After about an hour meeting in the judge&squo;s chambers with Abril&squo;s attorney, Stephan Lindsey, and Senior Deputy Attorney General Jim Coman, Judge Zoro Guice Jr. called for a recess until 2 p.m.

&dquo;We have to deal with an administrative matter,&dquo; Guice said, noting that the matter would take the remainder of the morning. He dismissed the jurors until 2 p.m. One juror asked the judge&squo;s leave for the afternoon to attend the funeral of Charlie Ward in Saluda, and this was granted without objection.

Sheriff Abril is facing five counts of statutory rape and one count of sexual offense on a child stemming from incidents alleged to have occurred between July 1987 and October 1989, involving two girls, ages 10 and 11 at the time. Abril has maintained his innocence since his arrest on August 28, 2006.