Appeals Court Rejects Alex Murdaugh’s Bid for New Sentence

Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh speaks with his defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, in Beaufort, S.C., on Nov. 17, 2023. James Pollard/AP Photo

A federal appeals court has rejected Alex Murdaugh’s bid for a new sentence.

Murdaugh “knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal” by pleading guilty to multiple counts, including money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said on Oct. 1.

Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 counts for federal financial crimes, and in April, a federal judge sentenced him to 480 months, or 40 years, in prison.

Murdaugh appealed, arguing that the sentence was improperly handed down without a proportionality review analyzing the gravity of the offenses and the harshness of the penalty. That violated his rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, he argued.

Courts have ruled that people who plead guilty retain the right to appeal in some instances, including upon receiving illegal sentences.

U.S. Circuit Judges Stephanie Thacker, Toby Heytens, and Nicole Berner unanimously ruled this week that Murdaugh has not demonstrated why his waiver of an appeal should not apply to his Eighth Amendment claim.

A lawyer representing Murdaugh did not respond to a request for comment.

“We were pleased, but not surprised, by the court’s order,“ Brook Andrews, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. ”When he pleaded guilty, Mr. Murdaugh knowingly waived his right to appeal. The court correctly determined he couldn’t reopen that door. We hope this ruling brings finality for this case and the victims of Mr. Murdaugh’s financial crimes.”

U.S. prosecutors had opposed Murdaugh’s bid for a new sentence, saying he was being punished for financial crimes he committed, not murders for which he has been convicted.

Murdaugh’s attorneys highlighted how prosecutors said during the sentencing hearing that the financial charges were a backstop. Prosecutors said in a brief to the appeals court that the backstop comment referenced how prosecutors wanted him held accountable for financial crimes if his murder convictions were overturned.

The sentence “is just and wholly deserved,” a prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said previously that when Murdaugh entered the plea agreement, he agreed to testify in other cases, but he reneged on that agreement. They called him “one of the most prolific fraudsters this state has ever seen.”

Murdaugh’s attorneys said the allegation was not true.

Murdaugh is serving life in prison for the murders of his wife and one of his sons. He received two consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Murdaugh has denied carrying out the murders. His appeal in that case is ongoing in South Carolina.