SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #29

[Herat]

this is totally going to hell in a hand basket..

Yeah, but I always worry about the Casey Anthony verdict.

Nothing is ever sure until the Judge reads the Jury Verdict.

 

[clearskies1]

He doesn't sound sorry to me. JMO.

 

[loveisthemovement]

Aw dang, I was just waiting for him to ask "can you tell me about one of these conversations that you say you remember but don't remember when I ask you about them" ....and we're done.

 

[makayla]

AM not showing any remorse in my opinion …. He’s pissed because CW keeps pressing him on these issues instead of giving a blanket statement over and over

 

[Katrinepa]

But he was doing this even AFTER his wife and son were murdered!!! It wasn’t just 12 years ago!!

Puking Monster - Bing

Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you.

www.bing.com

 

[arielilane]

Defense has brought in 2 new pathologist. Prosecution does not want cross interrupted.

https://twitter.com/cathyrusson

Defense has two experts they flew in and asked the judge if they can take them tomorrow morning and then continue with #AlexMurdaugh cross. Waters says he doesn't want his cross-exam interrupted. Judge says maybe in the afternoon.

 

[Megnut]

Lil piece of advice: never trust anyone who says "I promise you..."

JMO

 

[makayla]

Can’t stand DH .….

 

[Batman's Mommy]

they are getting nowhere in my opinion..

In the words of Dr. Reimer, “People can disagree but that doesn’t change the truth.”

 

[RollingPanda]

This guy being a lying jerk and us establishing a history of him being a lying jerk is completely relevant, sir.

 

[Derph]

I'm running out of disasters to post describing the day's goings on! Today momentum EASILY swings to the State. It was all out annihilation for the defense thus I'm awarding today's photo of The San Francisco Earth Quake of 1906 to the defense team! Nice goin fellas!

 

[Megnut]

What? The defense wants to interrupt their defendant with other witnesses? Ha!

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters rises. “Mr. Murdaugh, let’s start with a few things I think we can agree on.” The most important thing you are here to explain is your lie for a year and a half that you were never down by the kennels that night.

AM: “I think all of my testimony is important, Mr. Waters.” Waters: You agree that you were stealing from your clients, and your law firm. AM: Yes.

Waters leaning forward at the lectern. He seems to be enjoying this. Let’s talk about your family’s legacy. AM: “We can talk about anything you want to.”

Waters asks AM if he knew his grandfather, Buster Murdaugh Jr., who was solicitor for 46 years. AM: “I knew him well and loved him dearly.” Waters: “Idolized him, did you not?” AM: I did.

Waters reveals that he worked on a case with AM’s dad in the past. AM: “He was a fine, fine man and an excellent lawyer.” They seem to agree.

Waters: “You started first with Moss & Kuhn, and then you went to the law firm that started in 1910 but doesn’t exist anymore because of your activities, is that correct?” AM: “That’s correct.” Woof.

Waters is establishing that AM was a successful and experienced lawyer who won cases and was elected leader of the S.C. trial lawyers’ association. Waters seems to be telegraphing to the jury that AM knows how to appeal to them because he has been doing it his entire career.

Waters establishes that AM worked a lot of car crash cases and is experienced in investigating the facts of them, including by pulling OnStar and black box data from the vehicles involved.

Waters also establishes that AM has pulled cell phone records, cell tower records, and other types of digital forensic evidence for his cases.

Waters is trying to get AM to say he was a successful lawyer. AM isn’t cooperating, saying we’ve talked a lot about his flaws and he doesn’t feel like he was successful as a lawyer, even if that’s what it looked like from the outside. Since he was, you know, stealing from clients

Waters: Did you ever have functions where the law enforcement community was invited? AM: The law firm didn’t sponsor things like that. But there would be occasions where one of us would do that. We had a lot of friends in law enforcement, and they were always invited.

AM testifies he became a volunteer assistant solicitor when he moved to Hampton from Beaufort in 1998. His father, the solicitor at the time, gave him that badge. AM says he worked on five trials from 1998 to 2021. He said he mostly did it to spend time with his father.

Waters and AM are arguing about the data pulled from AM’s Suburban. Waters seems to be getting defensive about how AM mentioned that the state only got that data a few weeks into the trial. Which is true. I’m not sure why Waters is dwelling on this.

AM says he would keep his volunteer assistant solicitor badge in the console, in the front seat or in the dash of his car. Waters is trying to get him to say that he displayed it proudly in the dash.

AM: If I get pulled over, I might have it in the cupholder so the officer could see it when he walked up. Waters: Why? AM: “Because I found that law enforcement oftentimes is friendlier when you’re in law enforcement.”

Waters: You think you’re in law enforcement? AM: Not really. Waters: You were just using that to your advantage? AM: I guess.

Waters: You used it to get better treatment if you got pulled over? AM: I’d say that’s true. On the radar of terrible things AM has admitted to doing, I’m not sure this makes a blip. He seems perfectly fine admitting it.

We’ve spent a lot of time on AM’s two solicitor badges. One from his dad, and one from his dad’s successor, Duffie Stone.

AM says had blue lights on one of his law firm-owned vehicles. He had them installed by a guy who does that work for the local sheriff’s offices.

AM says he got permission from several local sheriffs to put blue lights on his vehicle. They include Colleton County Sheriff Andy Strickland, one of AM's friends. Of note: Waters ran Strickland out of office with a state grand jury investigation. Small state.

Waters seems to be implying that AM is performing by calling Paul by his nickname, Paul Paul. Waters: Did you ever call your son Paul Paul even once over the course of this investigation? AM: I don’t know.” I called him that all the time.

Waters: Did you have your assistant solicitor badge with you on the night of the boat crash? Did you take it with you to the hospital? AM: I don’t know. Waters: Were you acting in an official capacity that night? AM: No, sir.

Waters shows a photo of AM walking into the hospital on the night of the boat crash with his assistant solicitor badge visible in his pocket. AM: I don’t remember that. Waters: What advantage did you want? AM: When? Waters: Then. AM: “I don’t even recall, Mr. Waters.”

It starting to feel like Waters is using this cross-examination as a way to gather information and testimony for his ongoing state grand jury investigations into the Murdaughs, including in the one into possible obstruction of justice of the boat crash investigation.

AM on taking his badge to the hospital: “A badge has a warming effect with other law enforcement. If I was seeking an advantage as you say,” that would be it.

Waters: Did you tell any of the kids not to cooperate with law enforcement? AM: I never told anybody not to cooperate with law enforcement?

Waters: Did you become aware in March or April or May of 2021 that an investigation into the investigation of that night had begun, as well as your conduct? AM: Yes. I don't know the status of that investigation, since I've been charged with everything else, and not that.

AM: I’m pretty sure I knew about the boat crash obstruction of justice investigation before 6/7/21.

Waters: This was a friend of yours, correct? AM: Yeah, I considered Andy a friend. Waters: Would you agree with me that in fall 2020, your friend Andy Strickland was indicted and lost his job for a financial corruption investigation? Griffin objects. Relevance. Newman sustains.

Waters: You had a pill addiction for 20 years. AM: That’s about right. Waters: When did you start stealing money from clients? How long did it take before you started doing that? AM: “I’m not sure when the first time I did it was. … I’ve been in rehab, and I’ve been in jail.”

Waters is asking about specific cases in which AM stole from clients. AM is having some apparent memory troubles, says he doesn’t know details off the top of his head.

Waters is now going through AM’s thefts. He starts with Natarsha Thomas, a teenager for whom AM negotiated a $2 million legal settlement after a car wreck. AM got $800,000 in legal fees for the case but then stole her money too.

AM: “I admit candidly in all of these cases that I took money that was not mine, and I shouldn’t have done it. I hate the fact that I did it. I’m embarrassed by it. I’m embarrassed for my son. I’m embarrassed for my family. I don’t dispute it.”

AM: “Mr. Waters, just to get through this quicker-” Waters: “You may want to get through this quicker, but we’re not.” AM: “I misled them. I did them wrong, and I stole their money.”

AM: “You have charged me with murdering my wife and my son. I’ve sat here for all these weeks” and heard this financial stuff. I’m happy to talk with you about it. But I can’t specifically remember the specific details you’re asking me about.

Waters: The point I’m making is that it’s not just as simple as stealing the money. You had to sit down with them and lie to their faces as you stole money from them. AM: I misled them. I did wrong. But I can’t say in every instance that I sat down with them face to face.

I have sent some texts out to try to determine the exact spelling of Paul Paul/Paul-Paul/PawPaw/Pau Pau, but so far a definitive answer remains elusive.

AM testifies he got nearly $4.1 million in legitimate legal fees from the $10.2M recovery he got for Hakeem Pinckney, who was made a quadriplegic after a terrible car crash. And yet he stole Pinckney’s actual settlement as well.

Waters: Did you live a wealthy lifestyle? AM: Long pause. “Probably.” Waters: Would you characterize your lifestyle as wealthy? AM: That’s not how I would characterize it, but I’m not going to take issue with it. OK.

Waters is establishing that AM made a lot of legitimate money and stole from his clients anyway to support his lavish lifestyle. AM concedes that he was spending a bunch of money on pills but was generally spending too much money as well.

Waters: You made millions of dollars, and that was not enough for you. AM: I stole money. I’ve said that repeatedly.

Waters has led AM through a highlight reel of his most egregious thefts and betrayals and the victims he left in his wake: Natarsha Thomas, Pamela Pinckney, Hakeem Pinckney, Arthur Badger, the Plyler sisters.

AM: “I don’t dispute any of this, that I took money, that I misled people-” Waters: “I know you want the answer to be simple. We agree on that.”

AM denies he engaged in a conspiracy with former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte to steal money from their mutual clients. “I did that.” He says Laffitte didn’t help him knowingly.

AM repeatedly tries to speed this along by admitting he lied, stole, manipulated and misled. Waters isn’t going for it. He wants to go through each client. Waters: “How many times did you practice that answer before your testimony today?” AM: “I’ve never practiced that answer.”

Prosecutor Creighton Waters has spent the past several hours trying to establish that Alex Murdaugh was a big ol’ liar. And Murdaugh is admitting that he’s a big ol’ liar. And so Waters is trying to establish that Murdaugh was a big ol’ liar. And therefore Murdaugh is confessing-

Waters wants Murdaugh to recall a specific time Murdaugh looked into a client’s eye and lied to them as he stole their money. And Murdaugh is basically refusing to do that, saying he can’t recall specifics.

Waters: “These are real people, weren’t they?" Murdaugh: “These are people that I still care about, and I did them this way.” Murdaugh: There is no question that I did a lot of damage, and I wreaked a lot of havoc. Waters: "I hear ya.”

“I remember all of these people that I did wrong,” Alex Murdaugh says. “Most of the money that I’ve been accused of stealing, I stole.”

Judge Newman cuts in: We are recessing for the day. Back at 9:30 a.m. We end the first day of Alex Murdaugh's cross-examination without a single question about the murders.

That was almost 2 straight hours of back and forth between Waters and Murdaugh.

 

[bestill]

Why didn't Harpootlian put up his expensive experts before they called AM?? Just another way to control the trial. I hope it does cost them $$$$!!!

 

[Pruddennce]

they are getting nowhere in my opinion..

IMO they are exactly where they should be...for starters. state established stealing was not SOLELY because of his supposed billion dollar (my exaggeration) drug habit. and he used a badge (because it looked authoritative) to get preferential treatment. and what the hey did he need BLUE LE LIGHTS for on his vehicle? and of course, wealth and reputation.

 

[MassGuy]

Well Dick, it would be, if you didn’t open the door. Now Alex has kicked it open.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1628886650259398660

 

[Batman's Mommy]

What? The defense wants to interrupt their defendant with other witnesses? Ha!

Of course they do!! They want to let AM read all the comments and adjust his answers.

 

[QB2022]

Taking the stand has gone well then.

 

[Cindizzi]

 

[Walela]

He knows he is going to Prison, but I have heard he is Hoping to got to Federal Prison(a cake walk), rather than General Population, where he deserves to be for he rest of his slimy life. He cares about No one but Himself!

I guess he doesn't know that several of the local cowboys gang members are currently in federal prison and I bet they don't appreciate being implicated in a double homicide.

Walterboro Cowboys gang members sentenced to prison for attempted murder, conspiracy