GUILTY SC - Paul Murdaugh & mom Margaret Found Shot To Death - Alex Murdaugh Accused - Islandton #39

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AugustWest said:
IMO, the reason for the fervor of Mr. Griffin and Mr. Hartpootlian as to appeals has as much or more to do with the desire for fairness in justice as it does for their client.

Several issues were raised as a matter of law that were very tough calls in this trial (5th and 6th Amendments, Rule 403 and 404 evidentiary decisions). Not bad decisions, just tough decisions.

ETA: I’ll hang up and take my beating :D
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Most of these issues were initially excluded, then allowed after defense "opened the door”. Do you feel the door was sufficiently opened, if so, how will that effect the appeal? It’s my understanding those issues can be introduced as to motive but not to character. I’m not sure how one distinguishes between the two, they seem intertwined in this case. Would the deciding factor be how prejudicial the information is? I am assuming you are a lawyer, I appreciate your insight.
 
Sonny Crockett said:
I never thought it was a good idea for AM to take the stand in his own defense. IMHO he was a fool for doing this. I.e., he definitely wasn't credible & IMHO made himself look far worse - than if he hadn't said anything. He's a liar, and that was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. This type of situation is exactly why defense lawyers warn some of their clients against taking the stand - especially in high-profile cases like this.

So, if he hadn't taken the stand - it's possible the outcome would have been completely different. However, obviously we'll never know at this point. And, since he was found guilty - the outcome here was obviously optimum.
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Defense attys always say that once a defendant takes the stand it becomes about whether the jurors believe him or not. And the juror who spoke out in this case confirms this theory. In this case AM was a confirmed pathological liar so one could argue his testimony would be pointless - no one would believe him. But again, I come back to the kennel video and his lie about being there. He had to explain that. On the flip side, he lied about why he lied so on the whole nothing was gained. Just cemented what the jury already knew about what a lying liar he is.
 
Cindizzi said:
Thank you so much. it was truly horrible.

Just wanted to add that if there other photos leaked, I’m unaware of that. But I definitely know the one I saw was a screenshot of the monitor facing the Jury. It showed the white paper taped to the top of the monitor being pulled back and held by someone’s hand ( a lawyer I assume)

I hope in the future they figure out how to set up that Courtroom so the lawyers don’t have to get in that tiny space in front of the Jurybox to point things out on a monitor and demonstrate things.

JMO
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I'd donate to a to buy them a big screen television. And a laser pointer. Don't know where they'd mount it though.

Maybe they should invest in about 20 tablets, with software that the attorney can use to point to things and each juror gets one.

They could have a ceiling mounted projector and roll down screen, put it perpendicular and in front of the defense table?
 
Derph said:
It's hysterical that the defense is whining about the judge letting all the other crimes in. Umm he didn't until YOU messed up and brought it up!!! He originally denied the prosecution from bringing up the other crimes!!! You messed up. It was YOUR fault not the judge's, not the prosecution's, not SLED, Not the jury, not the Oompa Lumpas, not aliens or any other entity in the universe that is either alive or dead, NO! YOU are the reason it all was entered!!! Your client did all the scumy things you mentioned and a lot more that wasn't brought into the trial, AND he openly confessed to those crimes when your client Alex testified in open court. Your client Alex dug his own grave!

I don't understand why they would even bother in appealing as he's going to jail for even more time than he got for the financial crimes!!!!! A colossal waste of time, money and resources. It's a pointless exercise and will change nothing.
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*** :) :) Post of the Day! :):)***
 
What's that old Carl Sandburg quote? "If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell."

That's what I see the defense team doing here, putting up a good front at the press conference and saying that they will continue their appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Personally, I don't have a lot of animus towards the defense lawyers like some do. I just see them as doing their jobs, distasteful as those jobs may be. I could never be a defense attorney myself, but I don't hold them in contempt for what their client did.

In any case, while they will point to supposed errors from the judge or law enforcement during the inevitable appeals, the defense team certainly made its own share of mistakes that made this a much easier decision for the jurors. I suspect that despite what Harpootlian claims, once the smoke clears Alex will get himself new attorneys during the appeals process.
 
rescuemom said:
Maybe there was never a tarp but just a large jacket of some kind most likely grabbed at the last minute to carry to his mothers. If he appeared at his mothers at 6:30 in the morning as Shelly testified to, and went upstairs and returned, it is my guess none of the caretakers would ever nose around the house to see what could be found.
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If he just stashed that stuff along the trees/bushes at Alemeda, what a chance he took. He surely never expected LE to search their home or consider him suspect initially. All these loose ends drive me nuts sometimes.
 
Sonny Crockett said:
Purely from a defense stand-point - I never thought it was a good idea for AM to take the stand in his own defense. IMHO he was a fool for doing this. I.e., he definitely wasn't credible & made himself look far worse - than if he hadn't said anything. He's a liar, and that was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. This type of situation is exactly why defense lawyers warn some of their clients against taking the stand - especially in high-profile cases like this.

So, if he hadn't taken the stand - it's possible the outcome would have been completely different. However, obviously we'll never know at this point. And, since he was found guilty - the outcome here was obviously the most optimum :)
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Thing is though: he was arrogant enough to believe he could convince the jury he was innocent even though he admitted repeatedly lying!!! Had he not taken the stand we might be looking at a different outcome--
 
ElizB said:
If you guys were jurors, would you talk to the media?
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I usually cringe when jurors give interviews so I want to say I wouldn’t do it. But I also get the human side of everybody wants to hear from you and it being hard to not be flattered by the attention and give in.
 
I hope his sister got some of his "drug" money because she showed her tail and complicity by trying to break courtroom rules. I have never seem a group of people act so privledged in my life. And the Beaver taking the stand for Wally - golly gee we are just so stinkin normal - BS! At least Randy was smart enough not to make a spectacle of himself. Not sure what I expected but they are classless - money does not buy everything. Prayers for MMs family - no one deserves to die but lay down with dogs..... They knew Paul was driving that boat and someone's child died. All the while they lied and tried to hide assets. It really is disgusting.
 
Loveallmyhorsesdogsandcats said:
Most of these issues were initially excluded, then allowed after defense "opened the door”. Do you feel the door was sufficiently opened, if so, how will that effect the appeal? It’s my understanding those issues can be introduced as to motive but not to character. I’m not sure how one distinguishes between the two, they seem intertwined in this case. Would the deciding factor be how prejudicial the information is? I am assuming you are a lawyer, I appreciate your insight.
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@Loveallmyhorsesdogsandcats you are hitting all the right points in this post. I’ll try to give you a much better post on this in a bit, but I’m not on my computer right now, so I don’t want to write the answer with just my thumbs! I will “@“ you when I do!
 
I’m catching up on the last several pages so forgive me if already discussed - does Defense have any good grounds for an appellate argument in RE: Judge allowing alleged financial crimes to come in as evidence and in testimony

I saw some have said that Defense opened the door to that, but if they didn’t - does that ruling possibly help any appeal? Doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere anyway outside of prison because of those cases still pending but I’m still very curious. Thx in advance

[im going to start searching up appellate cases again and see if I can uncover any that were based upon the admittance of other bad acts despite pretrial Mptions by defense to exclude such acts]
 
ch_13 said:
What's that old Carl Sandburg quote? "If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell."

That's what I see the defense team doing here, putting up a good front at the press conference and saying that they will continue their appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Personally, I don't have a lot of animus towards the defense lawyers like some do. I just see them as doing their jobs, distasteful as those jobs may be. I could never be a defense attorney myself, but I don't hold them in contempt for what their client did.

In any case, while they will point to supposed errors from the judge or law enforcement during the inevitable appeals, the defense team certainly made its own share of mistakes that made this a much easier decision for the jurors. I suspect that despite what Harpootlian claims, once the smoke clears Alex will get himself new attorneys during the appeals process.
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Yea you could tell they knew he was guilty as hell from the time he testified on....
 
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