State v. Cutter

Brailsford, Justice:

The appellants, Ervin G. Cutter and Fred Cutter, are father and son. In April, 1972, they were convicted of having extorted money from one Kenneth Lawrence, a Florence physician, in violation of Section 16-566.1, Code of 1962. They were sentenced to imprisonment for ten years and have appealed on numerous exceptions, which have been argued under eight questions.

Dr. Lawrence had a lucrative medical practice, but he was continually in financial straits after a federal tax lien was filed against him in the early sixties. When he could no longer obtain credit from conventional…