Criminal Law Section
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
by order of presentation
The Honorable Joseph F. Anderson
United States District Judge, District of South Carolina Columbia, SC
Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. was appointed United States District Judge by President Ronald Reagan in October 1986. Prior to that, Judge Anderson practiced law in Edgefield, South Carolina, and represented Edgefield and Aiken Counties in the South Carolina General Assembly. He is a graduate of Clemson University and the University of South Carolina School of Law.
When appointed at age 36, Judge Anderson became the youngest federal judge in South Carolina history and the second youngest in the country. He has served on the federal bench for 34 years, seven of those years as Chief Judge.
A strong advocate of legal education, Judge Anderson has taken part in more than 200 CLE and law-related programs, committees and associations, including a six-year seat on the Federal Rules of Evidence Committee of the United States Judicial Conference. He also has authored two books on trial advocacy for lawyers.
Judge Anderson recently took senior status, but retains an active court schedule, in addition to serving as an adjunct professor of Evidence and Federal Courts at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Christopher W. Adams
Adams & Bishoff Charleston, SC
Chris concentrates in criminal defense in federal and state courts. Chris concentrates on defending clients accused of white collar crimes, street crimes, sex offenses and capital murder in the South and around the country.
Since launching his private practice in 2007, Chris has represented clients in serious matters from Las Vegas to New York City to San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, the bulk of his practice is fighting for men and women accused of crimes in and around South Carolina.
Prior to opening his own practice, Chris spent 15 years as a public defender or non-profit lawyer. Chris began his career in Charleston, S.C., and he and his family returned in 2010 after spending a decade in Atlanta.
The son of two teachers, Chris grew up in Carrollton, Georgia. After graduating from his hometown college, he earned his law degree from Georgetown University in 1992. Chris spent the next eight years as a public defender in Charleston, successfully defending clients against a wide array of criminal charges from driving offenses to capital murder.
Chris is recognized by his peers for his excellence as a criminal defense lawyer. Chris is the President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He was selected by Superlawyers in 2016-2020 for Criminal Defense in South Carolina and has achieved an Avvo of 10.0.
In 2000, Chris joined the Southern Center for Human Rights, a nationally acclaimed non-profit law office in Atlanta that defends people facing the death penalty throughout the Deep South. Working with committed and talented defense teams, Chris won a series of impressive results in very difficult cases — an acquittal for death row inmate Gary Drinkard, a DNA exoneration for Douglas Echols, an acquittal for Albert Joe Ryans, and a lesser conviction and sentence for death row inmate Levi Pace.
Chris accepted the appointment to become the founding director of the Georgia Capital Defender, the state agency charged with defending indigent men and women facing the death penalty at trial and on appeal. During his tenure (2004-2007), the office accomplished amazing results for its clients, resolving 40 cases without a single client being sentenced to death, including a unanimous life verdict in a double murder case that Chris tried in Brunswick, Georgia. However, the State of Georgia responded by cutting funding so low that it undermined the clients’ constitutional right to effective representation. After being prohibited by the State of Georgia from litigating the issue in court, Chris resigned over the principle of effective representation for all defendants facing the death penalty, which was covered in the New York Times. One of Chris’ most distinguished honors came in 2020, when he was sworn in as the 62nd President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).
He is a sought after speaker on criminal defense topics ranging from courtroom advocacy, forensics, criminal law, and ethics, having given more than 100 presentations to professional organizations and bar associations in more than thirty states. He is on the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College where he teaches fellow criminal defense lawyers and learns from them in the process. He has served as an adjunct professor of law at Emory University, Georgia State University, and the Charleston School of Law, teaching courses and clinics on capital punishment and criminal procedure. In 2017 he made his television debut when he was featured in Season 1 Episode 6 of the Netflix original true crime documentary series “The Confession Tapes”.
As part of his commitment to giving his best for his clients, Chris enrolled in a two-year masters program in oral storytelling from East Tennessee State University. Chris graduated in 2016. With his experience and passion for justice, Chris will continue to protect the liberty and reputation of his clients by working tirelessly to win the most favorable verdict possible.
Stephanie Smart Gittings
Fourteenth Circuit Public Defender Beaufort, SC
Stephanie Smart Gittings is the Fourteenth Circuit Public Defender. She has served in this role since 1999. Stephanie received her B.A. in 1991 from the University of South Carolina Aiken and her J.D. in 1997 from North Carolina Central University.
Barry J. Pollack
Robbins Russell Washington, D.C.
Barry J. Pollack is a partner with Robbins, Russell in Washington, D.C. and is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He represents individuals and corporations in criminal investigations and trials. As a former certified public accountant, a substantial focus of his practice is the litigation of complex financial cases. In addition to economic crimes, he routinely represents clients in public corruption and national security matters. Mr. Pollack has extensive jury trial experience and is best known for his skills in the courtroom.
He obtained the acquittal of an executive of Enron Corporation following a month-long federal criminal jury trial in Houston. More recently, he obtained a not guilty verdict following a two-week federal jury trial in Virginia for a government contractor accused of bribing a public official to obtain contracts. Mr. Pollack also obtained the reversals of the wrongful convictions of Martin Tankleff, who served 17 years in prison for the murder of his parents in Long Island, and of Fernando Bermudez, who served 18 years for a homicide outside a nightclub in Manhattan. In 2008, Mr. Pollack was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and in 2013 as a Fellow in the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He is recognized by Chambers USA, Legal 500, and The Best Lawyers in America® and many other publications. Mr. Pollack has received the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project's Defender of Innocence Award and the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Gideon Champion of Justice Award. Mr. Pollack is an adjunct faculty member at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a course entitled, Anatomy of a Federal Criminal Trial. He is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and presently serves on the boards of Rising for Justice and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
He received a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, in 1991. He received a B.S. from Indiana University, with high honors, in 1986. Mr. Pollack is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and New York.
Peter McCoy
United States Attorney, District of South Carolina Charleston, SC
Peter M. McCoy became the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina on March 30, 2020. As U.S. Attorney, McCoy is the chief federal law enforcement officer responsible for federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in the District of South Carolina. He supervises an office of approximately 62 Assistant United States Attorneys, 75 support staff, and 18 contract support staff, all of whom are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes affecting the district, including narcotics and firearms cases, gang violence, human trafficking, white-collar crime, securities fraud, public corruption, terrorism, and civil rights violations. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States. The Civil, Criminal, Appellate, and Administrative Divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office span the District’s headquarters office in Columbia, and its three staffed branch offices in Charleston, Florence, and Greenville.
Upon his swearing in, United States Attorney General William P. Barr lauded McCoy’s qualifications for the appointment. “Peter’s extensive legal and prosecutorial experience, and strong commitment to public safety and the rule of law will make him an able leader of this office,” said Barr. “Peter has been a fierce advocate for the rights of children and strict accountability for sex offenders and other violent criminals. He will make an outstanding U.S. Attorney for the people of South Carolina.”
Before becoming U.S. Attorney, McCoy was a partner at McCoy and Stokes Law Firm. McCoy also served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and focused his legislative work on protecting children and keeping neighborhoods safe.
A Charleston, S.C., resident and graduate of Hampden-Sydney College and Regent University Law School, McCoy spent more than five years as a criminal prosecutor in the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, handling thousands of crimes involving violence, guns, and drugs. As a
legislator, McCoy was the lead sponsor of legislation requiring the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse as well as legislation establishing a mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who commits a crime while out on bond. He worked to pass statutes that ensure violent repeat criminal offenders do not remain out on bond if they continue to commit crimes.
Scarlett Wilson
Ninth Circuit Solicitor Charleston, SC
The South Carolina State Senate confirmed Solicitor Scarlett A. Wilson on August 3, 2007, to become the first woman to hold the office of Solicitor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. The citizens of Berkeley and Charleston Counties elected Solicitor Wilson to hold the position in 2008, and re-elected her in 2012 and 2016. Governors Sanford, Haley and McMaster each have appointed Solicitor Wilson to serve as a Commissioner on the South Carolina Commission for Prosecution Coordination. In addition, Governors Haley and McMaster appointed Solicitor Wilson to serve as a member of the State Child Fatality Advisory Committee. Solicitor Wilson is known as a tough but compassionate prosecutor, having won the Law Enforcement Victim's Advocate Solicitor of the Year Award and the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network's Criminal Justice Award for Outstanding Service to Victims. Solicitor Wilson has played an integral role in the implementation of Charleston County's Safety & Justice Challenge grant awarded by the John D. and Catherine MacArthur Foundation. The goal of the grant was to keep dangerous people behind bars and to provide law enforcement and the court more options when dealing with lower-risk, non-violent offenders. Work begun by the grant is on going and shepherded by Solicitor Wilson and other members of the Charleston County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
Solicitor Wilson has been a career prosecutor. After graduating from Clemson University in 1989 and the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1992, she was a law clerk for the Honorable Don S. Rushing. Solicitor Wilson began her career in prosecution working as a Fifth Circuit Assistant Solicitor. She next joined the United States Attorney's Office and its Violent Crimes Task Force as an Assistant United States Attorney where she was a joint winner of the Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance, the highest award given by the Department of Justice to an AUSA. In January 2001, Scarlett left the United States Attorney's Office to serve as Chief Deputy Solicitor for then Solicitor Ralph E. Hoisington. She served as Chief Deputy until her appointment to Solicitor after Solicitor Hoisington's death.
Solicitor Wilson is a native of Hemingway, South Carolina.
C. Rauch Wise
Greenwood, SC
Since 1995 Rauch Wise has been interested in the proper application of 404b evidence in criminal cases. He has lectured extensively on this topic before the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the South Carolina Association for Justice and South Carolina Bar. In addition, he has had an article published on this topic in the Champion, the publication of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. (July/April 2014). He was appellate Counsel in State v. Wallace, the case that State v. Perry purports to overturn.
Mr. Wise practices in Greenwood, S.C. in area of criminal practice and appeals. He received his B.A. from Wofford College and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Mr. Wise is member and former President of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Amie L. Clifford
S.C. Commission on Prosecution Coordination Columbia, SC
Amie L. Clifford serves as General Counsel and Director of Education Services for the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination. Her responsibilities include advising the Commission and the Circuit Solicitors; monitoring legislation, case law, and rule changes; analyzing legislation; creating and managing educational programs and materials for state and
local prosecutors; and special projects, including preparation of amicus briefs.
Prior to joining the Commission in November 2007, Amie previously was employed by the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) (2000 – 2007) as Director of the National Center for Prosecution Ethics and an Assistant Director of Programs for the National College of District Attorneys. She also previously served as a Fellow of the Supreme Court of the United States (served as the Fellow at the U.S. Sentencing Commission) (1999 – 2000); Assistant Solicitor, Charleston County Solicitor’s Office (1991 – 1999); Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Section, South Carolina Attorney General’s Office (1984 – 1991); and Staff Attorney,
Piedmont Legal Services, Inc. (1983 – 1984). She has also, on a pro bono basis, represented the
State in criminal appeals as a Special Assistant Attorney General (2006 – 2010; 2013 – 2018). Amie has served as a contributing author for publications of the South Carolina Bar, ABA, and
NDAA, including South Carolina Jurisprudence and the South Carolina Criminal Trial
Techniques Handbook (South Carolina Bar); Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Guide to Ethics and
Civil Liability (2nd ed. 2007) (also served as editor) and Managing Prosecutors (2007) (National
College of District Attorneys/National District Attorneys Association); and The Fourth
Amendment Handbook: A Chronological Survey of Supreme Court Decisions (2nd ed. 2002) (American Bar Association). She is also a regular CLE speaker.
Amie has been active in state and national bar associations since 1984. She currently serves in a number of positions in the South Carolina Bar: Member, House of Delegates (1992 – 1999; 2002 – 2007; 2008 – Present); Member, Ethics Advisory Committee (1997 – 1998; 2013 – Present); Member, Professional Responsibility Committee (2002 – 2003; 2009 – 2010; 2015 – Present); and Chair-Elect, Trial and Appellate Advocacy Section (2020 – Present).
Amie graduated from the U.S.C. School of Law in May 1982 (at the age of 22) and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in November 1982.
