Defense presser starts now. Dick Harpootlian says he doesn’t think it was a mistake to let Alex Murdaugh take the witness stand in his own defense.
SLED needs to do some self-examination, Harpootlian says. But he won’t lead the charge for that in the Senate. He says he won’t mix his two roles.
Harpootlian has no comment on Judge Clifton Newman’s statements that he agrees with the jury’s decision. “He’s entitled to an opinion.”
The defense confirms they will appeal. Jim Griffin says their strongest grounds for an appeal surround the admission of AM’s financial crimes.
“It was about character. It wasn’t about motive,” Harpootlian says of the financial crimes.
“We could have had Mother Theresa” up there speaking on behalf of Alex today, and Judge Newman was going to give AM a life sentence, Jim Griffin says of the lack of victim statements today. Why put Buster through more trauma, he said.
“Alex was not optimistic with all the scrutiny and the press and all of his bad acts being out there in the public” that he could get a fair jury who would look at his case impartially, Griffin says. “We were hoping to get a jury that could ignore the noise.”
“They won this case the day the judge bought into” the financial crimes motive theory, Harpootlian said.
The defense will appeal this conviction all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary, Murdaugh’s attorneys say.
Harpootlian says he does not regret not asking for a change of venue in this case. He said the defense did focus groups all over the state. Everyone everywhere knew about this case. “There was nowhere we could go.”
Harpootlian says on the bright side, Jim Griffin can tweet again. That’s all.
