8/8 NEWSBREAK: Charleston sheriff's office to pay $33K legal tab in jail tape battle

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office has been ordered to pay the $33,175 legal tab to WCSC-TV after fighting the release of recorded jail calls from a woman accused of driving drunk and killing a Folly Beach bride on her wedding day.

Earlier this year, the sheriff’s office refused to turn over any part of the defendant’s phone calls after initially releasing the records to The Post and Courier in May. Gray Television LLC, the parent company of WCSC-TV, sued Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano June 22 for violating the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The retired chief justice of the S.C. Supreme Court last week issued a court order requiring the sheriff’s office to release recorded phone calls.

The video and phone calls from jail show the accused woman talking with family, her boyfriend and friends. They included discussions of a visit from Graziano, which some say showed favoritism.

“Certain media outlets want you to believe there is a juicy scandal where Jamie Komoroski is given certain attention that most others don’t receive,” Graziano wrote in a The Post and Courier op-ed today. “I’m convinced these media outlets want nothing more than to see another tragedy unfold so they can capitalize on the tragedy porn they create.”

On Aug. 7, the judge ordered the sheriff’s office to pay the full amount that Gray spent on attorney fees and noted that Live 5 attorney Mark Peper devoted nearly 87 hours fighting to win the release of records that should have been available to the public.

Also in the new news today:

CP MUSIC: 2023 Charleston City Paper Music Award nominations now open. City Paper readers can submit their picks for 17 categories spotlighting various genres until Aug. 28.

It’s so hot that … 2023 is on track to be hottest year ever. This year is increasingly likely to become the hottest year on record, due to a rapidly strengthening El Niño weather pattern and unprecedentedly hot summer, according to media reports. Meanwhile, the state and region have been battling record heat, severe thunderstorms and more thanks to severe weather that climatologists say is impacted by the warming planet.

Candidate filing period now open for Charleston-area races. Election season is approaching and local candidates can now file to make their campaigns official for local elections across South Carolina, including a few key races in the Charleston area. In Charleston, Mayor John Tecklenburg will face a field of at least seven other candidates in his bid for a third term while half of Charleston City Council seats are also up for grabs in November, including Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11.

Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing is at $1.55B. The estimated $1.55 billion prize has been gradually building for months thanks to 31 straight drawings without a jackpot winner, becoming the third-largest prize in U.S. lottery history.

North Charleston bill to create own school district still alive, state rep says. S.C. Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, the Democratic lawmaker who filed a bill in the spring to remove North Charleston schools from the county district and create a new district, says that bill is still alive and will be discussed in the coming session. In the meantime, officials will work together to address and remedy some of the issues that led to the bill.

Dorchester library system to open North Charleston branch. The Dorchester County Library System could expand to have five libraries in the coming years, with its first new libraries in 40 years slated to open in North Charleston and Ashley River in the next two years.

Terrace Theater says ‘Barbenheimer’ produced box-office bounce. Charleston-based Terrace Theater on James Island said the simultaneous release of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” late last month produced its best-ever box office weekend.