Public kept out of courtroom as judge weighs evidence in South Carolina police ambush case

FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — A judge has shut a courtroom from the public and reporters as he heard pretrial motions in the death penalty case of a South Carolina man charged with killing two police officers in a 2018 ambush. Court hearings in South Carolina are almost always open. But WPDE-TV reported that lawyers for Frederick Hopkins successfully argued Thursday holding a public hearing about whether some evidence or statements from witness would be allowed at his trial would expose potential jurors to information a judge decides to exclude. Prosecutors did not challenge the request. Authorities say Hopkins killed two officers in an ambush on investigators he knew were coming to his home to execute a search warrant on his son.