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Alex Murdaugh violated a plea agreement requiring truthfulness by failing a polygraph test taken as part of a plea agreement for numerous financial crimes committed by the disgraced former lawyer, federal prosecutors said. Filed in court on Tuesday.
As a result, the South Carolina District Attorney's Office asked the court to release the terms of the agreement to the federal government, relieving prosecutors of the obligation to recommend that Mr. Murdaugh serve a sentence in federal prison concurrent with his sentence in state court. I'm asking you to. for similar crimes.
Murdaugh “denies the charge” that he violated his plea agreement, his lawyers said in a Thursday filing, objecting to prosecutors' request that the court seal the polygraph test report. .
“Allowing the government to publicly accuse Mr. Murdaugh of violating his plea agreement, while also allowing the government to withhold all evidence that purportedly supports the accusations from the public, undermines the public's right to know the truth.” ,” the reply states.
According to the sentencing memorandum, Murdaugh's lawyers argued that the polygraph examiner engaged in “strange behavior” before administering the test and asked the judge to hold Murdaugh in violation of his plea agreement until polygraph records are provided. He asked that the sentence be denied or postponed. Submitted Thursday afternoon.
CNN has reached out to Murdaugh's attorney and prosecutors for comment.
The now-disbarred lawyer is already serving 27 years in prison for similar charges after pleading guilty in state court to about 20 charges, including money laundering, breach of trust, conspiracy, forgery and tax evasion. This is in addition to two consecutive life sentences he received a year ago after being found guilty of murdering his wife and 22-year-old son in June 2021. State prosecutors argued the killing was a distraction as his financial scheme unraveled.
The botched polygraph test was discovered days before Murdaugh's federal sentencing hearing. He pleaded guilty in September to 22 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors previously said each faced up to 20 or 30 years in prison.
According to the indictment, Murdaugh carried out several schemes designed to defraud personal injury clients and law firms of millions of dollars in settlements, which he then used for personal gain. He has been charged with using the drug.
As part of a plea agreement in the federal case, Murdaugh agreed to submit to a polygraph test administered by a government-selected examiner, and authorities will prosecute co-conspirators and Murdaugh, according to court filings Tuesday. The company says it is working to recover its “ill-gotten gains.” For his victims. Approximately $6 million remains unaccounted for, according to filings.
In exchange for Mr. Murdaugh's cooperation and “totally truthful and frank attitude” toward law enforcement, the government “agreed to recommend that Mr. Murdaugh's federal sentence be served concurrently with the imposition of the state sentence.” If the agreement is violated “due to Mr. Murdaugh's lack of integrity,” the government is free to seek the maximum sentence and Mr. Murdaugh cannot withdraw his guilty plea, according to the filing. There is.
According to the filing, an FBI polygraph examiner conducted a two-part polygraph test on Murdaugh in October 2023. The government claims the results showed deception, Murdaugh failed, and the plea agreement was invalidated.
Details of the test, including what questions Murdaugh was asked and how he answered them, have not been made public.
The investigation was conducted into “issues regarding concealed assets and the involvement of another attorney in Murdaugh's criminal activities,” the government filing said.
Murdaugh's lawyers argued in a sentencing memo that the government's actions leading up to the polygraph test and the investigators' actions during that time “raise serious concerns about whether the government acted in good faith.” .
“The polygrapher appears to have designed relevant questions to ensure that Mr. Murdaugh would fail the exam,” the lawyers allege in the document.
Murdaugh's lawyers claim that the examiner displayed “strange behavior” during the pre-exam interview, including “declaring that he believed Murdaugh was innocent of the murders of his wife and son.”
The attorneys also said the medical examiner “secretly” told Murdaugh that he had just returned from a polygraph test related to the murder of Natalie Holloway.
They further claim that the examiner and Murdaugh “argued” over the meaning of the term “hidden assets” used in the exam questions, while some of the examiner's questions “violated” World Polygraph Network standards. He claims that he believes that Designing polygraph questions.
Last year, prosecutors filed a motion to seal the polygraph test report and four FBI reports related to interviews with Murdaugh.
All are related to an ongoing grand jury investigation and allegations of criminal conduct by others, according to the motion. Prosecutors argued that sealing the evidence was necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation, noting in a footnote that Murdaugh's attorneys had opposed sealing the polygraph report.
Murdaugh's lawyers asked the court in Thursday's filing to deny a motion to seal the evidence, saying prosecutors are “less drastic” than what the court is asking for, such as polygraphs and redacted FBI interviews. ” argued that the measures did not explain why they were not sufficient. Rules of Court.
“Most importantly, however, the government accuses Mr. Murdaugh of violating his plea agreement, a charge he denies,” the filing states. “The public has the right to know the truth of an issue through an open and transparent judicial process, rather than being kept behind closed doors.”
Murdaugh's lawyers also questioned some of the language used in the government's motion to exempt Murdaugh from plea-bargaining obligations, saying, “The Department of Justice's own policy manual does not allow federal prosecutors to “This prevents them from claiming that they were lying or deceptive.” Simply put, polygraph machines cannot detect lies. ”
In a filing Thursday night, federal prosecutors said the government miscalculated the total loss and that Murdaugh's attorneys' questions about how Murdaugh's past criminal history would factor into sentencing considerations. mentioned the claim. Prosecutors called both claims “contrary to law and logic.”
During a hearing last September, Murdaugh wept as he told the judge he was pleading guilty of his own free will. He said he did it not just because he was guilty, but also so his surviving son could see his father take responsibility for his actions and help victims recover. Told. According to three lawyers who attended.
