WALTERBORO, S.C. (Court TV) — Prosecutors opposed Alex Murdaugh’s request to have unfettered access to a laptop with discovery documents that are “frankly worth a lot of money.”
The disgraced attorney asked for the laptop so he can review information in preparation for his retrial, which is scheduled for next year. He wants the computer so he can avoid “the hardship of transporting and viewing multiple voluminous boxes of paper discovery,” the state wrote.
Alex Murdaugh made his first court appearance since his 2023 double murder convictions were overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court in May (Court TV).
Murdaugh, 57, had been sentenced to two life terms after a jury convicted him of murdering his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh. The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned that conviction in May after determining that Rebecca “Becky” Hill, who was the Colleton County Clerk of Court during Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, had tainted the jury by making improper comments about the defendant and his testimony.
But the state argues that Murdaugh “cannot be trusted with sensitive information or digital devices, and [South Carolina Department of Corrections] should not be forced to accommodate Defendant by giving him unsupervised access to a laptop computer.”
Prosecutors say Murdaugh has “repeatedly shown that he will violate security protocols.” They point to separate incidents in August 2023 when he was disciplined for “abuse of privileges” and was busted for using another inmate’s PIN. He also was allegedly handed a book by a family member through his attorneys during his first trial.
“Defendant has demonstrated that he will break the rules and circumvent security if given the chance,” prosecutor Creighton Waters wrote. “Second, the inability to trust such information with Defendant unsupervised is particularly highlighted by the fact that this information is extremely sensitive and frankly worth a lot of money.”
Waters says some media outlets would pay “high dollar” for items such as crime scene photos.
“It is a bad idea to leave such valuable and sensitive information solely within the protection and trust of an inmate and convicted longstanding fraudster like Defendant,” Waters wrote. “He has shown he will come up with all manner of schemes to get money, and a laptop can be used for all sorts of nefarious purposes.”
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said his client should have access to the laptop because he hadn’t viewed some of the discovery in five years and reviewing the files will allow him to help his defense.
The laptop was among the topics of discussion at Monday’s pretrial hearing. The Honorable Debra R. McCaslin said the warden made it clear Murdaugh cannot have a laptop in his cell for security and safety reasons, but she said he can have one in the presence of his attorneys or a law clerk. She also said she’ll speak with the warden to see if the laptop can be made available to him. She has yet to rule on the motion.
Prosecutors are also objecting to the defense’s request to have an independent lab examine DNA evidence from Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernail that defense lawyers say came “from an unknown and unrelated male.”
Attorney Jim Griffin said advancements in DNA technology, particularly with the help of artificial intelligence, provide investigators with tools that were not available to them when the slayings happened five years ago.
“In 2026, we are light years ahead, and so what we’re asking for didn’t really exist in 2021,” Griffin told the judge. “It does exist today.”
The defense says no further analysis was performed on the sample, arguing in a motion filed earlier this month that it could be crucial to proving their client’s innocence. The defense motion states that Othram, the same company whose Investigative Genetic Genealogy technology cracked open the case against Bryan Kohberger, believes it can conduct a thorough analysis of the sample, “but the testing takes considerable time, and a ‘rush’ order would be needed.”
But the state pointed out there is no evidence that Maggie Murdaugh struggled with her killer. Touch DNA is “extremely sensitive” as people interact with each other and shed DNA regularly. She also got her nails done on the day of the murders.
“Moreover, the incomplete nature of this profile limits its evidentiary value,” Waters wrote. “This profile is not eligible for submission to CODIS as it did not contain enough identifying information to meet the threshold of submission.”
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division already completed a thorough analysis, the state claims. McCaslin has yet to rule on the defense’s request.
Another pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 14. A tentative trial date is set for April 2027.
Despite the murder convictions being overturned, Alex Murdaugh remains behind bars serving a 27-year state sentence for financial crimes and a concurrent 40-year federal sentence for similar crimes.
Lauren Silver contributed to this report
