DECISION NEARS IN SCHOOL-RAID CASE

Attorney General To Announce Whether Charges Will Be Filed

CHARLESTON - Almost eight months after Goose Creek police swept through Stratford High School with guns drawn looking for drugs, Attorney General Henry McMaster will announce today whether criminal charges will be filed in the raid that brought national attention.

McMaster has been investigating the Nov.  5 drug sweep in which students were ordered to the floor and a drug dog was used.  No drugs were found and no arrests were made, and the sweep spawned two civil lawsuits.

Seventeen Stratford students sued in December, saying Goose Creek police and school officials terrorized them during the raid.  Later, the American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of 20 other students alleging violations of constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure.  The suits later were consolidated.

The raid drew national attention as videotape of officers with guns drawn and students on the floor was televised nationwide.  Also in December, the Rev.  Jesse Jackson led hundreds through nearby North Charleston in protest.

The Attorney General's Office began investigating at the request of Charleston-area Solicitor Ralph Hoisington.

Trey Walker, a spokesman for McMaster, would not comment Thursday on why the investigation took so long.  He said McMaster would provide details today during a news conference at the Charleston County Courthouse.

After reviewing surveillance tapes and a 200-page State Law Enforcement Division report, Hoisington said he had questions about the incident.

"While I am confident the goals of the Goose Creek Police Department were appropriate, the actual methods employed by certain officers were ill-advised," Hoisington said in December when he announced he was referring the case to McMaster because Hoisington would have to prosecute cases brought by the local police.