Scandal with jury in Murdo murder case in South Carolina
2023.03.02 12:37
Scandal with jury in Murdo murder case in South Carolina
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – The judge stated that one juror in the murder trial of exonerated South Carolina attorney Richard “Alex” Murdaugh was replaced on Thursday for “improper conversations” with individuals who were not involved in the case.
Judge Clifton Newman made the decision as Murdaugh’s lawyers were getting ready to give closing arguments on Thursday, their last chance to convince the jury that Murdaugh wasn’t involved in the horrific murders of his wife and youngest son.
In front of the entire court, Newman stated, “Though it does not appear that the conversations were that extensive, it did involve the juror offering her opinion regarding evidence received up to that point in the trial.”
“You have been by all accounts a great juror and smiled consistently and seemed to be attentive to the case and performed well,” the judge said to the juror.
“We are going to replace you with one of the other jurors in order to preserve the integrity of the process and in fairness to all the parties involved,” the judge stated. “I’m not suggesting that you did anything wrong intentionally.”
Murdaugh, the 54-year-old son of a prominent legal family in a region west of Charleston, is accused of shooting and killing his 52-year-old wife Maggie and their 22-year-old son Paul at dog kennels on their estate on June 7, 2021.
If found guilty, he faces a sentence of 30 to life in prison.
The state’s lead prosecutor, Creighton Waters (NYSE:), was followed by Murdaugh’s lawyers. Wednesday’s closing remarks to the jury portrayed Murdaugh as a serial liar and argued that he was the only one who could have committed the crimes.
Due to the family’s enormous political influence in and around Colleton County, where the trial is taking place, the case has received a lot of attention from the media. Murdaugh was a prominent personal injury attorney in the Deep South state, and family members were the region’s leading prosecutor up until 2006.
Throughout the trial, Murdaugh’s attorneys have attempted to portray their client as a loving husband and father who would never harm his family, despite facing financial difficulties and a severe opioid addiction that caused him to steal and lie.
They have also tried to come up with other theories about the murders. Murdaugh testified that he thought someone who was upset about Paul’s fatal boating accident in 2019 wanted to get even with his son.
Prosecutors have argued that Murdaugh committed the murders in order to garner sympathy and divert attention from a slew of financial crimes, including the theft of millions of dollars from his law partners and clients, money that was used to support an expensive lifestyle and feed an opioid addiction that lasted for years.
Waters emphasized Murdaugh’s admission from the stand last week that he had lied about where he was on the night of the murders, telling investigators he was not at the dog kennels prior to the murders, over and over in his closing argument. Murdaugh changed his record after the jury stood by listening to sound proof setting him at the location of the crime minutes before it happened.
Murdaugh claimed that he initially lied to investigators due to mistrust of the police and paranoia brought on by his drug use.
