Michael Pearson, who has spent 15 years in prison for a 2010 Clarendon County robbery and assault he says he did not commit, is due in court Thursday for a hearing on a motion that could grant him a new trial. If granted, the 2012 conviction would be set aside. Solicitor Ernest Finney III has said his office does not plan to retry the case, meaning Pearson could be released.
Finney filed the Rule 29 motion last week asking the court to grant Pearson a new trial. In the filing, he acknowledged there is a “reasonable probability” Pearson did not commit the crime. Pearson is represented by Chris Mumma of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence and James Babb of Columbia. Mumma told The Manning Times she expects Pearson will be released following today’s hearing.
Pearson, 51, was convicted in 2012 alongside co-defendant Victor Weldon and sentenced to 60 years. Prosecutors at the time relied heavily on fingerprint evidence linking him to the stolen vehicle. Weldon, however, has since admitted his own role in the attack and signed an affidavit saying Pearson was not involved. Weldon also passed a polygraph test in 2023 while implicating himself and others.
Defense lawyers also say Weldon identified additional accomplices in photo lineups and interviews. Because those individuals have not been charged, The Manning Times is not naming them.
The case has drawn the attention of Clarendon County Rep. Fawn Pedalino and Sen. Jeff Zell, who asked Attorney General Alan Wilson to review the matter earlier this month. In an Aug. 18 reply, Chief Deputy Attorney General W. Jeffrey Young said the AG’s Office is “actively handling this matter through the post-conviction relief process.”
Pearson remains in custody at the South Carolina Department of Corrections. During his incarceration, both of his parents and several relatives have died, and he was unable to attend their funerals.
“I’ve been fighting for 15 years,” Pearson told The Post and Courier in a recent phone interview. “I just want to go home.”
