‘Murdaugh Murders’ Civil Saga: Mallory Beach’s Family Opposes Bid To ‘Sever’ Defendants
Who leaked what sealed documents – and to whom – has become a central narrative in the civil suit (much as it has on the criminal side of the ‘Murdaugh Murders’ saga, incidentally).
Earlier this month, attorneys for the various parties in the civil case met before S.C. circuit court judge Daniel Hall in Spartanburg, S.C. At that hearing, there was little discussion of leaks – but plenty of debate over whether the defendants in the boat crash case should be “severed.” Severing – or bifurcating parties to the case – would allow separate trials to proceed against each individual defendant.
Murdaugh’s attorneys – Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin – argued their client would be unfairly prejudiced in his murder trial if the boat crash were allowed to proceed concurrently. According to Harpootlian, if Murdaugh were to invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself in the boat crash case, it could be taken as an admission of guilt.
Similarly, waiving the Fifth in the boat crash case could compromise his murder defense.
“If he waives the Fifth, he opens himself to all sorts of questioning,” Harpootlian said.
In fact, Harpootlian accused state criminal prosecutors of using the boat crash civil suit as a “stalking horse” – or false pretext – to bolster their murder case against Murdaugh.
This week, Beach family attorney Mark Tinsley told me the notion of severing parties was off the table, as far as he is concerned.
According to Tinsley, the bid to split the case is an effort by Parker’s attorneys to “point their fingers at the Murdaughs without having the Murdaughs there – and drag the Beach family through two wrongful death lawsuits.”
“I will oppose anything that prolongs this entire ordeal for the Beach family,” Tinsley told me. “We’re not interested in trying two wrongful death cases and having the family relive and recount the depths of their loss twice.”
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