Three years since former South Carolina deputy Evan Robert Hawthorne was charged with killing retired Rock Hill police lieutenant Larry Vaughan, his case hasn’t gone to trial.
And it’ll be at least five more months before the case has its day in court, according to prosecutors and Hawthorne’s attorneys.
It is unclear why the case has taken so long to reach a trial, especially after there was a bond hearing in December 2022, more than 15 months after charges were filed. But a number of factors, including COVID and defense attorney schedules, may have combined to delay the case.
Hawthorne’s legal defense team denies the charges and has claimed he acted in self-defense after Vaughan attacked him.
The criminal case is one of the oldest murders outstanding in York County and isn’t shown in any public records as being scheduled. Jail records show only two defendants charged with murder before Hawthorne’s arrest remain in custody waiting for trial.
It is vital for public trust of courts that defendants receive a fair trial and that victims receive justice, the S.C. Supreme Court said in a May 2023 order requiring cases be moved through the system.
“There must be an emphasis on the disposition of older cases and addressing new cases as they come into the system,” the order stated. “The jury trial is a crucial stage of the criminal justice system and, accordingly, jury trials receive the most attention from the public.”
As it waits for the criminal trial, Vaughan’s estate filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Hawthorne and the Tattooed Brews bar and restaurant where Vaughan and Hawthorne drank before the killing.
The civil case and the criminal case are separate.
Vaughan’s death
Rock Hill police found Vaughan dead July 23, 2021, at his apartment on Main Street. But the Rock Hill Police Department asked the York County Sheriff’s Office to investigate because of Vaughan’s ties to city police.
York deputies charged former Chester County deputy Hawthorne with murder a few hours after Vaughan’s body was found. The arrest warrant stated Hawthorne killed Vaughan “with malice aforethought, by assaulting the victim causing his death.”
Deputies said they had video surveillance, witness statements and other evidence to charge Hawthorne.
Court documents allege Vaughan and Hawthorne were both drinking alcohol July 22, 2021, at Tattooed Brews. Hawthorne allegedly went to Vaughan’s apartment after Vaughan left the bar. Then, Hawthorne left the apartment covered in blood, prosecutors said previously in court in 2022.
Vaughan lived at the Anderson apartments — across Black Street from the police department and down Main Street from the bar.
Vaughan, 54, known as “LV,” retired from Rock Hill police after a 30-year career less than a year before he died. He had been a supervisor in the detective division where his officers investigated crimes and dealt with victims.
Vaughan was one of two officers who pulled a woman out of an apartment in 2008 unharmed after serial shooter Phillip Watts shot people in seven armed robberies in York County. He spent two decades on the SWAT team.
In 2021, Vaughan was listed as a victim himself.
Hawthorne has pleaded not guilty. He is represented by two of South Carolina’s most high-profile lawyers, Jack Swerling and S.C. Rep. Todd Rutherford .
The criminal case
York County prosecutors with the 16th Circuit Solicitor’ office left the case because of a conflict — they knew Vaughan through his many years with Rock Hill police.
Spartanburg County prosecutors from the Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office took over prosecuting the case in December 2021 — and still have it.
Hawthorne was jailed without bail for more than a year after his arrest — including when York County Circuit Judge Dan Hall denied bail in January 2022.
Hawthorne’s lawyers argued for bail in a second hearing in December 2022 in front of visiting judge Alex Kinlaw Jr. And Kinlaw, from Greenville, released Hawthorne on $250,000 bail before Christmas in 2022 despite statements from police and family not to do so. The judge also ordered Hawthorne to be tracked by an electronic monitor.
Reports to the court about Hawthorne’s adherence to the electronic monitor have been sent to the court periodically since, including as recently as Tuesday, documents show.
Why has the criminal case not gone to trial?
With the three-year anniversary of Vaughan’s death, the Herald requested information from court officials about why the case had not gone to trial.
One potential reason: trials in South Carolina were halted for about a year in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trials did not start in York County until after April 2021.
But arrests continued, and cases piled up.
The S.C. Supreme Court issued an order in May 2023 requiring county courts to schedule and move older criminal cases, especially after COVID-19 shut down trials. The court specifically mentioned cases pending more than 30 months.
The Hawthorne criminal case involving the death of retired police officer Larry Vaughan now is 36 months old.
The supreme court in its May 2023 order also mentioned specifically that the goal must be justice.
“The backlog of old cases brought on by the COVID-19 shutdown must be addressed and older cases disposed of,” the court wrote. “However, it is not enough that cases are disposed of; how cases are disposed of is paramount. All cases must be handled within the singular focus of obtaining justice.”
Date scheduled for December?
Another factor: Hawthorne’s lawyers have other cases and other roles. Swerling regularly defends murder cases around the state and also has clients in federal court. Rutherford also gets court scheduling immunity for periods of the year because he is a member of the S.C. General Assembly. Lawyers who are legislators get court-ordered scheduling protection while doing the public’s business.
Swerling told The Herald cases involving jailed defendants often have been scheduled first since COVID. And Hawthorne has been free on bail since December 2022.
After The Herald questioned court officials on both sides why the case hasn’t been scheduled for trial, prosecutors and Hawthorne’s lawyers exclusively told The Herald late Wednesday the case is scheduled for the first week of December.
Swerling said he was able to reach a scheduling agreement with prosecutors for then.
In a statement to The Herald Wednesday, prosecutors from Spartanburg also confirmed the case is expected to start by the end of the year after sides talked about bringing the case to court.
“The charge is tentatively scheduled to come before the court in York County on the week of December 2, 2024,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they had no comment on the civil case .
The civil lawsuit
Lawyers Michael Melonakos and Ryan Alderson filed the separate civil lawsuit against Tattooed Brews LLC and Hawthorne in York County civil court July 19 on behalf of Vaughan’s estate. In that case, defendants Hawthorne and Tattooed Brews have 30 days to respond in writing to the claims.
Generally after that, courts require the sides to seek alternative dispute resolution before the case moves forward.
The lawsuit places blame on Tattooed Brews, saying that Hawthorne became verbally and physically abusive “as a result of the alchohol served to him.”
“As the Decedent left Tattooed Brews to walk home, he was followed by an intoxicated Defendant Hawthorne. Defendant Hawthorne then entered the Decedent’s apartment and proceeded to beat him to death,” the civil lawsuit claims.
Swerling, another of Hawthorne’s lawyers, said Wednesday when reached by telephone he had not seen the civil lawsuit before he was contacted by The Herald.
“Our position remains that of self-defense,” Swerling said. “Mr. Hawthorne denies the allegations as he has from the beginning.”
Rutherford said previously in criminal court in December 2022 that materials provided to him by police and prosecutors show Vaughan had a blood alcohol level of .27 when he died — more than three times the .08 legal limit for operating a car, WSOC-TV reported in 2022.
In a written emailed statement to The Herald Wednesday, Tattooed Brews owner Nikki Perlowich said the business committed no wrongdoing. Perlowich said in the statement Vaughan was a loyal patron of the restaurant and a close personal friend.
“His passing was tragic and we miss him dearly,” the statement said.
Melonakos, lawyer for Vaughan’s family estate who filed the lawsuit, declined comment when his office was contacted by The Herald.
Reality Check reflects the Rock Hill Herald’s commitment to holding those in power to account, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that sets the Rock Hill region apart. Email realitycheck@heraldonline.com
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