Prosecutor Fires Back After 'Dateline' Story Profiles Rock Hill Murder

ROCK HILL, S.C.,None — A local prosecutor is firing back in response to a "Dateline" news story profiling a 9-year-old Rock Hill murder case.

Kevin Brackett, the 16th Circuit solicitor, stood before reporters Friday, a week after the story aired in prime time on the brutal killing of 12-year-old Amanda Cope.

Brackett called the news story slanted.

"It's a blatant, slanted, one-sided hit piece that was designed to make us look bad," he said.

Amanda Cope was raped and strangled in her home on Rich Street in Nov. 2001. Her father, Billy Cope, was charged in her death, but weeks later, DNA found on her body matched another man, named James Sanders.

Cope's defense lawyers believe at that point, the charges against Cope should have been dropped.

Both men were tried and convicted together. Police and prosecutors believe the two men conspired to rape and kill Amanda, but said Billy Cope was the mastermind behind it.

The "Dateline" story casts doubt on that conspiracy, arguing that the two men had never met and saying that Sanders, a rapist, is the real killer.

After the story aired, Brackett said he started receiving angry calls and e-mails. Some accused him of putting an innocent man in prison and were critical of his refusal to do an interview with "Dateline," he said.

Brackett said he didn't trust the "Dateline" show after two prior experiences with the program. He said he refused the interview because he was urged to do so by a deputy attorney general, since the case is still pending in the appeals process.

"I didn't want to slip up and say the wrong thing, because this case is still under appeal, and in a two- or three-hour interview, that's certainly possible," he said.

Dateline did not report the reason for Brackett's refusal to do the interview.

"They just said, ‘We tried to get Brackett to talk to us, and he wouldn't do it,'" Brackett said. "Like I was afraid to talk to them or something like that."

Brackett said there are other issues, too. He said he would not retry the case now, six years later, but did take issue with how he said "Dateline" producers were "chummy" with the defense team. Brackett said they appeared to be working hand-in-hand with Cope's defense lawyers, even applauding during the trial when certain moments appeared to favor the defendant.

Members of Cope's family are divided on the "Dateline" story and on the guilt of Billy Cope. Cope's sister, Susan Archie, said she has believed in her brother's innocence all along.

"[The "Dateline" story] was a relief," she said. "Finally, the truth could be heard."

One of Cope's daughters, Jessica, said she feels much differently. She posted an angry note on "Dateline's" website after the story aired. Brackett provided a copy of it to reporters on Friday. In the post, Jessica said she can't call Cope "father" anymore.

"I would just like to say that all of you are eating out of Billy's hands," she wrote. "Wake up!! He's not the so-called man he's telling you he is…. He and Sanders did know each other. When they saw each other they talked like two school girls."

Brackett launched a new website about the case, and said its mission is to tell the truth about what happened in the Cope case.

Click here for a link to the prosecutor's website.

The case against Cope is still winding its way through the appeals process. His attorney, Jim Morton, did not have a timetable for when the appeal might be heard.

NBC, which airs "Dateline," issued a statement responding to the allegations that its story was inaccurate.

"We regret that the prosecutor and law enforcement refused to talk to us for the broadcast after numerous requests, but we stand by our reporting and how we covered the story," Jenny Tartikoff of NBC Universal said.

WSOC