Alex Murdaugh attorneys file notice of appeal after murder convictions

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Attorneys for Richard “Alex” Murdaugh filed a notice of appeal Thursday after the disbarred South Carolina lawyer was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife and son, but details on the legal grounds for the appeal are not clear.

After a six-week trial, a jury took less than three hours to find Murdaugh guilty of murder and weapons charges in the June 2021 killings of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh.

Judge Clifton Newman sentenced Murdaugh to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. During sentencing, Murdaugh denied killing his family, as he did when he took the stand in his own defense.

Murdaugh’s attorney Richard Harpootlian filed the notice in the South Carolina Court of Appeals.

The court document states Murdaugh “appeals his convictions and sentences,” but states no legal grounds, case law or legal argument. It is unclear when the higher court will hear the appeal.

After Murdaugh was sentenced, Harpootlian and fellow defense attorney Jim Griffin said the strongest grounds for appeal are Newman’s decision to admit evidence related to Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes.

Harpootlian said that evidence “stripped away” Murdaugh’s credibility. Prosecutors argued during the trial that Murdaugh killed his family to gain sympathy and prevent his other alleged crimes from being exposed, but Harpootlian said the evidence that Murdaugh stole money and lied wasn’t about motive, but Murdaugh’s character.

“And we feel strongly that if we lose in the state courts we’ll have success in federal court,” Griffin said at the time.

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