SC man serving life in ex’s fatal stabbing thought he got 45 years, lawsuit claims
A South Carolina man serving a life sentence for stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death in Rock Hill wants his conviction tossed out because he thought his guilty plea was for less time.
Prosecutors and his lawyer from the 2019 guilty plea said in court Thursday that Jefferson Quishpi, 32, admitted to murder. What’s more, he understood a judge could sentence him to life in prison with no possibility for parole for fatally stabbing Marandy “Jade” Brandon after breaking into her apartment, hiding, then killing her in front of her three young children, according to court testimony.
All of which he did while out on bail after an arrest for beating her up a week earlier.
The violent attack on Brandon and the life sentence after the guilty plea two years later covered by The Herald received regional and national media attention.
But Quishpi testified he pleaded guilty because he thought he’d get a 45-year sentence.
The judge hasn’t ruled in the new filing.
The Herald was the sole media organization in court Thursday for Quishpi’s attempt for a new trial.
Why in court again if guilty plea?
After his guilty plea, Quishpi filed a post-conviction relief (PCR) lawsuit against the state of South Carolina. In that lawsuit filed in February 2020, he alleged his guilty plea was involuntary and other claims about sentencing, court documents show.
That claim was heard Thursday in York County Court at the Moss Justice Center in front of visiting Judge Mark Hayes of Spartanburg.
Post-conviction relief claims heard by a judge, not a jury, are common in South Carolina, especially in cases involving long or life sentences. But a judge’s decision overturning a conviction and granting a new trial — especially when there was a guilty plea — is rare.
Quishpi is an immigrant from Ecuador who came to the United States legally as a child but speaks little English. He had a Spanish-speaking interpreter with him in court Thursday along with a court-appointed lawyer, Mike Lifsey.
Prosecutors from the S.C. Attorney General’s Office who want the claim dismissed represented the state of South Carolina Thursday.
Defense lawyer testifies in former client’s case
Before the killing, Quishpi already had had two domestic violence arrests where Brandon, 25, was the victim, testimony showed. One of the arrests was just a week before the killing. He was released on bail with a judge’s order to stay away from Brandon while the case was pending, according to records and testimony.
“You broke into Jade’s house, hid in her 4-year-old daughter’s room, then stabbed her to death,” S.C. Assistant Attorney General T. Cruise Mitchell said in court Thursday. “You were out on bond at the time. You had a no-contact order with the victim...You did plead guilty to this crime?”
Quishpi testified through the interpreter those facts were true, with the exception that he believed the dwelling was his.
Chris Wellborn, the lawyer who defended Quishpi from 2017 until the guilty plea in 2019, testified in court he met several times his client where he explained the case and the evidence against him.
Two mental health experts found Quishpi was mentally competent to stand trial even with evidence of mental illness, Wellborn testified. There was no legal justification for an insanity defense, he testified.
Wellborn also testified that murder carries between 30 years and life, that prosecutors could have sought the death penalty and that there was never any 45-year plea offer.
It was Quishpi who made the decision to decline what Wellborn understood to be a previous, 50-year offer to a different lawyer, Wellborn testified.
Quishpi made the decision to plead guilty and try to seek a judge’s sentence that could be as little as 30 years during the guilty plea hearing in 2019, Wellborn testified.
What happens now?
Judge Hayes didn’t rule on the post-conviction relief claim. Hayes told the court at the end of the hearing: “I will let you know.”
Hayes gave no timetable on when he would rule.
Quishpi left court and was returned to a S.C. Department of Corrections prison in Lee County where he is serving the life sentence.
The original case was prosecuted by Jenny Desch, a senior assistant solicitor in York County. Desch was in court Thursday but was not called to testify.
Desch declined comment after court on the claims made by Quishpi, pending Judge Hayes’ ruling.
Some members of Brandon’s family were in court Thursday with a victim’s advocate. They did not testify, and declined to comment after court.
