Alex Murdaugh Lawyer Targets Key Kennel Video as Defense Considers Another Testimony Twist

Up next

Trump Delays Jay Clayton DNI Hearing as FISA Lapse Sparks Intelligence Oversight Questions

Published on 17 June 2026

Author

Internewscast

Share article

The post has been shared by 0 people.

Facebook 0

X (Twitter) 0

Pinterest 0

Mail 0

“We absolutely do, we absolutely do,” Harpootlian told Rotunno when asked whether the team had a plan for handling the video. “Yes, and we understand that’s an issue and it’s got to be dealt with.”

While Harpootlian declined to reveal specifics, the comments offer the clearest indication yet that Murdaugh’s legal team intends to challenge one of the prosecution’s most powerful exhibits when the case returns to court.

🚨 Know something we should investigate?

📩 Email: stepheny.price@fox.com

📸 Instagram: @fndstephprice

🎥 X: @StephenyPrice

Another major question hanging over any retrial is whether Murdaugh would once again take the witness stand after testifying during the original proceedings.

Harpootlian said that decision remains far from settled.

“That’s a game-day decision,” he said. “Things work around during a trial. What you thought he might have to respond to never came up. On the flip side, all kinds of bad stuff came up he’s got to answer.”

The veteran attorney said the defense is intentionally avoiding discussions with Murdaugh about testifying until they have a clearer picture of how a second trial will unfold.

The retrial itself could look very different from the first proceedings.

Harpootlian told Rotunno he expects the second trial to be significantly shorter, in part because the defense believes much of the evidence related to Murdaugh’s financial crimes could be limited or excluded.

He also said the defense plans to seek a change of venue, arguing that years of intense media coverage and the televised nature of the original trial have made it difficult to find jurors who have not already formed opinions about the case.

Harpootlian further criticized the state’s investigation, describing what he called “blunder after blunder” in the handling of evidence.

He said investigators failed to collect certain DNA and fingerprint evidence and made mistakes in preserving key items recovered from the crime scene.

Those issues, he argued, underscore why prosecutors may face a more difficult task convincing a second jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Despite Murdaugh’s conviction, Harpootlian argued that prosecutors still face significant hurdles if they present the case to a new jury.

“There’s no eyewitness, there is no confession, there’s not forensics that tie him to the scene. It’s all circumstantial,” Harpootlian said.

He argued that the burden remains on prosecutors to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian speaks to the media alongside Alex Murdaugh’s defense team after their client was sentenced to double life in prison on March 3, 2023. Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in 2021. (Mark Sims for News Agency)

“We don’t have to prove him innocent,” Harpootlian said. “We have to show and argue that the state did not prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Harpootlian then offered a bold prediction about what could happen if the case is retried.

“If you apply the correct legal standard, we believe Alex will be found not guilty.”

Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife and son and sentenced to life in prison. The South Carolina Supreme Court later granted him a new trial after determining that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly communicated with jurors during the original proceedings.

The full interview is available on “Crime & Justice with Donna Rotunno” on YouTube and podcast platforms.

-->