Attorneys for Alex Murdaugh argue that prosecutors are trying to make his upcoming courtroom look extra of a public show than a routine continuing.
Murdaugh, the disgraced former Lowcountry lawyer, had sought permission to look with out shackles and wearing civilian clothes throughout trial and televised pretrial hearings as he awaits a brand new homicide trial within the deaths of his spouse, Maggie, and son, Paul.
After prosecutors claimed the request amounted to a bid for particular remedy, nonetheless, the protection withdrew it, saying they’d not spend courtroom time debating the looks of a standing convention.
“If the State desires to make use of that for a public spectacle, so be it,” Murdaugh’s attorneys wrote. “Mr. Murdaugh is not going to waste the Court docket’s time on the upcoming standing convention arguing in regards to the optics.”
“Mr. Murdaugh is not going to waste the Court docket’s time on the upcoming standing convention arguing in regards to the optics.”
Alex Murdaugh was discovered responsible on all counts within the murders of his spouse and son on the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on March 2, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/Pool)
South Carolina prosecutors had requested a Colleton County decide to reject the movement, contending that Murdaugh’s notoriety doesn’t justify remedy completely different from that of different prisoners.
Prosecutors stated Murdaugh stays in state custody after financial-crime convictions and is serving a 27-year sentence. He’s additionally serving a concurrent 40-year federal sentence related to comparable offenses.
His homicide convictions have been reversed in Might by the South Carolina Supreme Court docket, which ordered new proceedings after discovering improper interference by the previous Colleton County Clerk of Court docket Rebecca “Becky” Hill.
However the state stated the reversal doesn’t change Murdaugh’s standing as an inmate or the safety issues surrounding him.
“SCDC’s observe and place right here is that any inmate ought to stay in restraints and in uniform for courtroom appearances,” prosecutors wrote, including that Murdaugh’s lengthy sentence, the seriousness of the homicide fees and his notoriety all heighten safety issues.
The state additionally pointed to previous custody points, alleging that through the authentic trial, a member of the family handed Murdaugh a guide by means of a protection staffer with out legislation enforcement’s data.
Prosecutors stated the guide was later present in his cell and led to a jail contraband warrant. In addition they cited two jail disciplinary actions from August 2023, together with abuse of privileges and unauthorized use of one other inmate’s PIN.
“This case is finally about the truth that Defendant thinks he’s particular. He’s not,” prosecutors wrote.
Alex Murdaugh touches the again of his head throughout a jury-tampering listening to on the Richland County Judicial Heart in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 29, 2024. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Publish And Courier)
Murdaugh’s attorneys fired again, accusing prosecutors of “histrionics” and arguing that the state had failed to indicate any particular must show him in shackles earlier than potential jurors.
They stated Murdaugh has by no means threatened or tried escape or violence whereas in custody and has appeared at quite a few hearings and thru a six-week trial with out disruptive conduct.
The protection additionally argued that courts acknowledge the hazard of displaying defendants in restraints, even exterior a jury’s bodily presence, when cameras might broadcast the picture to future jurors.
To make the purpose, Murdaugh’s attorneys cited the case in opposition to Tyler Robinson, the alleged murderer of Charlie Kirk, saying the decide there ordered cameras repositioned after experiences Robinson had been proven in shackles and warned they might be excluded if it occurred once more.
South Carolina Lawyer Basic Alan Wilson appears to be like over to Alex Murdaugh as prosecutor Creighton Waters makes closing arguments on the Colleton County Courthouse on March 1, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
The protection accused prosecutors of counting on rhetoric quite than legislation, writing that the case isn’t about whether or not Murdaugh “thinks” he’s particular, however whether or not the state can show the homicide fees in opposition to him.
Nonetheless, Murdaugh’s attorneys withdrew the movement, saying they didn’t need to distract from extra substantive points forward of retrial, together with motions involving unknown DNA from the crime scene, entry to case supplies and a potential venue change.
Information Company has reached out to the prosecutor’s workplace in addition to Murdaugh’s protection workforce.
