The State Law Enforcement Division on Thursday arrested a nine-year veteran of the Charleston County sheriff's office and accused him of forging a witness' lineup document and giving false information to the 9th Circuit solicitor's office about a 2006 rape case.
Detective Eugene Magwood, 54, of Johns Island, is charged with common law misconduct in office, a crime with a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail, said Mark Plowden, public information officer for the S.C. attorney general's office.
Magwood, who has been an investigator since 2001, was released on a personal recognizance bond and placed on administrative leave with pay, sheriff's Maj. John Clark said.
An arrest affidavit said Magwood provided false information in the form of a photo lineup. The accusation is that he forged a witness' signature or initials, Plowden said.
The affidavit said that in pre-trial meetings, "Magwood did knowingly and willfully provide false information to an Assistant Solicitor and an investigator for the Solicitor's Office regarding the investigation and the accompanying investigative report."
Citing the ongoing nature of the state's investigation, Plowden and Clark wouldn't reveal more details. Clark said the sheriff's office spotted discrepancies and reported them to solicitors and SLED.
"We did not like what we saw," Clark said.
Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the case because it involves solicitors who could be called as witnesses. It is not clear how, if it all, the arrest will affect the 2006 rape case or any other cases Magwood investigated.
Magwood could not be reached for comment. He had first been employed by the sheriff's office as a detention officer in 1998 and became a deputy in 2000, Clark said.
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