South Carolina Man Sues Moncks Corner and Officer Andrew Turner

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a written opinion on April 20, 2026, in Raye T. Nelson Sr. v.

Town of Moncks Corner and Officer Andrew Turner. The case turns on a civil rights claim against a South Carolina municipality and one of its police officers.

Nelson's complaint names both the Town of Moncks Corner and Officer Andrew Turner as defendants. The pairing is significant: claims against the town require showing a policy or custom caused the constitutional violation, while claims against Turner personally put qualified immunity at the center of the fight.

The April 20 opinion is the most recent docket event on record. Without a published docket number or district court record in the available data, the full procedural history — what the district court decided, what Nelson appealed, and what Turner and the town argued in response — is not yet confirmed. The opinion itself is the anchor point.

What the opinion resolves, and whether it favors Nelson or the defendants, will determine whether this case returns to a district court for further proceedings or ends here. If the Fourth Circuit reversed a summary judgment grant, Turner and the town face trial exposure. If it affirmed, Nelson's federal claims are likely finished.

The qualified immunity question is the one to watch on the Turner side. Courts in the Fourth Circuit apply a two-step test: whether the officer violated a constitutional right, and whether that right was clearly established at the time. Nelson has to clear both steps to get past immunity.

On the municipal side, the town's liability depends on whether Nelson can tie Turner's conduct to an official policy or a pattern the town knew about and ignored.