Lynyrd Skynyrd can thank American Idol for their latest chart resurgence. The band’s classic track “Simple Man” has returned to the Billboardcharts following Idol contestant Colin Stough‘s performance of it on the season premiere of the ABC talent competition.
“Simple Man” is currently at 23 on the Hot Rock Alternative Songs chart, thanks to 3.6 million new U.S. streams and 1,000 new downloads. The tune is also up to 11 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart.
Stough earned a golden ticket with his performance, which has since been viewed over 1 million times on YouTube.
One of Lynyrd Skynrd’s most popular tunes, “Simple Man” appeared on the band’s debut album, (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). It has spent over 100 weeks on Billboard’s Rock Streaming Songs chart and another 25 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart.
(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) — An appellate court in Riverside, California, overturned the murder conviction of a man who was sentenced to 129 years to life in prison, ruling in part that the use of a rap video as evidence in this case violates the state’s new “Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act” – a landmark law, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 31, 2022.
Travon Rashan Venable, Sr., was convicted of first degree murder and attempted murder in connection to a 2014 drive-by shooting. He pleaded not guilty.
According to court documents obtained by ABC News, prosecutors alleged that Venable and a fellow gang member were involved in a drive-by shooting. Venable was accused of driving the car while his co-defendant fired shots.
The appellate court judge ruled in a Feb. 17 opinion obtained by ABC News that the “admission of the rap video without the new safeguards was prejudicial to Venable” and the prosecution’s emphasis on the rap video during the trial “likely had an effect on the outcome.”
The court ruled that although the law wasn’t in effect during Venable’s trial, it applies retroactively to cases that are not final and under appeal.
The court reversed the conviction and remanded Venable’s case for a new trial.
The ruling came after the California Supreme Court transferred the case back to the appellate court to reconsider the case in light of the new law.
Jacquelyn Rodriguez, the public affairs officer for the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office, which prosecuted this case, told ABC News on Wednesday that Venable’s case is “the first case in the state that has been reversed due to the new law.”
“Right now we’re in a waiting phase to see if the appellate court will give jurisdiction back to us,” she added.
The video
According to court documents obtained by ABC News, prosecutors introduced a YouTube video found by police where Venable and other members of the California Gardens gang are seen “flashing gang signs” and displaying “guns, drugs, and money.”
Prosecutors alleged that a rap in the video, “Got word from a bird[] that they did that [racial slur] dead wrong/Slid up Medical and left that [racial slur] head gone,” was boasting about the drive-by shooting, but according to court documents, Venable didn’t say anything in the video.
“Nothing in the song indicates the rapper or others in the video had personal knowledge or involvement in the shooting, only that they had heard about it,” the court’s opinion said.
In the ruling the court pointed to testimony from a gang expert who testified that the gang as a whole took credit for the shooting.
“There is substantial doubt whether the trial judge would have admitted the video evidence under the new standard, and it’s clear the prosecution used that evidence to tie Venable to the specific crime. The remaining evidence of Venable’s involvement was not strong,” the court wrote in the opinion, pointing to testimony from Venable’s aunt who provided him with an alibi and testimony from “a police informant who gave a series of conflicting accounts of the incident and had testified Venable was being framed.”
Venable’s attorney Jim Gass, who objected to the inclusion of the rap video as evidence, told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday “this is the type of case that created the need for the new evidence code regarding rap lyrics.”
“The conviction was overturned because the appellate court could see that there was very little evidence against Venable other than the video,” he added.
The new law
The California law, which was dubbed the “rap lyrics bill,” became the state’s Evidence Code section 352.2 and seeks to ensure that “creative expression will not be used to introduce stereotypes or activate bias against the defendant, nor as character or propensity evidence,” according to the text of the law.
In reversing and remanding Venable’s conviction, the court wrote, “It’s uncontested the trial judge did not consider those additional factors before admitting a rap video in Venable’s trial and that the trial, as a result, didn’t comply with the new requirements for admission.”
Rap lyrics have been used by prosecutors in the U.S. for decades as evidence in criminal cases, helping put rappers behind bars. But it wasn’t until lyrics were used in the May 2022 indictment of Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug on gang-related charges that the controversial practice sparked a movement in the music industry to “Protect Black Art,” and fueled a wave of support for legislation seeking to limit the practice.
The California bill is the first legislation that explicitly sets guidelines for the the use of rap lyrics in court to be signed into law in the U.S.
Similar bills that seek to set guidelines that could limit the use of rap lyrics in court have been introduced in states like Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Missouri, and a federal bill, known as the “Rap Act,” was introduced in Congress last year.
Some outline more restrictive guidelines than others, but the bills essentially limit the use of rap lyrics in court by requiring a judge to consider whether there’s a factual link between the lyrics and the alleged crime and whether introducing the song or video could inject racial bias into the case.
Rodriguez said that if Venable’s case comes back to the Superior Court, the DA’s office “would review it,” and consider the new law.
(NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.) — The famed Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) touts itself as “the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world,” but its attendance list this year — and the presidential hopefuls staying away — reflects instead a broader reckoning over the Republican Party’s future.
The gathering, a longtime window into the grassroots of the GOP, in recent years has morphed into a prominent stage for allies of former President Donald Trump and is anticipated to heavily promote his platform this week, including offering him a prime time speaking slot Saturday.
Yet, as other current and potential 2024 presidential candidates flock to Maryland’s National Harbor to address activists at the conference, which began Wednesday, over a half-dozen prospective contenders are instead choosing to keep their distance.
Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, all of whom are either running or have said they are mulling a 2024 bid, are slated to speak at CPAC. Current lawmakers on the schedule include firebrand Reps. Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Former lawmakers include some of those outside the U.S., like former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Kari Lake, the 2022 Republican Arizona gubernatorial nominee and election conspiracy theorist, is also slated to speak.
But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who are seen as possible 2024 hopefuls, are among those staying away — with some opting instead to attend a donor retreat hosted by the anti-tax Club for Growth.
“Ten years ago, [CPAC] was an opportunity to test your messages to conservative leaders and influencers all over the country and to have a big audience get to know you from the podium. And I don’t think that’s where it is today,” said one aide to a possible 2024 candidate. “Last time I was there, it almost felt more like a college crowd than it did a serious thinker crowd.”
CPACs of yesteryear featured notable moments, including Ronald Reagan’s “city upon a hill” speech, and strategists who spoke with ABC News, who asked not to be quoted by name, reminisced about past conferences they said offered a more representative cross-section of Republican voters.
Defenders of the conference counter that CPAC still offers a marketplace of ideas.
“Traditionally you’ve always had your libertarian conservatives, your free market, laissez fair-type of conservatives, you had your hawks and foreign affair guys, you’d have your Rand Paul-libertarian types. Now you have your MAGA types, and then you have your ultra MAGA types. I think CPAC is a classic example of growing pains,” said former Michigan GOP Chair Saul Anuzis, who first attended CPAC in 1978 and has been to almost every conference since.
But given that, the benefits of attending, even for those eyeing a presidential campaign and activist support, could be diminished, the strategists said.
“Now it’s kind of turned into a one-trick pony,” said a source familiar with Pence’s thinking. “It’s not like where it was 20 years ago, where it was conservatives from all over the country who were influencers from all the different states.”
When reached by ABC News to explain DeSantis’ absence from CPAC, an aide said he was instead attending GOP dinners elsewhere.
The person declined to comment further when asked why the Florida governor chose to attend those events, including the Club for Growth retreat, over CPAC.
Candidates who travel to CPAC also have to contend with the prospect of being tied to an event helmed by Matt Schlapp, the conference’s chairman, who is currently mired in controversy.
A former staffer to Herschel Walker’s 2022 Senate bid has alleged that Schlapp “groped” and “fondled” his crotch while he was driving Schlapp back from a bar in Atlanta, according to a report from The Daily Beast. The staffer also filed a lawsuit against Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes, seeking $9.4 million for sexual battery and defamation, according to a report.
A statement from Schlapp’s attorney at the time said the complaint is “false” and the “Schlapps and their legal team are assessing counter lawsuit options.”
The source familiar with Pence’s thinking told ABC News for this story that the decision to not attend was made before the allegations about Schlapp emerged, but Anuzis, the longtime CPAC attendee, said the scandal could be a factor in deciding whether to appear.
“There’ll be some people who I think are taken aback by that and will want to be cautious about participating in one way or the other, and that’s just the way politics works,” he said. “He’s a potential liability at this stage of the game and so it’s safer for some folks who are really worried about that to stay away.”
GOP strategist Doug Heye put it this way: “The most valuable asset any candidate or potential candidate has is their time. And so they’re making very real decisions, whether it’s on this or certainly moving forward on other things, on where they’re spending their time.”
“Obviously, the Club [for Growth, holding its own event] has become a bigger and bigger funder on the Republican side, and if you’re running for president or if you’re running for Senate, that’s an important audience for you to address,” Heye said.
CPAC organizers, meanwhile, brushed off any perceived snubs.
“It’s a missed opportunity for any potential Presidential Candidate to not address the thousands of grassroots activists at CPAC this year. Luckily, CPAC attendees will get to hear from every announced Presidential candidate and over 100 premiere speakers, including over 30 elected officials,” CPAC spokesperson Megan Powers Small told ABC News on Saturday.
And for its part, Trump’s campaign is seizing on the way the former president has shaped CPAC, casting it as a sign of his continued hold on the GOP as he ramps up his third presidential campaign.
“CPAC is the embodiment of the conservative movement as well as the Republican Party. … The conference has always represented the ‘springboard’ for the presidential primary season, and President Trump’s outsized influence at this year’s conference combined with recent polling success shows just how dominant his candidacy is as we approach 2024,” said Trump senior adviser Jason Miller.
Yet should would-be candidates continue to avoid CPAC, operatives said that could change the media perception of the event which could result in fewer headlines.
“One of the things that we’re going to have to see after the fact is, how much coverage does all of this get?” Heye said. “If you’re not getting that, it makes it easier to potentially turn down.”
“It has certainly morphed into more of an event that is just giving rally speeches to a crowd, and that had proven to be popular. But at a certain point, there are diminishing returns,” he added. “There are obviously greater concerns about how effective of a tool this has been and whether or not it’s a political version of the Star Trek convention.”
ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Mahani Teave was 19-years-old when she left her home on Easter Island to pursue a career as a pianist. Now, she’s returned home, bringing instruments with her to spread music across the island and help preserve its culture.
Teave said she was 9-years-old when the island got its first piano.
“It was very exciting when the first piano came. I heard that this teacher was coming to this island and she was bringing her piano,” Teave told “Good Morning America,” adding that she immediately went to search for the teacher. “The next thing I know is I’m playing her piano.”
Teave said she was able to leave the island to further her craft, with the intention of launching her career on a global stage, but something kept calling her home.
“The thing is that there was always this sort of umbilical cord connecting to the island and always pulling somehow, like missing the island so much,” said Teave.
In 2016, Teave opened a sustainable music school called Earthship, created with 2,500 tires, 60,000 cans and bottles, solar panels, tanks to collect rainwater and a garden to provide food.
“We wanted to somehow face the different difficulties that we have on the island. One is the amount of garbage that is being generated here,” said Teave. “So our idea was to be an inspiration to others and somehow propose solutions.”
Today, more than 100 people on the island are able to learn about both music from around the world and the traditional music of the Rapa Nui people. Teave said music has helped people on the island connect more deeply with their heritage.
“The children, when they learn to speak, it’s connected with the intuition,” she said. “That’s the way you preserve the culture. The people who live here can also somehow understand that they are also guardians of this place.”
“I hope they become fulfilled human beings, have empathy to others, care for the environment, to believe also that they can make this world a better place,” Teave added.
Teave — who will begin touring North America in the fall and will release her picture book, “The Girl Who Heard the Music,” in April — likens her mission to an orchestra, aimed at creating harmony around the world.
“If you see an orchestra, it’s the most incredible thing because you have all kinds of people respecting each other, listening to each other, paying attention to the smallest detail,” she said. “And I think that’s how society should work, in harmony somehow.”
(NEW YORK) — Gabby Petito’s family revealed more details in the police encounter over a domestic violence incident, two weeks before he strangled her to death.
Laundrie “seemed like a mental and emotional bully” to a Utah police officer who responded to a domestic call on Aug. 12, 2021, according to an amended lawsuit filed Wednesday night by Petito’s parents.
Moab Officer Eric Pratt responded to a call from a witness who reported seeing Laundrie hitting Petito.
The officers separated the couple for the night but, according to the lawsuit, treated Laundrie like the victim instead of the aggressor.
“Officer Pratt has also admitted, ‘I thought he was an emotional threat to her. I thought he was a mental threat to her.’ Similarly, he says he concluded during the traffic stop that Brian ‘seemed like a mental and emotional bully,'” the amended complaint said.
“Officer Pratt has also colorfully admitted, ‘I know these kind of guys. Brian didn’t get away with anything for being cute. Brian showed more red flags than a Chinese communist rally.'”
Laundrie wasn’t charged and he and Petito kept traveling west on a road trip where police say she was killed.
The family’s amended lawsuit accused Pratt and other officers of failing to properly investigate the incident that preceded Petito’s death and said “Gabby’s murder might have been prevented if the officers had acted properly.”
Between Aug. 27 and Aug. 30, Petito went missing in Wyoming and Laundrie returned to his family’s Florida home on Sept. 1. Petito’s family would report her disappearance on Sept. 11.
Two days after police named Laundrie as a person of interest in Petito’s disappearance, he went missing on Sept 17.
Petito’s body was found on Sept. 19, and an autopsy revealed she died by strangulation.
Police found the Laundrie’s remains inside Carlton Reserve in Florida on Oct. 20 and determined he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI revealed that Laundrie admitted to killing his fiancé.
Petito’s parents filed a lawsuit against Laundrie’s family and a lawsuit against the Moab police department in connection with their daughter’s death.
Attorneys for Christopher and Roberta Laundrie denied the allegations and unsuccessfully sought to dismiss the lawsuit. A jury trial in the case is scheduled to begin in August.
The city of Moab didn’t immediately have a comment about the amended lawsuit.
In November, after the suit was initially filed, the city released a statement saying it was going to defend itself in court and contended “Moab City Police Department officers are not responsible for Gabrielle Petito’s eventual murder.”
The department released a report in January 2022 following an investigation into the officers’ encounter with the couple that found that police made “several unintentional mistakes” responding to the incident, including not issuing a domestic violence citation to Petito after she claimed she hit her boyfriend first, and not taking a statement from a 911 caller who had reported seeing a man slapping a girl.”
In November, Petito’s parents were awarded $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Laundrie’s estate.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been hospitalized in her home state with shingles.
A spokesperson for her office on Thursday confirmed her hospitalization, which was first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle.
“I was diagnosed over the February recess with a case of shingles. I have been hospitalized and am receiving treatment in San Francisco and expect to make a full recovery,” Feinstein said in a statement. “I hope to return to the Senate later this month.”
Shingles is caused by the same virus, varicella-zoster virus, that causes chickenpox and is characterized by a painful rash that develops on the face or body. A person sickened by chickenpox and who recovers can later get shingles when the virus reactivates.
While about one in every three people in the U.S. develops shingles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 1-4% need to be hospitalized.
At 89, Feinstein is the oldest serving member of the Senate. She has not been on Capitol Hill this week.
Her absence is a further blow to the narrow Democratic majority, with Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman out for an indefinite amount of time being treated for depression.
If all Republicans are present and voting next week when the chamber returns, they’ll have a one-vote majority, though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer controls the floor.
Last month, Feinstein announced that she would not run for reelection after her term is up in early 2025 but will continue serving until then and “intend[s] to accomplish as much for California as I can.”
She said then that she remains focused on passing legislation important to Democrats through the end of her term, including curbing gun violence in the face of a string of mass shootings and ameliorating homelessness and wildfires.
After announcing her retirement to her colleagues during a closed-door lunch, Feinstein spoke briefly to reporters, saying, “The time has come.”
California Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have all announced bids to succeed her.
ABC News’ Tal Axelrod, Trish Turner and Nicole Wetsman contributed to this report.
Dimitris Lampropoulos/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(TEMPI, Greece) — A station manager faces manslaughter charges following a deadly high-speed train collision that killed dozens of people in central Greece, his attorney said Thursday.
At least 57 people have been confirmed dead and more than 80 others injured in the head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger train Tuesday night in Tempi, near the city of Larissa, officials said, as the death toll has continued to rise in the wake of the fiery crash.
About 350 people were on board the passenger train, which was traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, according to the Greek rail operator Hellenic Train.
The passenger train was traveling at a speed of about 103 mph when it collided with the freight train, according to the Hellenic Fire Service. Greek state TV reported that the two trains were running on the same line for 12 minutes, or a distance of about 11 miles.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday that the incident was “mainly due to tragic human error.”
The 59-year-old Larissa station manager was arrested following the deadly crash and has since been charged with disruption of public transport safety, manslaughter and bodily injuries by negligence, his lawyer told reporters outside the courthouse Thursday.
The station manager, who could face up to life in prison for the manslaughter charge, has not been publicly identified. He has until Saturday to prepare his defense, his lawyer told reporters.
The station manager reportedly took some responsibility for the disaster but other factors were at play, his lawyer said, according to Reuters. The man was assigned his role a few months ago, according to Greek state media reports.
Supreme Court Prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos on Wednesday called on the investigating Larissa prosecutor to broaden his search in all directions and collect all available evidence to identify everyone responsible for the deadly rail collision, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported.
Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis announced his resignation Wednesday after visiting the crash site in Tempi, saying he felt it was his “duty” to do so “as a minimum sign of respect” to the victims.
The heads of the Hellenic Railways Association and national railway subsidiary ERGOSE also resigned in the wake of the crash, according to Prime Minister Mitsotakis.
Trains were not running anywhere in Greece on Thursday after members of the Federation of Railway Employees decided to strike for 24 hours following the train crash.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Daphne Tolis contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As investigators in the U.S. Virgin Islands await results of an autopsy on former American championship swimmer Jamie Cail, who died after being found unresponsive at her home last month, friends and loved ones are paying tribute to her online, describing her as a “beautiful” person and a “sweet soul.”
In a post on his Facebook page, the 42-year-old Cail’s father, Gary Cail of Maine, issued a two-word statement, writing, “So devastating.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Bureau has opened an investigation into Cail’s death, but have released little information on the progress of the probe.
“The VIPD Criminal Investigations Bureau, Major Crimes Unit, is awaiting the autopsy report to determine the cause of death,” Glen Dratte, a spokesman for the department, said in a statement.
Cail’s boyfriend, whose name was not released by authorities, told detectives he found her just after midnight on Feb. 21 unresponsive on the floor of a residence they shared in St. Johns, according to police. He said he found her after leaving a local bar to go back to the residence to check on her, police said.
The boyfriend said he and a friend took Cail in a private car to the Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic, where efforts to save her life failed, according to police.
Police were notified of the death about 2:39 a.m. on the day she was brought to the hospital, authorities said.
“We are all devastated as a family,” Jessica DeVries, who identified herself as Cail’s cousin, said on a Facebook tribute page for Cail.
DeVries wrote that Cail’s parents “are absolutely shook to the core.”
“We are all mourning together and are unbelievably grateful and blessed by the outpouring of love and uplifting experiences you are sharing with us,” DeVries wrote on the tribute page.
Nicole Thibodeau, who also described herself as Cail’s cousin, added in a Facebook post, “Our hearts are broken. Hard to imagine it’s real.”
Cail was originally from Claremont, New Hampshire, and was a star swimmer for much of her youth, her family told ABC affiliate station WMUR in Manchester.
She was also a member of the University of Maine women’s swim team in the 2000-2001 academic year, according to the school’s alumni association.
As a teenager, Cail was a member of a women’s relay team that won a gold medal at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, according to SwimSwam.com, an online swimming news site.
Lindsay Mintenko, director of USA Swimming, the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United State, released a statement, saying, she and her entire organization “is saddened to hear of Jamie Cail’s passing.”
“Jamie was a proud member of our National Teams in the late 1990s and was a cherished teammate,” Mintenko said. “We extend our condolences to Jamie’s friends and family.”
Other friends and acquaintances of Cail posted tributes to her on the Facebook, describing her as being “a truly a sweet soul” and “a bright light.”
One friend wrote, “Her smile made you feel good even when you weren’t at your best.”
All Time Low‘s Alex Gaskarth and X Ambassadors‘ Sam Harris are covering KISS songs for the soundtrack to the upcoming film Spinning Gold.
As previously reported, Spinning Gold tells the story of Neil Bogart, who founded the label Casablanca Records and helped launch the careers of artists including KISS, Donna Summer, Parliament and Village People. Gaskarth and Harris play KISS members Peter Criss and Paul Stanley, respectively.
On the soundtrack, Gaskarth performs the Criss-sung “Beth,” while Harris takes on “Rock and Roll All Nite” alongside Casey Likes, who’s playing Gene Simmons in the film.
Spinning Gold and its soundtrack will be released March 31.
(WALTERBORO, S.C.) — A jury has found disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty of brutally murdering his wife and younger son at the family’s property in 2021.
The jury reached the verdict after deliberating for nearly three hours Thursday after hearing five weeks of testimony from more than 70 witnesses — including Alex Murdaugh himself, who denied the murders but admitted to lying to investigators and cheating his clients.
He was found guilty on all four counts — two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in the commitment of a violent crime.
The jury visited the family’s estate, Moselle, on Wednesday to see the crime scene ahead of deliberations. The bodies of Margaret Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s estate in June 2021, authorities said.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, who called 911 to report the discovery, was charged with their murders more than a year later. He faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors claim that Alex Murdaugh, who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in the region, killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings.
Meanwhile, the defense has portrayed him as a loving husband and father, and argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them. While testifying, Alex Murdaugh blamed lying to investigators on his addiction to painkillers, which he said caused “paranoid thinking.”
During his nearly four-hour closing argument on Wednesday, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters declared that Alex Murdaugh was the only person “who had the motive, who had the means, who had the opportunity to commit these crimes” and that his “guilty conduct after these crimes betrays him.”
Waters told the jurors that credibility is important and painted Murdaugh as someone good at lying who was used to anticipating how jurors read things.
“This is an individual who was trained to understand how to put together cases, complex cases. He’s been a prosecutor,” said Waters. “He’s given closing arguments to juries before. So, when you have a defendant like that, be thinking about whether or not this individual is constructing defenses and alibis.”
Waters recounted a timeline investigators put together of the three Murdaughs’ cell phones the day of the murders, including a video from Paul Murdaugh’s phone that placed Alex Murdaugh at the kennels minutes before authorities believe the shootings occurred — contradicting earlier statements in which he said he was never at the kennels.
Waters said the last time Alex Murdaugh saw his wife and child alive was the “most important thing” he could have told law enforcement.
“Why in the world would an innocent, reasonable father and husband lie about that and lie about it so early?” Waters said.
The defense argued that the state had failed to meet its burden to prove guilt and that investigators “failed miserably” in the case, deciding immediately that Alex Murdaugh was responsible for killing his wife and son and never looking elsewhere.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin recounted to jurors during his closing argument on Thursday the multiple missed opportunities, pointing out evidence that investigators did not collect including foot imprints, fingerprints and DNA. He also replayed videos in which prosecution witnesses testified about how much Alex Murdaugh loved his wife and son.
“Which brings us to the question, why?” said Griffin, discounting the state’s proposed motive that years of lies and theft were about to catch up to Alex Murdaugh and the murders were a way to divert attention.
“Even if the financial day of reckoning was impending, if it was right there, he would not have killed the people he loved the most in the world,” he said. “There’s no evidence that he would do that.”
Griffin also addressed that Alex Murdaugh admitted to lying to investigators about his alibi the evening of the shootings.
“I probably wouldn’t be sitting over there right now if he did not lie. But he did lie, and he told you he lied,” Griffin told the jurors.”He lied because that’s what addicts do. He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons and he didn’t want any more scrutiny on him.”
In the months following his wife’s and son’s murders, Alex Murdaugh resigned from his law firm, which sued him for allegedly funneling stolen money from clients and the law firm into a fake bank account for years. He also said he entered a rehab facility for opioid addiction.
Alex Murdaugh faces about 100 other charges for allegations ranging from money laundering to staging his own death so his surviving son could cash in on his $10 million life insurance policy. He was also charged for allegedly misappropriating settlement funds in the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who reportedly died after a falling accident at the Murdaugh family home in February 2018.
ABC News’ Janice McDonald contributed to this report.
