Alex Murdaugh appeared publicly for the first time since his murder trial at Thursday’s state court hearing on financial crimes allegedly committed by a disbarred South Carolina lawyer.
The man convicted this March of fatally shooting his wife and youngest son in June 2021 got some time off from a maximum-security prison, where he is serving a life sentence without parole . The prosecution and defense agreed Thursday that some of the total 101 charges against Murdaugh will be heard in a trial starting the week of Nov. 27.
Murdaugh sat in an orange jumpsuit, whispering occasionally with his lawyers as he figured out how he would spend the week after Thanksgiving.
It wouldn’t be long before Murdaugh found himself back in another courtroom. A federal hearing on similar charges is scheduled for next Thursday in Charleston. There, Murdaugh is expected to plead guilty to theft and wire fraud – possibly the first time he will legally take responsibility for any criminal matter since he first reported the deaths of his family members two years ago. Have piled up.
The latest twist in the saga comes with recent allegations that a court clerk improperly influenced a jury in a murder case. In a request for a new trial filed last week, defense attorneys accused Rebecca Hill of telling jurors not to trust Murdaugh’s testimony and pressuring them to deliver a quick verdict.
The shadow of the murder trial cast a shadow over Thursday’s proceedings. Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian asked the state to wait until they finish prosecuting the federal case and the jury tampering case. He argued that it would be difficult to conduct a fair trial within a year of the conclusion of a widely watched murder trial.
“Where will you find the jury? Mars?” Harpootlian told Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman.
Newman, the same judge who presided over a nearly six-week murder trial earlier this year, said indictments had been issued in several counties for people who were able to serve on a jury. He said he would not accept that jurors could not be assembled.
Murdaugh is accused of taking $8.8 million in legal settlements from the families of customers who were seriously injured or killed on the job. The victims included the family’s homeowner who died after a fall in the Murdaugh home. He is also accused of stealing approximately $7 million from his law firm over a nine-year period, during which he earned approximately $14 million.
Other charges relate to an eight-year drug ring and money laundering scheme that prosecutors say included $2.4 million in checks written to a friend, who used some of the money on a painkiller distribution network.
He has been charged with nine additional counts of tax evasion for allegedly defrauding just under $487,000 in state income taxes. A conviction on each count will result in up to five years in prison.
Also pending Thursday were updates on the cases of two men who have already been found guilty in federal court of aiding those conspiracies. The alleged co-conspirators arrived in court one after another separately to find out what their fate would be.
Judge blocks setting trial date for 21 state charges against Russell Lafitte. The former CEO of Palmetto State Bank was sentenced to seven years in federal prison in August for helping Murdaugh steal nearly $2 million from customers. Last November a jury found him guilty of six federal charges related to wire and bank fraud.
An old college friend of Murdaugh’s received a 10-year state prison sentence that will run concurrently with the federal sentence and a 10-year state prison sentence that will run consecutively. Corey Fleming pleaded guilty last month to 23 state charges that he helped steal millions of dollars from the family’s homeowner sons. The former lawyer was recently sentenced to nearly four years in prison on similar federal charges. The judge in that case said he would tell Newman not to spend any more time behind bars because of the state charges.
Attorneys representing the victims asked the judge for additional penalties to deter future fraud by attorneys willing to defraud disenfranchised clients. State prosecutor Creighton Waters said Fleming “shouldn’t get buy-one-get-one-free” and sought a consistent state sentence. The state court also needs to have its say, he said.
“Being a scammer depends on trust. It depends on reputation. It depends on the inherent credibility of having a law license on your wall,” Waters said.
#Alex Murdaugh is back in court for the first time since being convicted of murdering his wife and son.
The status hearing will focus on Murdaugh allegedly stealing millions of dollars meant for the family of his late homeowner, Gloria Satterfield.#courttv What do you think? pic.twitter.com/xG7nLuhABx
– Court TV (@CourtTV) 14 September 2023
The defense said that Fleming’s 29 years of outstanding legal work, which has been documented by testimony from other lawyers, should not be overshadowed by a “lapse in judgment.” The defense argued that two separate state and federal sentences for the same conduct would not be necessary.
Standing in the same courtroom where he said he had seen up close while practicing law how criminal behavior can alter one’s life, Fleming apologized to the families and the profession whose trust he said he had violated. Have betrayed.
“Despite knowing this firsthand, I made some very bad decisions and broke the law,” Fleming said.
Newman said he would not defer to the federal court when making a decision. He said that in his 20-year judicial career he had never sentenced a lawyer until Murdaugh appeared before him this March.
He called Fleming’s case “unprecedented” and “the biggest crime for a lawyer” in South Carolina history. He said that Fleming had to remain in prison for 195 years.
“I can’t imagine going to a lawyer in South Carolina right now and completely trusting what the lawyer says,” Newman said.