The S.C. Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation earlier this 12 months into how police dealt with the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, in accordance with a supply with information of the state of affairs.
A state grand jury, which operates beneath the authority of the State Attorney General’s workplace, is now wanting into the boat crash investigation, stated one other supply with information of the state of affairs. The state grand jury is particularly analyzing whether or not there was obstruction of justice by anybody, the supply stated. State grand juries have multi-county jurisdiction and subpoena powers.
Both sources needed confidentiality as a result of they aren’t licensed to make public statements on the matter.
The boat crash is beneath scrutiny once more following the shooting deaths June 7 of two members of the distinguished Murdaugh household: Paul Murdaugh, 22, and his mom, Maggie.
Paul Murdaugh was awaiting trial on fees that he was intoxicated and driving the boat when it crashed close to Parris Island on Feb. 24, 2019. All six passengers had been thrown from the boat. Five survived. The physique of Mallory Beach, 19, was found days later.
Murdaugh had pleaded not responsible to a few counts of boating beneath the affect, and the case, prosecuted by the Attorney General’s workplace, would doubtless have gone to trial had Murdaugh not been killed.
Last week, the company declined a request from the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers for the case file, regardless that Murdaugh — the one individual charged within the crash — might not be prosecuted. A spokesperson stated his fees can be dropped, however the investigation would stay open.
He didn’t reply questions as to why.
Sources confirmed that the Attorney General’s workplace is once more investigating the crash., although Attorney General spokesperson Robert Kittle stated he couldn’t “confirm or deny the existence of any investigation ever.”
According to the state regulation, state grand juries possess “considerably broader investigative authority than individual county grand juries,” whose jurisdiction is proscribed to the counties through which they’re situated. State grand juries are licensed by regulation to analyze issues involving public corruption and obstruction of justice.
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After information of the nonetheless-open investigation got here to mild, two attorneys related to the boat crash released statements.
“The Beaches have every confidence and are hopeful that the attorney general’s office will continue to investigate and prosecute any improprieties related to any attempts by any member of law enforcement to influence the original criminal investigation related to the boat crash,” Mark Tinsley, a lawyer for the Beach household, stated this week.
Joe McCulloch, a lawyer representing boat passenger Connor Cook, stated he hoped the Attorney General’s Office would “further explore the inexplicable disappearance of important evidence and other lapses by the initial investigating authorities.”
Paul Murdaugh, left, was charged within the boat-crash demise of Mallory Beach in information that rocked the South Carolina Lowcountry in 2019.
Problems in boat crash investigation?
The supply with information of the legal professional common investigation declined to specify which issues the company was particularly .
There had been a quantity of irregularities within the aftermath of the boat crash.
No one was administered sobriety assessments.
In courtroom depositions as half of an ongoing civil case, the passengers stated Paul Murdaugh was intoxicated and driving the boat.
One report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office stated there was confusion over who was driving the boat, however in a separate supplemental report from the company, a passenger interviewed stated Murdaugh was driving.
The Port Royal Police Department first had jurisdiction over the crash. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office assisted. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources took over the investigation, because the crash occurred within the water.
Things bought murkier when the Murdaugh household turned concerned.
Paul Murdaugh got here from a household of three generations of Lowcountry prosecutors and a household regulation agency in Hampton with hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from deadly crash lawsuits.
A 2019 report from the The State newspaper stated that Paul Murdaugh’s father and grandfather — who was a former 14th Circuit Solicitor — confirmed as much as the hospital after the crash and prevented police from interviewing the kids concerned or taking sobriety assessments.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the present 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office and two circuit judges recused themselves from the case after that as a result of of ties to the Murdaugh household.
The murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh have introduced nationwide consideration to the household and renewed curiosity within the boat crash.
There is not any proof at the moment, nor indication from regulation enforcement, that the murders and boat crash are associated.