Digital Forensics Dispatch

Former Bamberg County, SC Councilman Wants Computer Evidence Suppressed

June 15, 2021

Former councilman Kerry Kinard and his attorney have asked the judge to throw out computer evidence in relation to the sex-related chargers Kinard is facing in Bamberg County, Martha Rose Brown of The Times and Democrat writes. Council for Mr. Kinard, Bakari Sellers argued that all the computer evidence collected by law enforcement should be suppressed. Sellers is arguing that the evidence be suppressed because the evidence has yet to be available to him and his client to review before trial.

Kinard’s trial is set for July 12, and he faces charges of first-degree assault and battery, second-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 16, committing or attempting to commit a lewd act upon a child under 16, and two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor and dissemination of obscene material to a person under 18. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman heard arguments from Sellers and the Second Circuit Deputy Solicitor, David Miller. Miller informed the court that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is still analyzing some of the data extracted from electronic devices that were seized from Kinard’s father’s home. At the time Kinard was taken in to custody he was living with his father.

Judge Newman is quoted by Brown “I may not make a decision until the time of trial, who knows.” Currently, the SLED has approximately a terabyte of data that has been extracted from some of the seized devices. The is “an Android tablet, a Chromebook laptop, a Microsoft Surface tablet and two Apple iPhones [that] remain passcode protected and SLED analyst haven’t been able to access them” Brown writes. Miller told Sellers that if Mr. Kinard wanted to provide the proper passcodes for the devices that it would speed things up. Miller stated that the available computer evidence and timeline would be provided on June 11, 2021.

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