The South Carolina Attorney General's Office is seeking more time to respond to convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh's Supreme Court appeal brief, but Murdaugh's attorneys are strongly contesting that request.
On April 3, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson's office filed a motion for a second extension in Murdaugh's state Supreme Court appellate case, and the same day, Murdaugh's legal team promptly responded in opposition.
"We will not consent," wrote Murdaugh attorney Richard Harpootlian in an email to the state's attorneys.
If granted, this request for a 120-day extension would give the state an August 8 deadline to respond to Murdaugh's request for a Supreme Court hearing.
The S.C. Supreme Court has received both parties' motions and responses but has not issued an order or decision.
What led to Alex Murdaugh's murder case appeal?
On Dec. 10, 2024, attorneys for Richard "Alex" Murdaugh, a disbarred Hampton attorney convicted and serving back-to-back life sentences for the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, filed a motion to appeal those convictions and sentences before the South Carolina Supreme Court.
The appeals were based on allegations of jury tampering by a court official, former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, alleged improper admission of evidence, and other contested matters during the highly publicized trial held in Walterboro.
The S.C. Attorney General's Office has a right to file a motion in response or opposition to this appeal before it can be scheduled for a hearing or arguments before the S.C. Supreme Court.
Murdaugh's attorneys originally agreed to allow AG Alan Wilson's office 90 days to respond, with a deadline of April 10, but now Murdaugh's legal team is vigorously contesting this request for another 120-day extension.
Why does the Attorney General want another extension?
In the April 3 court filing, signed and filed by two S.C. Deputy Attorney Generals, Don Zelenka and Mark Farthing, the state's prosecutors contend that their request for a second extension is due to extraordinary circumstances and is not intended to cause undue delay.
The AG's motion cites:
- Murdaugh's appeal is over 121 pages long and raises nine identified issues.
- The transcript of the six-week trial is more than 6,000 pages, including additional transcripts from other related hearings and proceedings.
- There are numerous recordings and other exhibits of evidence that require review.
- The attorneys of the AG's Office have a heavy workload, and the cover email to a Supreme Court clerk cited pending death penalty litigation.
Why is Murdaugh's legal team opposed to a second extension?
For five reasons, Murdaugh's legal team, led by Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, objected to this requested extension. Here are the three primary arguments:
- The first reason cited involved the time since the initial appeals process began. Murdaugh was required to file his initial brief on the principal issue, the alleged "jury tampering for personal financial gain," on Aug. 12, 2024.
"If the State’s requested extension is granted, the State will have been given a full year to respond to that brief," writes Murdaugh's team. "Undersigned counsel is unaware of any criminal case—even a capital case—in which a state has been given a full year to respond to a defendant’s appellate brief, whether in South Carolina, some other state, or a federal court."
- In response to the AG Office's "heavy workload" argument, Murdaugh's team writes:
"... Appellant appreciates the Office of the Attorney General’s hard work on behalf of South Carolina citizens, but the office has 'about 90 attorneys... And if those attorneys cannot meet reasonable court deadlines in major cases, they can retain outside counsel to assist."
- Finally, Murdaugh's team argues that "the State is unlikely to prevail in this appeal, which means that delay is likely to prejudice" Murdaugh, adding that unless "the State has developed an unexpectedly strong counterargument that for some reason it is unwilling to reveal to the Court anytime soon, it is likely Appellant’s murder convictions will be overturned, and the requested briefing delay would serve only to delay the relief to which Appellant is entitled."
While Murdaugh is serving two life sentences without possibility of parole, a successful murder conviction appeal and retrial effort will not equate to freedom.
Murdaugh, who has steadfastly denied killing his family members since his arrest in 2021, has pleaded guilty to numerous financial crimes in both state and federal courts and is currently facing lengthy prison sentences in both jurisdictions after stealing millions from law partners and clients.
Source: greenvilleonline.com, Michael M. DeWitt, Jr. , April 7, 2025
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
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