Alex Murdaugh double murder trial – Day 26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2yYK1YFmGo
The jury will return to the Colleton County Courthouse Thursday morning as attorney Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial enters what is expected to be its final day with the defense’s final statement.
The 54-year-old legal scion from South Carolina – disgraced and disfellowshipped shortly after the murder allegations and various alleged financial irregularities came to light – is accused of brutally shooting his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son and having killed , Paul Murdaugh, 22, in early June 2021 with a rifle and shotgun.
On Monday, the final handful of witnesses from attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin followed the defendant’s decision to comment in his defense. This performance drew mixed reviews from legal experts.
The defense ended with John Marvin Murdaugh, the defendant’s younger brother, as the last witness. His performance in the stands earned praise by some court observers because they looked “very real”.
On Tuesday, the state called six refuting witnesses and closed the witness portion of the case with Dr. Kenneth Kinsey, who first testified during the main prosecution case.
During testimony, Kinsey dismissed several ideas put forward by defense experts – he said there was “absolutely” no reason to exclude a shooter who is the defendant’s height – 6ft 4 – and declined to say definitively that either one or two shooters “could be excluded or included as responsible for the slaughter.”
On Wednesday, jurors took a field trip to the Moselle, the sprawling hunting property previously owned by the Murdaugh family — and the site of the June 7, 2021, gruesome killings.
SEE ALSO: Jury taking time out in Moselle, surveying crime scene as Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial draws to a close
The jury tour lasted about an hour and a half plus about an hour of travel time, and the jury sat just after noon. The entirety of the ensuing court hearings were occupied by the state’s closing arguments: a small, if still rather lengthy, recap of most of the state’s case against Alex Murdaugh.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters spent that time tying the defendant’s admitted financial crimes to a crumbling legal empire that the state believes ultimately led to the murders.
SEE ALSO: ‘He Turned Family Killer’: Prosecutors Deliver Lengthy Closing Statement Against Accused Killer Alex Murdaugh
Before the trial began, Judge Clifton Newman considered alleged jury misconduct.
They met with the jury and she denied speaking to anyone about the case. The jury provided the judge with names of people she suspected of spreading the rumor. These people were contacted and they gave affidavits and they were taken to court for a hearing.
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) March 2, 2023
BREAKING: The juror was removed from the jury for speaking outside of the case. Now up to 1 alternative. #Murdaugh process
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) March 2, 2023
Ultimately, female judge #785 was thrown out of the jury.
Harpootlian disagreed with the decision to dismiss the jury but said he did not formally disagree with the court’s decision. The lead defense attorney noted that the interrogations leading to the jury’s dismissal were conducted by agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division – one of whom served as a witness in the case.
The defense attorney called SLED’s involvement “a continuum of a catastrophe of mistakes.”
Defense attorney Jim Griffin made an analogy with this #AlexMurdaugh‘s innocence to an instant play in sports. “The appeal on the field is that Alex Murdaugh is innocent. Innocent of these allegations. That’s what the law requires,” Griffin told the jury. pic.twitter.com/73YBzdeXrl
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) March 2, 2023
Jim Griffin provided the defense’s closing argument. He variously accused law enforcement of incompetence, bias, and later defamation of his client.
“There are two words that justice requires in this case, and those two words are not guilty.”
Jim Griffin chokes as he wraps up his closing argument when he mentions Maggie and his “friend Paul”. #Murdaugh process pic.twitter.com/iWT9VywHz8
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) March 2, 2023
Prosecutor John Meadors provided the state’s rebuttal. He reiterated several key aspects of the state’s largely circuitous case against the defendant.
Meadors: “Thank God for Bubba.” If Bubba hadn’t caught a chicken, Alex’s voice probably wouldn’t have been on the kennel video. #Murdaugh process pic.twitter.com/q8zE3Slsfa
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) March 2, 2023
The jury received their instructions around 3:00 p.m. EST.
“You have heard the testimony, received the evidence, and heard the arguments of the State and the defendant,” Judge Clifton Newman told 12 of Alex Murdaugh’s colleagues. “You are the finders of the facts in this case.”
Do you have a tip we should know? [email protected]
https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/alex-murdaugh/live-alleged-juror-misconduct-issue-stalls-alex-murdaugh-double-murder-trial-day-26/ Alex Murdaugh double murder trial – Day 26
