Man cleared in AA club shooting in Five Points
Gun was fired in self-defense, solicitor says
By JOHN MONK
[email protected]
The man who shot and killed an armed robber in April at a Five Points club for Alcoholics Anonymous members acted in justifiable self-defense, 5th Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese has ruled.
“It’s as clear a case as I’ve seen,” Giese said Wednesday. He has been the circuit’s top prosecutor for 14 years.
The decision means no charges will be filed.
Giese identified the man he cleared as James Corley, 61, a prominent Columbia lawyer.
Corley, a USC law school graduate, is a licensed concealed weapons permit holder and self-described recovering alcoholic who hasn’t taken a drink since 1981.
On April 11, Corley shot and killed Kayson Helms, 18, of Edison, N.J., not only to protect himself, but also to protect others on whom Helms had pulled a .25-caliber pistol, Giese said.
Helms entered the club, called the ACOA Club, with his gun drawn. When Corley rose from sitting on a couch, drew his gun from a back pocket and fired, Helms had already taken a cell phone at gunpoint from one AA member, so it was an actual — not attempted — armed robbery, Giese said.
Although The State published an interview with Corley days after the shooting, the newspaper identified him only as “Jim” because Columbia police said there was a possibility of retribution against him. They refused to be more specific.
Giese said Wednesday he found no evidence of any threat against Corley in the 140-page police file of witness interviews and other evidence.
Giese said it is appropriate to disclose Corley’s identity.
“When a life is taken in a public place, it’s a serious matter. The public has a right to know all the facts,” Giese said.
Corley said later Wednesday he had no doubt he would be cleared — sooner or later.
“You would have a hard time finding a jury that would convict,” he said, adding he has no second thoughts. “I haven’t lost any sleep at all over it.”
Corley said he thinks he did exactly what he should have.
“I suspect they will use it as a textbook example in concealed weapons courses of a good, clean, legitimate shoot,” he said.
Corley declined to allow a photographer from The State to take his photo, but not for fear of retribution. As a lawyer who handles divorces, he sometimes is harassed by angry spouses, he said, and a photo would make their job easier.
Giese explained his thinking this way:
First, Corley and the others did nothing to provoke Helms’ actions.
And Helms was clearly a robber pointing a gun at people, including Corley, causing them to fear for their lives.
“At that point, he is entitled to use deadly force under our law,” said Giese. “He had a right to defend himself and the others.”
Moreover, Giese said, in incidents in which robbers hold up people in enclosed areas, like the ACOA club, they can end up executing everyone — as in the 1996 slayings of two people at Kelly’s Barbershop on Assembly Street.
“These kind of cases can get out of hand,” Giese said.
Statements police took from the three witnesses just after the shooting and reviewed Wednesday by The State supported Giese’s version of events.
“I believed he may have saved our lives,” Jason, 27, an AA member sitting next to Corley on a couch at the time of the shooting, told police. (AA members, seeking privacy, do not use last names.)
Another witness, Willie, 56, said the robber first pointed his pistol at him, then at Corley. Corley fired when the robber was aiming the gun at Corley’s chest, Willie told police.
Willie said he feared for his life. “I was glad Mr. Jim had a gun.”
The third and only other witness, Kathleen, 27, said Corley acted appropriately. “I was very relieved he was there.”
Giese’s decision was consistent with a March ruling in which Lexington County law officers cleared a pizza deliveryman, Christopher Miller, 43, who shot a 17-year-old robber to death while making a delivery.
In that case, the robber was unarmed but beating on Miller, who was retreating, police said. Miller told police that when he saw the robber’s three accomplices advancing, he shot twice, killing the first attacker.
Dick Harpootlian, Giese’s predecessor as 5th Circuit solicitor, said given what he knows about the Corley case, he would have made the same decision.
Corley said he would like police to return his gun — a .32-caliber Kel-Tec semi -automatic.
Efforts to reach Police Chief Tandy Carter for comment Thursday weren’t successful.
Giese said he sees no objection to police returning Corley’s gun.
Meanwhile, Corley said, he’s carrying a spare gun these days — concealed, of course.
“Before, I just carried a gun because I felt undressed if I didn’t have it,” he said. “Now, after this, you never know what’s going to happen.
“I’m not looking for a situation to shoot somebody; I don’t want to be the one getting shot.”
Reach Monk at (803) 771-8344.
