In a scathing, 53-page response, the prosecution in Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder retrial says it has already turned over forensic extraction files for several phones requested in a defense motion — not once but multiple times.
"It is hard to understand the inexplicably brazen and highly prejudicial falsehoods the defense put in its public filings," state prosecutors said in a response filed Tuesday.
The defense claimed in a motion filed last week that it does not have the raw data from several phones examined by state investigators, including those belonging to Murdaugh and the victims. It argued that it needs that information to conduct a deeper dive, beyond text messages, emails and photos as it prepares for a new trial.
But the prosecution says it did provide that data several times and "in a timely matter." In fact, it says the information was handed over as early as 2022 before Murdaugh’s first trial and then again during the 2023 proceedings when the defense mistakenly corrupted the files.
"The defense couldn’t keep its evidence straight," prosecutors wrote in the response.
The state is expected to respond to several other motions this week, including requests from the defense for both DNA and ballistics evidence.
And both sides will further their arguments during a hearing next Friday, Oct. 16, before Judge Debra McCaslin in Lexington County.
No word yet if she will consider another defense motion at that time requesting more information about a state grand jury investigation into allegations of a crime scene cover-up.
There is a hearing scheduled for Nov. 13.
The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh’s 2023 double-murder convictions earlier this year after finding that his right to a fair trial was violated by comments made to jurors by then Colleton Clerk of Court Becky Hill.
He had been found guilty of murdering his wife and son on the family’s property in Colleton County in June 2021. A new trial date has been set for April 5, 2027.
