Midlands solicitor charged with DUI

A Midlands solicitor who prosecuted one of South Carolina's most famous homicide cases was arrested recently in Charleston and accused of drunken driving.

Fifth Circuit Solicitor Warren B. "Barney" Giese is charged with driving under the influence. A Charleston municipal judge gave him a personal recognizance bond, and he was released on June 30, Charleston County Detention Center officials said.

Giese, 51, of Columbia did not return phone calls Tuesday night to his home and his office answering service.

The Associated Press reported that Giese released a statement Tuesday saying he is talking to his attorney about the matter but would not talk further about his arrest.

Giese prosecuted the double homicide case against Christopher Pittman, who was 12-years-old in 2001 when he used a pump-action shotgun to shoot his grandparents and then set fire to their Chester County home. The teen's attorneys unsuccessfully argued that the antidepressant drug Zoloft influenced the brutal slayings.

A police report describes the events leading to Giese's arrest on June 29.

About 11:45 p.m., an officer watched a blue Lincoln sedan traveling on Market Street, a one-way street, heading the wrong way, a police report states. It said the driver smelled of alcohol and had to support himself by placing an arm on his vehicle. Police administered four sobriety tests and the man failed three, the report states.

The man passed his alphabet test but failed a counting-backwards test.

"When the offender reached 73 he followed with 79, 73, 72, 71, 70, 69, 68 ... paused and stated 'No one can do this test,' " the report states.

The man had trouble standing on one leg and swayed from side to side during a walking test, the report states.

Giese has been solicitor for 15 years.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in 1978 and in 1981 received his juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina Law School.

In 1979, he began his work with the 5th Circuit as a law clerk, and upon graduating from law school he was appointed as an assistant solicitor. He was appointed as deputy solicitor in 1985, and in 1993 he left the position to start a private law practice.

He ran for solicitor and was elected in 1994. He was re-elected in 1998, 2002 and 2006.

Giese has served as president of the South Carolina Solicitors Association.