"Transmitting" from the courtroom is not permitted again today. Meaning no live tweets. I am set up outside the courtroom and will be listening to proceedings on the CourtTV feed then posting updates to our @ABCNews4 live blog, per usual. #Murdaugh @ABCNews4 Find my live blog here if you're unable to watch the live stream of today's #Murdaugh jury tampering evidence hearing:
abcnews4.com/news/local/ale…

Breakdown of Alex Murdaugh's updated pre-hearing motion and major arguments therein:

1. Witnesses - Murdaugh provides the list of witnesses he may call. A big one: Rhonda McElveen, Clerk of Court in Barnwell County. She helped Becky Hill during the Murdaugh trial in Colleton. Murdaugh argues he should be allowed to call McElveen because she "may have personal knowledge of facts" regarding Hill's jury interactions. Murdaugh says McElveen will testify Hill said things to her during trial "substantively identical" to things she allegedly said to jurors.

Reading the prosecution's reply to Alex Murdaugh's retrial motion. They're rightfully attacking the logically starved premise underlying the entire motion: that Becky Hill tampered with the jury every which way so she could write a book, be famous and get money.

My 2 cents? The crack in the foundation isn't as deep as the State goes to find it. Stick with me here ...

Murdaugh's lawyers argue Becky Hill pressed the jury to 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 reach a verdict, and specifically a 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺 verdict, because that was her ticket to fame and fortune.

Picking up notes for the afternoon session here. We're in character witness statements for Fleming now. A fellow attorney is speaking now, notes how Fleming said "thank you, I don't deserve it" when Pamela Pinckney forgave him at the federal sentencing. Never seen that before.

https://twitter.com/DrewTripp/status/1702376519799054606

The attorney (I'm sorry, I didn't catch his name) invokes the 51st Psalm, "David's confession," and notes Fleming's "broken and contrite heart."

We have begun today's hearings for Cory Fleming, Alex Murdaugh and Russell Laffitte. You can watch here.
abcnews4.com/watch We started with the scheduling for Russell Laffitte. Judge Newman quickly decided to set that aside for the time being, and we've moved on to Alex Murdaugh.

The GAL is Cory's first cousin, although that wasn't disclosed in court filings.

GAL sued Cory's wife, Eve, on behalf of a minor ("he," name redacted) who GAL testified was her cousin.

If GAL is Cory's cousin & Redacted is GAL's cousin, does that mean Redacted is kin to Cory?

https://twitter.com/EatonSmeaton/status/1695295872475549897

Based on my research of Fleming’s family, the answer is 'Yes.' I also believe—by process of elimination—there's only one person who "Redacted" could be.

That info's out there. @MandyMatney had reported on all this previously, as mentioned in my 1st thread. True Sunlight, Ep. 2.

I've been looking into revelations by Creighton Waters at Cory Fleming's plea hearing yesterday about 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 insurance fraud schemes involving Cory & Alex Murdaugh. I hadn't heard of it before, but some were telling me the MMP crew & Reddit sleuths had this a year ago. But if you're like me and haven’t heard this before, or if you just want a refresher, here comes a breakdown.

CAVEAT: Much of this is public record, but it involves people who haven't been indicted. I'm going to keep things vague to avoid insinuation of wrongdoing.

I'm in Kingstree attending hearings for Russell Laffitte and Cory Fleming's related to their state fraud conspiracy charges in the broader Alex Murdaugh crime sphere.

Fleming is expected to plead guilty to his state charges following his guilty plea in federal court last week. Russell Laffitte is in court for what I'm told is a standard pretrial hearing on his 21 state charges. Laffitte has appealed his federal sentence & conviction on similar charges. He awaits a ruling from the 4th Circuit on a request to stay free on bond until the appeal is decided

Overly-Long Murdaugh Update Notebook, August 8
- Cory Fleming federal sentencing
- Cory Fleming state trial
- Nautilus Insurance lawsuit
- Adding Satterfield to Nautilus
- Alex Murdaugh's assets
- Murdaugh's appeals & other cases Cory Fleming's sentencing has been set for Tuesday, Aug. 15, before Judge Richard Gergel in U.S. District Court in Charleston. Fleming already pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for his role in the Murdaugh, Satterfield, Nautilus fraud case. He faces up to 5 years in prison.

Russell Laffitte's sentencing hearing begins at 10 a.m. I'll be in court without access to social media most of the day, so no real-time updates.

Meantime, here's a background story to catch you up on what's at stake & how we got here.
abcnews4.com/news/murdaugh-… Judge Gergel, responding to defense's objection to govt's classification of this as a complex scheme, comments "This is as complex a scheme as I've seen in my 13 years on the bench."

Me at 5 p.m.: "Time to log out and go get ready for my birthday dinner!"

Alex Murdaugh's lawyers: "Dear Judge Gergel, Either force Nautilus Insurance to add the Satterfields as parties in their insurance fraud lawsuit against us, or you must dismiss the complaint!" Context: Murdaugh's lawyers infamously moved several months ago that if Nautilus Insurance wants to recover the $5M settlement it paid in the name of Gloria Satterfield's death (which Alex stole), then they must now sue Satterfields -- since they've got money and Alex doesn't.

Russell Laffitte (remember him?) has been denied a retrial for his Nov. 2022 conviction on federal bank & wire fraud conspiracy charges tied to helping Alex Murdaugh steal millions of dollars. Judge Richard Gergel denied Laffitte's request this morning. It was filed in December. Laffitte's new lawyers (hired in late December) asked for a retrial on several grounds.

1. Gergel improperly replaced 2 jurors with alternates during deliberations. (Gergel rules he was within rights to replace. Notes Laffitte's team consented before, then objected after.)

It was the pleasure of my career working with this crew over the last six weeks. @AnneTEmerson & @TaraJabour came prepared, focused & composed each day. I couldn't be more proud of them! And what an honor to spend each day learning from & conversing with fmr. AG @CharlieCondon! Thanks also to our field staff who made possible everything you heard or watched, and made us look damn good in the process. Photojournalists @MKHPHOTOG & @grizz_2pt0 worked with engineer Prentiss Thomas to deliever the highest production value of any TV station in the state.

Alex Murdaugh Murder Trial Live Blog, January 31
Follow along with me here:
📰 abcnews4.com/news/local/liv… 📰
#MurdaughTrial @ABCNews4 OK, that felt like breakneck speed in this morning's session. Biggest takeaway: SLED Special Agent Jeff Croft testified multiple times in cross examination he is confident he heard "I did him so bad," not "They did so bad." Says he didn't read a transcript before, either.

Alex Murdaugh Murder Trial Live Blog, January 30.
📰 abcnews4.com/news/local/liv… 📰
We begin with the defense's cross examination of SLED forensic specialist Melinda Worley.
#Murdaugh #MurdaughTrial Attorney General Alan Wilson is in attendance with the State's prosecution team for today's proceedings. #MurdaughTrial @ABCNews4

I'm seeing lots of "circus" and "how embarrassing" discourse over my hometown's decision to recruit food trucks for the Alex Murdaugh trial.
The circus was already coming regardless, and we ("the media") are the clowns and carnies drooling over the chance to exploit this place. Y'all want to act like it's tacky? Let's explore that.

You're probably interpreting food trucks from a farmer's market, cul-de-sac, take-your-dog-to-brunch perspective. This ain't that. We all know it. The people in Walterboro know it, too.

But what's the alternative?

New filings from state prosecutors in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial. Biggest revelation in latest production: Murdaugh's former law firm was suspicious he was stealing money re: boat crash BEFORE the 6/7/2021 confrontation over missing fees in case involving friend Chris Wilson. Let me rephrase. PMPED *WAS* suspicious before the confrontation. This has been established. What I mean is the new filings Wednesday suggest PMPED was suspicious because of another case, not the Andral Faris estate case Murdaugh worked on with Chris Wilson.

Checking last week's Murdaugh-related court filings, I found an interesting one.
The ACLU of South Carolina wants to file an amicus brief in support of Alex Murdaugh in his ongoing federal lawsuit against Richland County for releasing his phone calls from jail. An amicus brief is when a third party feels the need to offer its own legal analysis due to a particular interest in the legal issues at hand, or if the outcome may impact them.
In this case, the ACLU says it's FOIA & govt. transparency vs. Murdaugh's 14th Amendment rights.

NEW: South Carolina prosecutors say Alex Murdaugh's motive for murdering his wife and son was to cause a distraction so Murdaugh could avoid imminent discovery of his multi-million dollar financial fraud schemes, using the sympathy gained to buy himself time to cover his tracks. This is from a new filing by the South Carolina Attorney General's office in response to a motion earlier this week by Murdaugh’s defense attorneys, who had asked a judge to order prosecutors to state their theory of motive via an antiquated legal cure (bill of particulars).

Wanted to share a few thoughts on the Laffitte trial.

But first — Yes, I got the 90+ page filing by Alex Murdaugh's defense attorneys today.

No, I haven't fully reviewed it. Thanksgiving prep.

Basically it accuses SLED of destroying evidence showing Alex didn't kill Paul. As for the Laffitte trial, there's first the issue of sentencing.

Laffitte was convicted on all six charges he faced. Here they are with suggested sentences:

Conspiracy to defraud
– 5 years

Bank fraud, wire fraud, misapplication of bank funds (×3)
– Up to 30 years each

Good morning! Russell Laffitte's future goes into the jury's hands this morning. They'll begin deliberation in an hour or so.

In my recap from Monday, I ponder what impact Laffitte’s unpaid taxes revelation may have on the jury.
abcnews4.com/news/local/laf… Judge Gergel has started reviewing the charges against Laffitte for the jury.