Alex Murdaugh murder trial verdict coming within 3 hours was "shocking," CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman says
A South Carolina jury convicted former lawyer Alex Murdaugh of murdering his wife and son after less than three hours of deliberation on Thursday.
CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman said it was "shocking" that the jury made a decision so quickly. Jurors also did not ask to have any testimony re-read or see any evidence again.
"It was one thing for them to come to a rather quick decision, meaning a day or two, if they were going to find Alex Murdaugh guilty," Klieman said. "It's another thing to come to the decision within three hours."
The most likely explanation, she said, was Murdaugh's decision to take the stand. While testifying, the embattled lawyer admitted that he lied about his whereabouts the night of the murders. The prosecution also had a video from Murdaugh's son's phone that proved that Murdaugh was at the site of the murders, with his wife and son, just minutes before they were killed.
"Instead of a foreperson deciding to go through every piece of evidence, which many forepeople will do, that they really decided to look at a couple pieces of evidence, and I would bet my house that what they really discussed were the lies of Alex Murdaugh and his testimony, which is always the risk of putting a defendant on the witness stand," Klieman said.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who was one of the prosecutors involved in the case, also said Murdaugh's decision to take the stand hurt him.
"I think it hurt him, 100%, I think ultimately it hurt him in the end," Wilson said Friday on "CBS Mornings." "This is a person who has spent his entire career, was very successful, making millions of dollars making closing arguments to a jury, and I guess in the back of his mind he probably believed this is his opportunity to make this final closing argument. He's been manipulating people for decades, lying and manipulating to get his way, and I feel like (he thought) he could do this to a jury, that's probably what he was thinking, but it blew up in his face."
Klieman said Murdaugh's testimony allowed jurors to see Murdaugh confronted with his history of lying.
"One of the things we learn in the trial of cases is that the great engine of truth is cross-examination," Klieman said. "He was put in a position, which he knew he would be put in, of being faced with every single lie, with all of the cheating, with the embezzlement, showing that there was not one person who really knew who he was."
Murdaugh, who was also convicted on two counts of possessing a weapon used in a violent crime, faces at least 30 years in prison and may spend the rest of his life behind bars. He is being sentenced on Friday.
However, the legal battle likely isn't over yet. While the judge in the Murdaugh case dismissed the defense's motion for a mistrial, saying the "evidence of guilt is overwhelming," the defense team may choose to appeal, Klieman said.
"The defense may have grounds for an appeal on a variety of legal issues, but this was also a case that was very, very well tried on both sides," she said.
Murdaugh also faces charges for alleged financial crimes. He has been disbarred.
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Kerry Breen is a news editor and reporter for CBS News. Her reporting focuses on current events, breaking news and substance use.
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