Arrest over tape defended Rental 9 years ago not returned, deputy says By Eric Connor Staff writer Pickens County authorities on Tuesday said they had no choice but to arrest and jail a woman on a charge that she failed to return a rented VHS movie nine years ago. Kayla Michelle Finley went into the Pickens County Law Enforcement Center on Feb. 13 to report an unrelated complaint when a records check found a magistrate’s warrant active from 2005, said Creed Hashe, chief deputy for the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office. Attempts to reach Finley by The Greenville News have been unsuccessful. The law that Finley was charged under — petit larceny, failure to return video or cassette — no longer exists, but the Sheriff’s Office is required by law to take her into custody, Hashe said. “There is no expiration date or statute of limitations for criminal arrest warrants,” he said, and the department “has no legal authority or discretion in regards to serving or not serving arrest warrants that are determined to be ‘valid on their face.’” Finley was jailed overnight until she could see a judge, who set her free on a personal recognizance bond, Hashe said. A representative of the nowclosed Dalton Video in Pickens in September 2005 requested a magistrate sign an arrest warrant after Finley didn’t return the movie “Monster-In-Law,” Hashe said. The movie is a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda. At the time the warrant was issued, a civilian or business owner could appear before a See VHS, Page 4A Article Continued Below See VHS on Page A04 VHS Continued from Page 3A magistrate and request arrest warrants, Hashe said. That practice is no longer in place today, he said. However, Hashe told The News that the law must be enforced as it existed at the time the warrant was issued. Cases “are tried every day” that are several years old and that involve theft of items of low value, he said. “In South Carolina, there is no acceptable level of approved theft in terms of the value of the stolen property,” Hashe said. Pickens County isn’t staffed at as high a level as larger counties, so there wasn’t a judge on duty the night Finley was arrested, he said. The arrest warrant states that Finley had been sent notification of the delinquency in the form of a certified letter in September 2005. The exact value of the movie wasn’t identified in the warrant, except that its value was less than $1,000. Finley’s court date is set for March 10, according to Pickens County court records.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 12:31:12 +0000
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