Alex Murdaugh’s defense seeks case dismissal, alleging mishandled evidence and misleading grand jury testimony

LEXINGTON, S.C. (WTOC) - Alex Murdaugh’s defense attorneys are once again asking a judge to throw out his double-murder charges, alleging investigators mishandled evidence and presented false testimony to secure grand jury indictments.

A judge is scheduled to hear arguments next week to determine whether the case will move forward toward a scheduled April trial or be sent back to a grand jury.

WTOC has been following the Murdaugh trial from the very beginning; you can see all of our previous coverage here:

In their latest motion to dismiss, defense counsel highlighted two key issues: forensic testing on the T-shirt Murdaugh wore the night his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, were killed in June 2021, and law enforcement testimony regarding firearms discovered on the family’s Colleton County estate.

Murdaugh’s attorneys argue that forensic lab testing performed on the shirt failed to detect human blood. Despite those findings, disputed blood-spatter evidence was still presented to grand jurors, which the defense contends improperly secured the murder indictments.

The filing further accuses a state law enforcement agent of fabricating testimony concerning guns located on the property, noting the agent later conceded during trial proceedings that the prior statement was inaccurate.

Outside legal analysts say the judge faces a high legal threshold in determining whether the disputed grand jury presentation warrants tossing the indictments.

“Did this affect the outcome of the grand jury proceeding? If this information had not been presented, can they make an argument that an indictment would not have occurred?” said criminal defense attorney Sam Bassett. “So, there is another level of analysis that the courts are going to have to do as well.”

A ruling on the defense team’s motion to dismiss is expected following next week’s hearing.