Alex Murdaugh's attorneys want Satterfield confession vacated, citing Murdaugh's own lies
Attorneys for twice-convicted family murderer and accused fraudster Alex Murdaugh are now seeking to have a multi-million confession of judgement in the Gloria Satterfield civil case thrown out.
The attorneys cite Murdaugh's own lies as well as alleged misconduct by one of the Satterfield attorneys.
The filing has sparked a heated debate.
Bland Richter LLP, attorneys for the Satterfield estate and heirs, publicly responded to a motion, Tuesday, May 16, that was filed by Murdaugh's attorneys in the Satterfield civil suit.
The Satterfield Estate filed a September 2021 lawsuit against Murdaugh, claiming he conspired with others to steal an insurance settlement from her heirs after their mother died as a result of a fall at Murdaugh's home in 2018. Murdaugh later admitted liability in the case and apologized to his victims.
The motion asks the court to vacate a May 31, 2021, confession of judgement signed by Murdaugh to the Satterfield estate in the amount of $4.3 million.
Murdaugh's attorneys say that Murdaugh has nothing to lose or gain in the Satterfield case, but the confession of judgement could limit how much money other alleged victims get. The Satterfield attorneys say Murdaugh is seeking to further harass his victims and his lawyers are engaging in a "personal" attack on opposing counsel.
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Why is Alex Murdaugh walking back on his desire to confess judgement?
In the motion, Murdaugh's attorneys, Richard Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, who also defended him in his recent double-murder trial, alleged misconduct on the part of the Satterfield attorneys. They claim the confession should be voided because it was based on "inaccurate facts" and does not meet certain standards of the South Carolina Code of Laws.
The claims of misconduct, the motion contends, began on Oct. 15, 2021, when Satterfield attorney Eric Bland "begins a campaign of extrajudicial statements to news media deriding the character and credibility of Mr. Murdaugh. Mr. Bland tells the news media, 'it’s a stark reality that this is a really bad person. Alex Murdaugh is a really, really, really bad person. That’s the bottom line. That’s the tough pill to swallow ... There’s no bottom to him'."
Bland also made numerous other extrajudicial statements to the media about Murdaugh, the motion claims, and made similar statements during Murdaugh's Oct. 19, 2021, bond hearing, and other court hearings. On Nov. 22, 2021, Murdaugh's attorneys moved for a gag order on Bland, but were denied.
Ironically, Murdaugh's grounds for dismissal hinge on his own purported lies. In order to make his alleged insurance scheme work and pay off, Murdaugh told insurance adjusters that Satterfield tripped and fell over his dogs, resulting in the injury leading to her death. But there were no witnesses and no evidence of the dogs being around, and Murdaugh recently filed a federal court document admitting that the dog story was a false statement.
If the claims were false, contend Murdaugh, then the Satterfields are not entitled to any money, and therefore should be added as codefendants in other lawsuits against Murdaugh ― where they may have to pay back this money.
Murdaugh's attorneys claim that under the "symbolic" confession of judgement agreement with the Satterfields, Murdaugh was never actually going to have to pay the $4.3 million, as long as he admitted responsibility and apologized, and that this confession of judgement "acts only to obstruct the recovery of other victims of Mr. Murdaugh’s financial crimes, which is a plain due process violation."
"The confessed judgment only harms Mr. Murdaugh’s other victims," states the motion. "The Satterfield family alleges Mr. Murdaugh stole approximately $4.3 million from them. The truth is that he stole it from [insurance companies] Lloyd’s of London and Nautilus."
In this case, the Satterfield estate received more that $7.5 million in settlements and restitution from other parties associated with Murdaugh's schemes, and now Murdaugh says they weren't entitled to this money.
"Banks and others paid restitution for the money Mr. Murdaugh stole because they realized they might share some liability with Mr. Murdaugh for his thefts. They paid the restitution to the Satterfield family and their lawyers not as a gift or expression of sympathy, but because they thought Mr. Murdaugh stole their money. Had they known the money was stolen from someone else, they would have paid that someone else."
Eric Bland calls Murdaugh's attorneys, 'sore losing lawyers'
Bland responded to the motion in an emotionally charged, emailed news release late Tuesday, calling opposing counsel "paper bullies" and "sore losing lawyers."
"Alex Murdaugh’s May 16th motion is yet another filing in a long line of rolls of legal toilet paper that Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin have filed in the multitude of civil and criminal actions on behalf of their client who is a liar, a thief and a twice convicted murderer," the press statement began.
Bland alleged that in the motion Harpootlian and Griffin reveal "confidential settlement discussions in violation of the South Carolina Court Rules," which should be investigated immediately, he claims.
As of 6:30 p.m., Murdaugh's attorneys have not responded for comment.
Bland contends that Murdaugh's lawyers are "factually wrong about the timing of the settlements that the Satterfields obtained from other parties," adding "This motion is nothing more than the endless and non-stop prattle of sore losing lawyers. We welcome addressing these arguments in court. They have lost almost all of the meaningful motions they have filed on behalf of their miscreant client Alex Murdaugh over the past two years."
Bland Richter is confident that they will defeat this "frivilous" motion, the statement added, then accused Murdaugh's counsel of harassment.
"This is personal. Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin are improperly utilizing the judicial process for ulterior motives that are meant to harass and victimize the Satterfields again and constitutes vexatious conduct. I don’t mind these attorneys taking shots at us. Comes with the territory. They are upset that they do not get $160,000 for Murdaugh’s appeal as a result of arguments that Bland Richter recently made. They are nothing but paper bullies. We will continue to fight them in every courtroom in the land to obtain justice for our Clients and stop their gaming of the system."
It is yet unclear when a judge will hear this motion.
Hampton County Guardian Editor Michael DeWitt, the Greenville News and USA TODAY Network will continue to follow the ongoing criminal and civil cases surrounding the Murdaugh crime saga. Follow DeWitt on Twitter at @mmdewittjr and support his local and national journalism with a digital subscription.