Ariail: Ludwig case doesn’t define him

By Cindy Landrum  

JANUARY 21, 2011 11:25 a.m. (0)

Former 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail knows he’ll be remembered for John Ludwig, the case that produced controversy and protests during the final months of his 14-year tenure as Greenville County’s top prosecutor.

Ludwig, a Greenville businessman, received probation for driving his Maserati through a man’s house and killing him.

Ariail hopes instead to be remembered for starting Greenville County’s drug court, for improving the quality of lawyers in the solicitor’s office and for pursuing justice in each case.

“It’s not all about convictions,” said Ariail, who will work in private practice. “It’s all about getting the right results and achieving justice.”

In the Ludwig case, Ariail says, the justice system broke down.

“It broke down, in my opinion, on the judicial side and I told the judge that,” Ariail said. “I’ve had that happen in other cases, but they were not nearly as high profile. I hope my tenure is not defined by the judge’s decision in Ludwig. There are so many other things that are positive.”

When Ariail became solicitor in 1997, the office’s staff of attorneys turned over every three years, there were four computers in the office used solely as a database and there was no diversion program for defendants with drug addictions.

At the time Ariail pushed for the creation of a drug court, it was viewed more as a “do-gooder” program than a diversion program prosecutors could use to help the drug-addicted beat their dependency on drugs and the criminal behavior that followed.

“The staff is what makes it work. I wish it could be 10 times bigger,” Ariail said.

To get into the program, a defendant must plead guilty and be sentenced, something Ariail pushed for in the beginning instead of allowing participants out on bond without a prison sentence hanging over their heads.

“It’s more serious that way. You get people who really want help,” he said.

The idea is if you get rid of the addiction, you get rid of the criminal, Ariail said. At a drug court graduation a couple of weeks ago, graduates filled the courthouse’s jury assembly room. Each had a story, including a woman who was sentenced to 20 years for embezzlement but now works for a company that manages money.

“It was akin to a revival testimonial,” Ariail said. “She wasn’t a bad person. She was a drug addict.”

The program, which six out of 10 participants complete and are not re-arrested, has been more successful than Ariail ever imagined.

Ariail also developed a case management system that was adopted by the state Supreme Court for use statewide.

“The Chief Justice adopted it statewide. She never paid me back, but she gave it to everybody else,” said Ariail, who said the system cost $100,000 to develop.

Ariail is also proud of his record in death penalty cases.

He personally tried 14, getting death sentences in 10. His last death penalty case ended late last year with a guilty plea.

Ariail said when it was time to decide whether he would run for re-election, his office administrator asked him if he wanted to run just to occupy the office or whether they’re was something left that he wanted to do.

Ariail decided there was nothing left to accomplish, reading over the speech he gave to staff members when he took over the office in 1997.

He had tried so many death penalty cases that they no longer got his adrenaline pumping.

“Johnny Mack Brown once told me I’d know when it was time to leave,” Ariail said. “It’s time.”