south carolina

Alex Murdaugh loses prison phone, tablet privileges after lawyer records phone call for documentary

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has had his prison phone and tablet access revoked after his lawyer recorded a conversation for an upcoming documentary about the murder of the disgraced legal scion’s wife and son, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said Wednesday.

Murdaugh, 54, was accused of “willingly and knowingly” abusing his telephone privileges to “communicate with the news media for his own gain” following a conversation with his lawyer Jim Griffin on June 10, according to an incident report.

His tablet use came under scrutiny in July when it was found he used the device to record various selfies in which he appears topless and carefree while serving two life sentences.

Prison officials found Griffin recorded Murdaugh, who read excerpts from a journal he kept while standing trial earlier this year for killing his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son, Paul, in 2021.

Griffin intended to use information from the recordings for a three-part Fox docuseries titled “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh,” which featured an interview with Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, according to a report.


Convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh lost his phone privileges in prison after his lawyer recorded a call for a documentary.
Convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh lost his phone privileges in prison after his lawyer recorded a call for a documentary.
AP

Murdaugh’s lawyer Jim Griffin recorded Murdaugh in June reading entries into a journal he kept during his double murder trial for an upcoming Fox Nation documentary on his case, prison records show.
Murdaugh’s lawyer Jim Griffin recorded Murdaugh in June reading entries in a journal he kept during his double murder trial for an upcoming Fox Nation documentary on his case, prison records show.
AP

“Your actions, whether you intended or not, assisted Mr. Murdaugh in violating our policy and could jeopardize your telephonic communications with him in the future,” said Dennis Patterson, SCDOC assistant deputy director of operations, in an email to Griffin dated Aug. 30.

Inmates are prohibited from participating in interviews as the SDOC “believes that victims of a crime should not have to see or hear the person

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“This is a very serious case”

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Lawyer pleads guilty to defrauding veterans, retirees out of millions

A South Carolina woman has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for using her position as a managing partner at a law firm to exploit military veterans and elderly investors as part of a nationwide cash flow scheme, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

From approximately 2012 to 2021, Candy Kern, 55, used her law firm to prey on retiree investors and “military veterans in desperate financial straits” by illegally assigning veterans’ benefits, a DoJ release stated.

As part of the scheme, Kern directed financially struggling veterans to accept lump sum cash payments in exchange for the veterans’ monthly retirement or disability earnings, which Kern would arrange in contracts — replete with credit background checks, interest rates and legal ramifications — to be paid out, with interest, over an agreed-upon term.

Kern and other partners would then solicit elderly investors seeking to bolster their retirement to invest in the contracts by providing the lump sum payments, which they were told would yield a return over time.

Throughout the entirety of the scheme, Kern and her partners knew that each contract was void from the start due to federal laws that prohibit the reassignment of pensions.

“For more than eight years, Kern, through her law firm, served as the banker, legal counsel, and debt collector” in the scheme, the release stated. Kern even went as far as filing suits against veterans who defaulted on their payments, according to court documents.

In all, an estimated $14 million in illegally assigned veterans’ payments were funneled through accounts managed by Kern’s law firm. The retiree investors duped by Kern and her partners lost more than $31 million.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina Adair Boroughs called Kern’s use of her standing as a lawyer to facilitate the scheme “reprehensible.”

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South Carolina Supreme Court suspends Edgefield lawyer for 90 days | Local Crime & Police News

The South Carolina Supreme Court suspended an Edgefield lawyer Wednesday. 

The court issued a per curium order suspending Randall DeWitt Williams for 90 days for failing to file his state income taxes from 2015-2018. 

South Carolina Department of Revenue agents arrested Williams on charges of failing to file his state income taxes on Aug. 23, 2021.


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Warrants indicate Williams earned more than $2.6 million in income but did not pay $14,165 in state income taxes. 

The court said Williams filed the outstanding returns and paid all taxes owed after his arrest. The court added Williams pleaded guilty to one one count of failing to pay state income tax, received a $125 fine and paid the fine. 

The court said Williams filed an affidavit saying his mother’s mental and physical health began to deteriorate in 2012 and he became the healthcare power of attorney for his parents and cared for their needs while maintaining his legal practice. 


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“Respondent [Williams] admits he turned to alcohol ‘as an escape’ and that he had become dependent on alcohol during the period of time in which he neglected his tax responsibilities,” the court said. “Respondent’s mother passed away in 2018. Respondent has been sober since Oct. 29, 2019, when he entered a six-week inpatient treatment program in Texas.”

The court added Williams continues to regularly attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, entered into a one-year management contract in 2021, serves as a mentor to others in recovery and has developed a faith-based approach improving his well being. 

The court said Williams admitted his conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, that the conduct is grounds for attorney discipline under the Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement and agreed to accept a private reprimand, a public reprimand or a suspension of up to 90 days. 


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Prominent Charleston lawyer David Aylor dead at 41 | News

Well-known Charleston lawyer, David Aylor, died Jan. 2.

The Charleston County Coroner’s office confirmed 41-year-old Aylor died in his home and the cause and manner of his death are not yet determined. Charleston Police are investigating.

Members of the legal community are shocked, longtime friend and former colleague Stephen Schmutz said.

“The legal community is going to miss him,” he said. “There is going to be a huge hole there.”

Aylor was the owner of personal injury firm, the David Aylor Law Office, which he opened in 2007. David was the acting prosecutor for the City of Hanahan and also had experience as a criminal defense attorney and civil litigator. Prior to this appointment for Hanahan, he served as assistant solicitor in the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office for Charleston County.

He clerked for the SC Senate Judiciary Committee under Sen. Glenn McConnell and for US Magistrate Judge Robert S. Carr as well as criminal attorney Andrew J. Savage III in Charleston. He was a graduate of the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Aylor is remembered by fellow attorney and Charleston City Councilman Stephen Bowden as a “natural in the courtroom.”

“What really stood out to me was the number of young lawyers who got a start in his office, whether in high school, college or law school and decided they wanted to follow in his footsteps because of that experience,” Bowden said.

Fellow attorney Mark Pepper said he would miss his friendship with Aylor both in and out of the courtroom.

“Hell of a lawyer for sure, but his friendship is next level, as everyone truly knew him would agree,” he said. “He brought his community together in all the ways no one could, and I’ll always admire him for that.”

Aylor had

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Legal aid with eviction available in Bamberg, Calhoun

SPECIAL TO THE T&D

COLUMBIA — Eviction is on the rise thanks to the skyrocketing cost of rent and everyday living.

Out of 1,961,481 households, 586,090 are renters in South Carolina. Per the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s report, “Out of Reach,” to afford a one-bedroom rental at fair market rent in the state, an individual on minimum wage ($7.25) must work 91 hours a week to make ends meet.

Most low-income renters must use over half of their income today toward renting alone. In many cases, one unplanned expense or emergency is all it takes to upset this delicate balance, according to the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center.

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Appleseed says it hears regularly from folks across the state who are facing eviction because they just could not keep up with the rising cost of living any longer, often through no fault of their own.

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As a renter facing eviction, it is easy to feel helpless and hopeless, but sometimes an alternative to eviction can be found — with a little help. A new referral program offers legal aid in 10 counties for individuals facing eviction.

The counties covered by this new eviction legal aid program include Bamberg and Calhoun. Others are Allendale, Barnwell, Colleton, Lexington, Fairfield, Newberry, Saluda and Sumter.

“With the effects of the pandemic still very much a reality today, the high cost of rent remains staggering for low-income South Carolinians,” said Sue Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center.

“Many people have or are facing the very real threat of eviction as they live paycheck to paycheck. Having an eviction on your record has powerful implications on an individual’s

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Alex Murdaugh: Timeline of the South Carolina lawyer’s fall from grace

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Alex Murdaugh was once a well-established lawyer, millionaire, husband and father of two sons, Buster and Paul, living on an expansive property in South Carolina’s Low Country.

Despite his seemingly idyllic life, however, Murdaugh has had a dramatic fall from grace with so many twists and turns that he has left his now-national audience with whiplash.

Most recently, on July 14, a Colleton County Grand Jury indicted Murdaugh, 54, on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection to the June 7, 2021, deaths of his wife , Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22.

SOUTH CAROLINA LAWYER ALEX MURDAUGH CHARGED WITH MURDER OF WIFE AND SON

But prior to the bombshell murder charges, Murdaugh faced more than 80 other criminal charges through 16 state grand jury indictments for schemes to defraud a slew of victims, including the family of his dead housekeeper, a deaf quadriplegic man and a highway patrolman injured in the line of duty, of a total sum of nearly $8.5 million.

On July 14, A Colleton County Grand Jury indicted Murdaugh, 63, for two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection to the June 7, 2021, deaths of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22.

On July 14, A Colleton County Grand Jury indicted Murdaugh, 63, for two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection to the June 7, 2021, deaths of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22.

Here’s a timeline of events that led Murdaugh from his multi-million-dollar family farm to the Glenn Detention Center in Richland County, where he is currently detained.

2015

Buster’s classmate, 19-year-old Stephen Smith, is found dead in the middle of a road in rural Hampton County in what was officially ruled a hit-and-run, despite a state trooper’s incident report noting that there was “no evidence

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