YORK — Flanked by two South Carolina solicitors and the loved ones of other victims who lost their lives to violent crimes, Stephen Federico renewed his calls Oct. 9 for change to the state’s justice system in the wake of his daughter’s death.
Logan Federico, 22, was robbed and killed while visiting friends at the University of South Carolina in May. Police have filed charges against 30-year-old Alexander Dickey, a man whose rap sheet includes dozens of felony and misdemeanor offenses from across the state’s Midlands region.
“Alexander Dickey — a career felon, a criminal that was roaming the streets because of the South Carolina judicial system — physically took Logan’s life, but unfortunately, the system that was supposed to protect her also took her life,” Stephen Federico said at a press conference. “The system is broken, and I plan to turn it on its head. There will be nobody that won’t hear from me.”
Two conservative solicitors — Dave Pascoe of the 1st Circuit and Kevin Brackett of the 16th Circuit — credited Federico with bringing national media attention to perceived flaws in the South Carolina justice system with his testimony at a congressional committee hearing in Charlotte and interviews on Fox News.
The prosecutors called on state lawmakers to make changes in how judges are selected in the state, ending lawyer-legislator protections, and to enact laws that better handle offenders who are deemed to have mental health issues.
“People are paying attention to the criminal justice system,” Brackett said. “It’s our hope that while the curtain has been pulled back and the light has been shown on it, they’ll start to look at these other issues.”
South Carolina is one of just two states where the Legislature alone elects judges. In most states, popular elections or a combination of lawmakers make the choice.
It’s a practice that Pascoe, a Republican candidate for Attorney General, has advocated against for years, claiming it leads to preferential treatment and distrust in the legal system. He said Stephen Federico shared concerns about whether his daughter will be able to get justice in a system where a judge was possibly selected by an attorney representing a suspect.
“I asked Mr. Federico to be here because there are a lot of victims that have a lack of confidence in our system, because of our judges,” Pascoe said.
A lawyer-legislator has not been involved in any of Dickey’s cases up to this point, according to Federico and both solicitors.
Dickey remains in jail after his indictment June 25 on 12 state charges, including murder, burglary and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to Richland County court records. His case is pending.
The Federico case is already a subject of active attention in Columbia.
Attorney General Alan Wilson, who recently assigned a prosecutor in his office to consult on the case, told The Post and Courier in an interview Oct. 8 that his office recently began an audit of Dickey’s criminal history to assess where and when miscommunications took place that led to him avoiding lengthier sentences for his previous crimes.
Once concluded, Wilson said he planned to issue legislative recommendations, including various criminal justice reforms, to ensure various law enforcement agencies are communicating with one another and, ultimately, aware of the criminal histories behind the persons appearing in their courtrooms.
“There are systemic issues that we need to look at to make sure that prosecutors have all the information and judges have all the information,” Wilson, a Republican candidate for governor, said in an interview. “That way, if they do have all the information and they still make the wrong decision, there is a way to hold them accountable for that decision.”
Last week, Wilson put pressure on the Columbia area’s head prosecutor to fast-track a decision on seeking the death penalty for Dickey.
If 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson has not decided on capital punishment in time to meet Wilson’s Oct. 10 deadline, the attorney general said his office could take over the murder case, raising questions about the kind of precedent that sets.
On the same day as the media press conference, Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman sent a public letter to chief of South Carolina’s state police demanding to know more about the circumstances that allowed Dickey to be out of jail.
“An incomplete rap sheet is not a clerical error; it is a public safety failure with deadly consequences,” Norman’s letter said. Also a Republican candidate for governor, Norman has been vocal in his criticism of how the case is being handled.
In Greenville on Oct. 6, Norman said Wilson was late to the case and called again for the state to impeach Gipson.
“The little girl is dead,” Norman said, adding Federico’s testimony at the hearing last month was heart-wrenching.
“The key is putting conservative judges on the bench,” Norman said. “That hasn’t happened in South Carolina. That hasn’t happened in North Carolina. But we can directly affect it.”
