Bond denied Riddle while he awaits fourth trial
By TARA JENNINGS Ledger Staff Writer tara@gaffneyledger.com

ERNEST RIDDLE

Bond has been denied for Ernest Matthew Riddle.

Riddle, accused of the Aug. 8, 1985 murder of Abby Sue Mullinax, was granted a new trial after the S.C. Supreme Court announced it had determined the original trial against Riddle was fundamentally unfair due to prosecutorial misconduct.

The Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office has served Riddle notice that it will once again seek the death penalty.

Defense attorneys Jeffrey Bloom and Diana Holt contend Riddle is not a risk because he is on the verge of clearing his name and because his family lives in Spartanburg or surrounding counties, where they have resided for generations. They also claim Riddle is a docile soul and has not been charged with a single violation of the S.C. Department of Corrections disciplinary code during his 21 years on Death Row.

“He is facing society’s most severe punishment because he is alleged to have committed the heinous, horrific murder of an elderly, unarmed, innocent grandmother who was asleep in her own home. The fact that Riddle has not committed other offenses while in prison is exactly why he should remain there until the trial of this matter,” according to court documents filed by Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy, who will prosecute the case.

Circuit Court Judge J. Cordell Maddox will preside over the case.

The S.C. Supreme Court order reversed a lower court’s ruling upholding Riddle’s conviction.

Riddle was found guilty of murder, burglary and armed robbery and sentenced to death. There was no physical evidence connecting Riddle to the murder, however the state relied on eyewitness testimony of Riddle’s alleged accomplice, his mildly retarded brother Jason, and the testimony of witnesses who overheard comments made by Ernest Riddle following the death of Mullinax.

During appeal, the guilty verdict was upheld but the death penalty was reversed only to be returned again during a 1987 re-sentencing proceeding. That death penalty was once again reversed on direct appeal, and again affirmed by a third jury in 1991.

The Supreme Court addressed what it called “grave constitutional violations” which occurred during the 1986 guilt phase, and which mandate reversal of the (Post Conviction Relief) order.

All three circuit court proceedings against Riddle were prosecuted by then-solicitor Holman A. Gossett. Riddle’s defense attorney in all proceedings was Kenneth Holland.

Evidence in the case will be unsealed so further forensic examination may be conducted.