Antwan English – who has been accused of striking an unnamed female victim in the face “with his hand, causing physical manifestation of injury to her left eye” during an alleged altercation at a nightclub in Sumter county.
Last week, English “confessed to SLED agents that he did strike (the victim) upon the face,” according to a probable cause affidavit for English’s arrest.
English was booked at the Sumter Lee regional detention center. His case will be prosecuted by the office of S.C. third circuit solicitor Ernest A. Finney III.
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, English is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter a plea in connection with the charge filed against him.
According to SLED’s press release the agency investigated the case at the request of the Sumter county sheriff’s office. Sources familiar with that referral tell us English is a “relative” of Sumter sheriff Anthony Dennis, but SLED spokesman Tommy Crosby declined to specify the nature of their familial ties during an interview late Tuesday.
-FITSNews
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