Miller Shealy, a Charleston School of Law professor and former state and federal prosecutor, told
@postandcourier
he had never encountered a fundraiser for a traumatized witness but doesn’t see anything improper with the practice …
Chris Wilson testifies about the 3 p.m. 9/3/21 call he got from PMPED attorney Lee Cope telling him Murdaugh had been stealing from his clients and the firm. Waters asks what Wilson felt. “Shocked. Betrayed. Mad. I don’t know. Numb.”
Wilson on what Murdaugh told him when he confessed in a face-to-face meeting on the morning of 9/4/21. “I’ve *advertiser censored* you up. I’m sorry. I *advertiser censored* you up. I *advertiser censored* a lot of people up.”
Griffin rises to cross-examine Wilson.
Griffin establishes with Wilson that no one at PMPED was asking him about Murdaugh’s $792,000 share of the Mack Truck legal fees before 6/7/21, the day of the slayings. He had gotten some questions about the legal expenses (a much smaller amount). But nothing that raised alarms.
Griffin is trying to chip away at the state’s theory that Murdaugh’s financial crimes faced imminent exposure on 6/7/21, contributing to his alleged motive for the slayings.
Yep, Wilson just testified he has never gotten that $192K back.
Wilson, one of Murdaugh's closest friends, testifies he never saw signs of opioid addiction. “When we socialized together, I didn’t see anything that indicated that he was addicted or had a drug problem.” Griffin supposes Murdaugh might have built up a tolerance to the drugs.
Wilson testifies Murdaugh was able to function in high-stress situations, though he was scatterbrained and unfocused. Murdaugh would “always” take phone calls when Maggie, Buster or Paul called. Only in court would he not answer the phone.
South Carolina basketball catches a couple strays: Griffin notes Murdaugh had season tickets for Carolina basketball even when they weren’t very good. Wilson testifies Murdaugh bought season tickets after the 2017 Final Four run, right before “they tanked.”
Griffin has worked hard with Wilson and other witnesses to paint the portrait of Murdaugh the family man. Murdaugh took his family with him to legal conventions and South Carolina football and basketball games. Murdaugh always answered their calls, etc.
Griffin: “Would you agree that Alex’s No. 1 priority was his family?” Wilson: “Yes sir.”
Griffin establishes with Wilson that they spoke several times on the phone in the hour after 9 p.m., as Murdaugh drove between Moselle and his mother’s house at Almeda (after prosecutors say Maggie and Paul were killed.”
Wilson testifies Murdaugh sounded normal. Griffin: “He wasn’t breathing heavy, was he? Wilson: “No sir.” G: “He didn’t sound panicky in any way, did he?” W: “No.”
Wilson testifies Murdaugh visited his mom and dad almost every day. So he didn’t think the visit was unusual.
Wilson testified they did not speak on the night of the slayings about the missing $792K in legal fees from the Mack Trucks case. Wilson said at the time, he didn’t realize there was an issue with the fees at the time.
In final questioning, Waters gets his point across that Wilson was one of Murdaugh's best friends but didn't actually know him. He didn't know about the drugs, the thefts, any of it. A solid undercut of Griffin's work in using Wilson to establish Murdaugh's character.
We are breaking for lunch for an hour and 15 minutes.
