Murdaugh asks for less strict bond conditions in fatal Beaufort County boat crash case
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2019 Boat Crash Coverage
The crash of a Murdaugh family boat in 2019 killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach and started a chain of events that would remain in the news two years later. Here are the stories from that crash.
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This story first published July 26, 2019.
Paul Murdaugh, the Hampton man facing three felony charges in the fatal boat crash near Parris Island that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach and injured others on board, recently filed a motion to modify the conditions of his bond.
The 20-year-old, who pleaded not guilty to all of the boating under the influence charges in May, filed the motion Tuesday in the Beaufort County General Sessions court, asking Judge Steven John of the 15th Judicial Circuit to mitigate the only restriction included in the conditions of Murdaugh’s release.
Originally, Murdaugh was ordered not to leave the 14th Judicial Circuit, comprising Beaufort, Hampton, Allendale, Colleton and Jasper counties, without permission of the court while he awaits trial. He was released on a $50,000 recognizance bond. Even though Murdaugh faces BUI charges, the state did not restrict him from drinking alcohol or driving a boat.
His attorneys, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian and James M. Griffin, asked the judge Tuesday to change the bond conditions, allowing Murdaugh to go anywhere within South Carolina so that he may “attend college, work, live, consult with his attorneys and for any other lawful purpose,” according to court records.
At the May hearing, Harpootlian said Murdaugh is a sophomore at the University of South Carolina.
In some DUI cases, such as that of a S.C. 17-year-old accused of killing another teen while driving drunk the same week of Murdaugh’s hearing, as Fox Carolina reported, a judge will require the defendant to wear an alcohol-detecting ankle monitor while awaiting trial.
The S.C. Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, will be scheduling a hearing for a judge to decide on this motion, according to spokesperson Robert Kittle. The hearing will likely take place within the next few weeks, he said.
Kittle said a date for the criminal trial has not been set.
“Since it’s a complicated case with lots of witnesses and discovery, I would assume it would take a while,” he said. “Also, factoring in that we’re dealing with a judge from another part of the state, it could take even longer.”
Because judges from the 14th Judicial Circuit recused themselves, John, of Horry County, presided over the bond hearing. Kittle did not know whether John would be the judge for the upcoming hearing.
The case has drawn widespread media attention, as well as outrage on social media. Commenters are looking for any perceived special treatment given to Murdaugh, a member of a politically powerful South Carolina family with three generations who served as solicitors in the 14th Judicial Circuit.
At the bond hearing, Murdaugh was never handcuffed. His jail mugshot, taken with an iPhone 7 Plus in the hallway of the courthouse, shows he was wearing regular clothes. Other defendants typically are booked at the detention center wearing orange jumpsuits.
Beaufort County court records show Murdaugh received a citation for “purchase or possession of beer or wine by a minor” by a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officer on May 29, 2017. The charges were dismissed on July 5, 2018, after Murdaugh was sentenced to an alcohol-diversion program. These charges were not mentioned at Murdaugh’s bond hearing in May when discussing his criminal background.
A Beaufort County grand jury directly indicted Murdaugh on April 18 — what would have been Beach’s 20th birthday — on one count of boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury.
Beach, also of Hampton, was ejected from the 17-foot boat Murdaugh is accused of driving when it crashed into a bridge around 2:20 a.m. in Archers Creek. Her body was found a week later in a marshy area about 5 miles from the crash.
The five surviving passengers in the boat, including Murdaugh, were injured, according to police reports. Law enforcement officers at the scene also noted that all five appeared to be “grossly intoxicated.”
The boat, owned by Paul’s father Alexander Murdaugh, was traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck the bridge, per 911 audio.
A sobriety test was not offered to any of the boaters at the scene the night of the accident, Robert McCullough of SCDNR previously told the Island Packet. It also was unknown early on who was driving the boat.
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Murdaugh asks for less strict bond conditions in fatal Beaufort County boat crash case."
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