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The attorney who helped win Alex Murdaugh a new trial says the defense is ready to take on the piece of evidence that helped sink him the first time around.
In a new interview on “Crime & Justice with Donna Rotunno,” veteran defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian revealed his team has a strategy for dealing with the infamous kennel video that prosecutors used to place Murdaugh near the scene of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.
The cellphone video, recorded by Paul Murdaugh shortly before he and his mother were killed in June 2021, became one of the most damaging pieces of evidence presented during Murdaugh’s 2023 murder trial. Prosecutors argued the recording destroyed Murdaugh’s original alibi and placed him at the family’s Colleton County kennels minutes before the killings.
Now, as Murdaugh prepares for a new trial, Harpootlian says the defense has a plan.
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Alex Murdaugh and defense attorney Dick Harpootlian review evidence during his trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in Walterboro, S.C. (Joshua Boucher/Pool/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“We absolutely do, we absolutely do,” Harpootlian told Rotunno when asked whether his team has a strategy to address the video. “Yes, and we understand that’s an issue and it’s got to be dealt with.”
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While Harpootlian declined to reveal specifics, the comments offer the clearest indication yet that Murdaugh’s legal team intends to challenge one of the prosecution’s most powerful exhibits when the case returns to court.
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Another major question hanging over any retrial is whether Murdaugh would once again take the witness stand after testifying during the original proceedings.
Harpootlian said that decision remains far from settled.
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“That’s a game-day decision,” he said. “Things work around during a trial. What you thought he might have to respond to never came up. On the flip side, all kinds of bad stuff came up he’s got to answer.”
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The veteran attorney said the defense is intentionally avoiding discussions with Murdaugh about testifying until they have a clearer picture of how a second trial will unfold.
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The retrial itself could look very different from the first proceedings.
Harpootlian told Rotunno he expects the second trial to be significantly shorter, in part because the defense believes much of the evidence related to Murdaugh’s financial crimes could be limited or excluded.
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Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife and son in June 2021, greets his defense attorney Jim Griffin before a retrial hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 16, 2024. (Gavin McIntyre/The Post and Courier via AP)
He also said the defense plans to seek a change of venue, arguing that years of intense media coverage and the televised nature of the original trial have made it difficult to find jurors who have not already formed opinions about the case.
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Harpootlian further criticized the state’s investigation, describing what he called “blunder after blunder” in the handling of evidence.
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He said investigators failed to collect certain DNA and fingerprint evidence and made mistakes in preserving key items recovered from the crime scene.
Those issues, he argued, underscore why prosecutors may face a more difficult task convincing a second jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Despite Murdaugh’s conviction, Harpootlian argued that prosecutors still face significant hurdles if they present the case to a new jury.
“There’s no eyewitness, there is no confession, there’s not forensics that tie him to the scene. It’s all circumstantial,” Harpootlian said.
He argued that the burden remains on prosecutors to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian speaks to the media alongside Alex Murdaugh’s defense team after their client was sentenced to double life in prison on March 3, 2023. Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in 2021. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
“We don’t have to prove him innocent,” Harpootlian said. “We have to show and argue that the state did not prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
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Harpootlian then offered a bold prediction about what could happen if the case is retried.
“If you apply the correct legal standard, we believe Alex will be found not guilty.”
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Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife and son and sentenced to life in prison. The South Carolina Supreme Court later granted him a new trial after determining that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly communicated with jurors during the original proceedings.
The full interview is available on “Crime & Justice with Donna Rotunno” on YouTube and podcast platforms.