CHARLESTON — What started as a routine bond hearing nearly two years ago has devolved into a series of dramatic court filings in which the defense attorneys, prosecutors and, now, the judge who set bond have accused each other of acting inappropriately.

Defense attorney Gil Gatch first alleged in June 2024 that Assistant Solicitor Mallory Haliena committed “prosecutorial misconduct.” He accused her of pressuring the doctor who performed a psycho-sexual evaluation on his client, Walter Clayton Pate III , to share the results with her.

Gatch, who also is a state lawmaker from Summerville, upped the ante in May when he asked the court to remove the 9th Circuit Solicitor’s Office from prosecuting the case, citing alleged bias against Pate.

The controversy stems from former Circuit Jud

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