Alex Murdaugh, left, and Russell Laffitte, right, appear in electronic snaps. (South Carolina Department of Corrections; Kershaw County Detention Center)
A federal judge has given an update on the parole of convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh in an opinion released this week – and found it missing.
In late November 2022, Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, was found guilty by a jury of six separate financial crimes, including bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and a misuse of bank funds. Jurors found that $680,000 of those funds had been paid directly to Murdaugh’s former law firm and $1.25 million had been illegally loaned to Murdaugh himself.
In early March, Laffitte filed his second motion for a new trial.
“Richard Alexander Murdaugh was recently tried in Colleton County, South Carolina, for murder and related crimes,” the petition reads. “On February 23, 2023, Mr. Murdaugh explicitly stated, for the first time in sworn testimony, that he did not participate in a conspiracy with Mr. Laffitte because Mr. Laffitte did not participate in the crimes financial. Mr. Murdaugh took full responsibility for his actions and testified that Mr. Laffitte had done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of Mr. Murdaugh’s criminal activities.
The motion highlights the specific phraseology employed by Murdaugh during his controversial decision to waive his Fifth Amendment rights and testify that he has committed a myriad of financial crimes:
Russell Laffitte never conspired with me to do anything, everything that was done was done by me… I did. I did those things wrong. Russell Laffitte didn’t do anything… You keep talking about things that I did with Russell Laffitte, but what I want to let you know is that I did this and I’m the one who took money from people I shouldn’t have taken and Russell Laffitte didn’t participate in helping me do it knowingly… If he did it, he did it unknowingly.
More Law&Crime coverage: ‘There’s no way he can sleep peacefully’: Judge in Alex Murdaugh case speaks publicly about double murder trial for first time
The new motion argued that Murdaugh’s incriminating statements in court constituted “newly discovered evidence” because “they have been discovered since the end of Mr. Laffitte’s trial”.
Earlier in March, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences by Judge Clifton Newman for the murder of his wife and son. He is appealing his conviction.
The filing also argues that if Murdaugh’s statements were presented at a new trial, they “would likely produce an acquittal” because they speak to the crimes Laffitte was charged with.
U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel was unconvinced.
“Murdaugh is clearly not a credible witness. The evidence presented at the defendant’s trial has established beyond doubt that Murdaugh is a serial liar and fraudster who robbed his clients and legal partners,” the judge wrote in Wednesday’s order dismissing the request again. trial. “He is now convicted of the double homicide of his wife and son. It is difficult to imagine a less credible witness in these circumstances.
Further, the court stated that “the overwhelming majority is of the opinion that post-trial evidence of a witness who refused to testify at the trial of the accused is not ‘new discovery'” under federal rules.
“The evidence currently offered by Murdaugh is newly available but not newly discovered,” Gergel determined.
Read the review and order in full below:
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