By Vic MacDonald | Regional Editor
Disgraced Colleton County attorney Alex Murdaugh could know by next Friday if the pending charges against him will be dismissed by the presiding judge.
Appearing, again, for a pre-trial hearing in a Lexington County courtroom, the Murdaugh Defense presented to Presiding Judge Debra McCaslin a PowerPoint that outlines their argument that an investigator misled the Colleton County Grand Jury about evidence, in order to acquire an indictment.
State Prosecutors deny wrongdoing, and say the evidence against Murdaugh is compelling in connection with the murders of his wife and son, allegedly to hide his self-admitted financial crimes.
McCaslin said today (Nov. 13) that she could rule by Nov. 20 on a Defense motion to dismiss. She asked prosecutors if she granted that motion, could they re-indict Murdaugh in time to keep an April 5, 2027 trial date, in Sumter, on track.
The issue has to do with how the grand jury heard about “blood spatter” as it relates to Murdaugh’s dead son, Paul. The son and his mother, Maggie, were shot to death in 2021 at the Murdaughs’ sprawling estate - the murder weapons have never been recovered.
The Defense has implied that law enforcement officers in a neighboring community hid the weapons and Murdaugh’s clothes, although no direct evidence has been made public. The main issue at hand related to the motion to dismiss 4 charges involves SLED agent David Owens, and when he found out about a “blood spatter” report and how he presented that evidence to the Colleton County Grand Jury.
If the current charges against Murdaugh are dismissed, prosecutors would have to re-file them in Colleton County. The presiding judge already has ruled that the re-trial cannot be conducted in Walterboro because local people could not form an impartial jury.
Friday’s hearing lasted 2 hours. McCaslin said she would file a written order related to the motion to dismiss. The Murdaugh Defense filed its motion Aug. 10 seeking for an end to 4 charges against its client (two for murder, two weapons violations). "The grand jury was misled greatly when they returned this indictment,” Murdaugh attorney Jim Griffin said. But prosecutor Creighton Waters countered, speaking about other evidence including a video, "This was all very, very compelling evidence.” Judge McCaslin told the Defense that asking for charges-dismissal and to have the State re-present undisputed evidence to the Colleton County Grand Jury on Oct. 10 is "a pretty high burden, and it's your burden."
Murdaugh already has been convicted once. The State Supreme Court threw out that conviction because of the clerk of court’s misconduct and what the court called a presiding judge’s error in allowing into evidence too much about Murdaugh’s self-admitted financial crimes.
The once-prominent local attorney is serving federal and state time for bilking clients, crimes to which he had pleaded guilty.
But Murdaugh has steadfastly denied killing his wife and son.
