Atlantic Beach mayor guilty of traffic charge

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — A North Myrtle Beach jury has found Atlantic Beach Mayor Retha Pierce guilty of a traffic violation.

After Tuesday’s verdict for driving left of the center lane, Pierce said she expected to be found guilty because people in North Myrtle Beach are out to get her tiny beach town, which is surrounded by the bigger city on all sides.

Pierce acted as her own lawyer, and her questions to the officer who gave her the ticket last November seem to indicate she thought the video from his motorcycle was altered.

Pierce was ordered to pay a $237 fine. She is awaiting another trial on a driving under the influence charge in Conway and is on probation after being found guilty last summer of resisting arrest.