Event Information

Amie L. Clifford serves as General Counsel and Director of Education Services for the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination. Her responsibilities include providing legal advice and services to the Commission and, upon request, the Solicitors and their staff; the planning, implementation and management of educational programs for state and local prosecutors; making presentations on various topics; monitoring and analyzing appellate opinions and rule changes; monitoring, analyzing and, as needed, drafting legislation; and special projects, including preparation of amicus briefs.

Prior to joining the Commission in November 2007, she was employed by the National District Attorneys Association as the Director of the National Center for Prosecution Ethics and as an Assistant Director of Programs for the National College of District Attorneys. Immediately prior to joining NDAA/NCDA, she served as a Judicial Fellow (now called Supreme Court Fellow) at the U.S. Sentencing Commission (1999 – 2000), and, before that, as an Assistant Solicitor in the Charleston County Solicitor’s Office (1991 – 1999), Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Section of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office (1984 – 1991), and Staff Attorney with Piedmont Legal Services, Inc. (1983 – 1984). As a volunteer, Ms. Clifford has represented the State in criminal appeals as a Special Assistant Attorney General (2006 – 2010; 2013 – 2018).

She has been involved in organized Bar activities at both the state and national level. Her current service includes Chair of the South Carolina Bar Ethics Advisory Committee, Immediate Past-Chair of the Trial and Appellate Advocacy Section, Member of the South Caroling Bar House of Delegates, Member of the Professional Responsibility Committee, Member of the Practice and Procedure Committee, and Volunteer, Fee Dispute Board. Her past Bar services includes service as President of the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association (1999; 2019), President of the South Carolina Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2001 – 2002), President of the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division (1992 – 1993), Chair of the South Carolina Bar Criminal Law Section (1991 – 1992), Chair of the South Carolina Bar Trial and Appellate Advocacy Section (2003 – 2004; 2021 – 2022), and member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2005 – 2008), and Council member of the ABA Criminal Justice Section (1995 – 1998). She is also a Fellow of the National Institute for the Teaching of Ethics and Professionalism (Inaugural Group) (2005). Since 1985, she has participated in CLE trainings conducted by the South Carolina Bar, the ABA, and other organizations. Ms. Clifford has served as a contributing author for publications of the South Carolina Bar (South Carolina Jurisprudence and South Carolina Criminal Trial Techniques Handbook), the ABA (The Fourth Amendment Handbook: A Chronological Survey of Supreme Court Decisions (2nd ed.) (published in October 2002 by the ABA, for which she also served as co-editor), and the National District Attorneys Association (Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Guide to Ethics and Civil Liability (2nd ed. 2007 NDAA) (also served as editor) and Managing Prosecutors (2007 NDAA)).

Ms. Clifford received her Bachelor of Arts degree (French) from Northwestern State University of Louisiana (at the age of 19) and her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in May 1982 (at the age of 22). She was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in November of that same year.

 Mr. Barnette is the Solicitor for the Seventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor Office, which consists of Spartanburg and Cherokee County since February 2011. He was the Principal Deputy Solicitor for the Seventh Judicial Circuit from January 2001 to February 2011. He was a Spartanburg County Magistrate Court Judge from July 1996 to January 2001. He was an Assistant Solicitor from January 1991 to July 1996. He was in private practice from June 1990 to January 1991 in Easley, South Carolina. He also taught Chemistry and Physical Science at Travelers Rest High School from August 1988 to June 1990. He graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1988 with a J.D. Degree. He graduated from Marshall University in 1985 and received a B.A. Degree in Education with specializations in Chemistry and General Science. He received the 2006 Ernest F. Hollings Award for Excellence in state prosecution that is his profession's top honor in the State of South Carolina. He received an Outstanding Traffic Safety Prosecutor Award from the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators in 2006. He received the 2007 Prosecutor of the Year Award from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. He received the 2010 Criminal Justice Award from the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network (SCV AN) for his work with crime victims and their families. He received the 2013 Solicitor of the Year Award from the South Carolina Victim Advocate Association (SCLEV A). He has taught numerous classes, seminars, and presentations through South Carolina and the Southeast. He has taught Evidence Law and DUI Law at the South Carolina Magistrate Court Orientation School and training seminars (1997-2011). He done presentations at the Death Penalty sections and training (2004-2016) and Driving section (1991- 2016) at the South Carolina Solicitor's Conferences and Training Sessions. He has made a presentation at Southeast Law Enforcement Training at Lawrenceburg, Tennessee in 2005. He received an award from MADD in 1996 for his traffic prosecution in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. He received the Spartanburg Optimist Club Award for Outstanding Prosecution in 2002. He was a contributing author in Handling Traffic Cases in South Carolina, 4^th Edition (2005) and 5th Edition (2012). He also has produced the Case Law on Driving Cases in South Carolina booklet for several years for judges, attorneys, and law enforcement officers through South Carolina. In his position of Spartanburg County Magistrate Court Judge, he heard over a hundred jury trials including civil and criminal matters. He also heard hundreds of non-jury trials including civil and criminal matters. He was on the Commission of Judicial Conduct for the State of South Carolina involving discipline matters involving judges of all levels from 1997 to 2001. He is also a member of the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination (SCCPC). In his position of Assistant Solicitor, Principal Deputy Solicitor, and Solicitor in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, he has prosecuted hundreds of cases and handled over one hundred trials over all types ranging from DUI to Death Penalty cases.

BJ Barrowclough serves as the Chief Public Defender for the 16th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Office. He first joined the York County Public Defender Office in 1995 and worked there for five years. He then spent 18 months as an assistant district attorney with the Luzerne County, PA, District Attorney's Office during which time he was part of a three attorney team that was awarded letters of commendation for "Prosecution Team of the Year" for the entire state of Pennsylvania in connection with the prosecution of a double murder case featured on America's Mast Wanted. In 2001 he returned to the York County Public Defender Office and in 2002 was promoted to Deputy a position he held until becoming Circuit Defender in 2020. During that time he defended most of the homicide and high-profile cases in that office. In 2014 he was elected the South Carolina Public Defender of the Year by the Public Defender Association. He served as vice-president of the Public Defender Association from 2002-2008 and in 2020 was appointed to serve on the Board of the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. He also helped coach the Fort Mill High School mock trial team from 2015-2018 including a state championship in 2016. He graduated magna cum laude with a Juris Doctorate from Boston College and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Judge Daniel McLeod Coble was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina.  Judge Coble attended public schools in Columbia and graduated from Clemson University with a B.A. in Economics. He attended the University of South Carolina School of Law. 

Upon graduating law school, Judge Coble worked as an assistant solicitor for the Fifth Judicial Circuit where he also was the lead prosecutor for South Carolina's first homeless court.  He was appointed as a full-time magistrate judge for Richland County in 2017 and served as the associate chief from 2018-2021.  Judge Coble subsequently opened his own law practice, Coble Law Group, and focused on criminal and civil litigation. 

Judge Coble has written several legal books and articles and has been published by the South Carolina Bar, SC Lawyer, and several law reviews.  He served as the chair of the South Carolina Bar Publications Committee.  

He was elected in 2022 to fill the seat of the Honorable L. Casey Manning, resident judge for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, upon his retirement.

Mark was born in Statesville, North Carolina, moved to Greer, South Carolina, when he was in elementary school, and has remained in South Carolina ever since.  Mark attended Wofford College for his undergraduate degree and the Charleston School of Law for his law degree.  Following law school, Mark clerked for the Honorable Ralph King Anderson, Jr. at the South Carolina Court of Appeals, and he continued to do so when Judge Anderson returned to the circuit court bench as a retired active judge.  Mark then began working as an Assistant Attorney General in the criminal appeals division of the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General, where he continues to work today as a Senior Assistant Attorney General.  He has been admitted to practice in all South Carolina state courts, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.  To date, Mark has argued over fifty times in the South Carolina Supreme Court and over ninety times in the South Carolina Court of Appeals.  Additionally, Mark has served as a member of the Chief Justice’s Committee to Review South Carolina Appellate Court Rules and of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office’s Appellate Review Committee, and he was the recipient of 2020 Trial and Appellate Advocacy Award from the South Carolina Bar Trial and Appellate Advocacy Council. 

William M. Blitch, Jr., JD is currently a Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General with the South Carolina Attorney General's Office and the supervisor of the Office's Criminal Appeals Section.  After graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1998, he began his career in private practice handling real estate and similar matters.  After coming to his senses, he left private practice and joined the South Carolina Court of Appeals as a staff attorney. In May 1999, he began clerking for the Honorable Ralph King Anderson, Jr. of the Court of Appeals.  When his clerkship ended, he became a staff attorney with the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2000.  After two years with the Supreme Court, he returned to the Court of Appeals and became the Deputy Chief Staff Attorney, and later served as the Interim Chief Staff Attorney.  Mr. Blitch joined the South Carolina Attorney General's Office in 2007, where he has handled criminal appeals before both the South Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court and worked with the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He has participated in over 150 oral arguments at the two appellate courts and written countless briefs. Mr. Blitch has spoken at numerous trainings throughout South Carolina on appellate issues, digital evidence, Fourth Amendment, prosecution of sexual abuse, child abuse, and issues related to ICAC, including at the South Carolina Summary Court Judge's Conference, the South Carolina Solicitor's Conference, and numerous CLE trainings throughout the state.