Law&Crime Sidebar - Johnny Depp's Lawyer Reacts to Buster Murdaugh's 'Defamatory' Media Warnings

Episode Date: March 22, 2023

The Murdaugh murders case shed light on another homicide that took place in South Carolina in 2015. Nineteen-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of the road in Hampton County. Investigators recently ruled Stephen’s death a homicide. Prior to this ruling, internet rumors about Buster Murdaugh and his family’s unfounded involvement in Stephen’s death spread. The surviving Murdaugh recently broke his silence and publicly denounced the claims, stating the media has been issuing “defamatory” statements about him. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber and Sidebar host Angenette Levy discuss the potential for a defamation case with attorney Benjamin Chew, a partner at the Brown Rudnick law firm and the lead attorney who represented Johnny Depp in his high-profile defamation trial against Amber Heard.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. views shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will

keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Should media companies and people be concerned that Buster Murdoch, the sole surviving son of convicted killer Alec Murdoch, will sue them? Sidebar co-host, Anjanette Levy and Johnny Depp's civil lawyer, Ben Chu, come on to discuss. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. There are some interesting things happening right now in the Stephen Smith case.

Now, this is something that we actually dedicated a whole sidebar episode to and the connections of this story to the Alec Murdoch saga. But a quick refresher for everybody out there, 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead on a road in Hampton County, South Carolina. lineback in July of 2015. Now, the coroner initially ruled this case a hit and run. In fact, the manner of death was listed as undetermined, but there were a lot of strange details to indicate that something else might have happened. For instance, there were no visible signs that he had been hit by a car. There was no bumper. There was no broken glass. There were no fragments. Nothing from a part of a car anywhere to be found around the scene. And with Stephen Smith's body, he had severe head trauma, but only very few scratches on his arms and legs. His shoes were still

There was blood that was only found right next his body and not along the road. So the question that came up is, is it possible he was killed in some other way? Was it possible he was killed and placed there? And when I say that, that is when the rumors happened. So first, I should tell you that Stephen Smith was openly gay. And there were rumors, again, what I'm about to say is pure speculation, but I have to report this in order for this to make sense. There were rumors going around that Stephen Smith was in some sort of

relationship with Buster Murdoch, the sole surviving son of convicted killer Alec Murdoch. In fact, that was alluded to in HBO's documentary, Lowcountry, the Murdoch dynasty. Now, the real question, well, now the reason it's believed that the Murdochs were somehow allegedly involved is because Alec Murdoch and his brother actually were at the crime scene, I believe about an hour after the body was moved, a question of why were they there? I mean, these were lawyers, it was a personal injury firm, but still a question of why. they were there. And then Stephen's mother says that even before the family was alerted by the sheriff's office to Stephen's death, Stephen's dad, Joel, gets a call from Randy Murdoch,

offering to investigate the case for them, apparently free of charge. So there's been speculation for a while. And then there was Stevens' mother, who came forward as well. And then I want to go to this big announcement from Stephen's mother, as well as Eric Bland, who is representing her. My partner, Ronnie Richter, and I, received an extraordinary phone call from the chief of sled, Mark Kiel, who told us that it's now the state's official position that Stephen Smith did not die from a highway fatality on July 8, 2015. Do you have any belief, Sandy, about what happened to your son? I believe he was beaten to death. Why? And by whom? that I don't know.

So Sled, the South Carolina law enforcement division, who's handling this investigation now, rules this a homicide. And the family is now working to order that Stephen Smith's body be exhumed as well for further analysis. But several days ago, Buster Murdoch released a statement. And this is part of what he wrote. Quote, I have tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in Stephen Smith's tragic death. that continue to be published in the media as I grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother. I love them so much and I miss them terribly.

These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false. And he goes on to say, I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death and my heart goes out to the Smith family. I am requesting that the media immediately stopped publishing these defamatory comments and rumors about me. So given this news, is there a chance that Buster Murdoch could start? doing media outlets or people over the Stephen Smith story. Well, let me bring in right now the dream team.

I got with me, my Sidebar co-host, Law and Crime correspondent, Angenette Levy. And also joining us is attorney Ben Chu, who knows a thing or two about when words can get someone in trouble. He famously represented actor Johnny Depp in his defamation lawsuit, his defamation trial against actress Amber Heard. This was a trial that we covered extensively on law and crime and here on Sidebar. It's great to see you both. Thank you both for taking the time to come on today.

Thanks, Jesse. Thank you, Jesse. It's an honor to be teamed up with you and Angenet as part of the dream team. Honor to be with Anjanet. Don't know if it's an honor to be with me, but I'll take it nonetheless. Anjanon, I'm going to start with you. I kind of laid out the case. If I missed anything, please, you know, add to it.

But my understanding here is that after this announcement, the reason it's kind of connected now back to Buster Murdoch is didn't Sled say something to say, you know, it's important this is coming out about the homicide of Stephen Smith, especially after the verdict in the Alec Murdoch. trial. Well, the comments that were made didn't relate to Buster specifically. Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter, who represent Sandy Smith now, they were just retained over the last several days, last Friday, to be exact, said that Mark Keel told them that he believes that there's a small circle of people who have information about Stephen Smith's death. And since Alec Murdoch has now been convicted of murdering his wife and son and he is in prison. He's in a maximum security prison sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole, that those people who may have that information may feel more comfortable coming forward now because the Murdox don't

have this so-called stranglehold on the area anymore. That doesn't mean it relates to Buster Murdoch. It doesn't. We know, as you said, that Alec Murdoch and Randy Murdoch showed up at the scene that morning. Alec was a volunteer solicitor. We don't know if that's why he was there. And also, Randy had represented Sandy Smith, Stephen Smith's father, Sandy Smith's husband in a worker's comp claim and had called her, as you said, that morning and said, you know, I'll represent you guys. So we don't know if it relates to Buster at all, but there may be somebody connected to the Murdox possibly. We just don't know because nobody's saying. But Ben, that brings me to you. The fact that Buster has released this statement and specifically used the word defamatory, a legal term of

art. You think he's on the lookout right now for what people print or say? And I have to tell you, I think it's interesting he puts that statement out now after the trial. Jesse, I suspect you're right in that he is looking very carefully scrutinizing what's said and written in the media. But I think Antonet puts her finger on it as usual, which is for any defamation action to proceed or to succeed, the statement has to be of or concerning the plaintiff. So it has to be clear or clearly implied. So I think unless and until someone specifically fingers buster for the murderer or being implicated, I think any action. action by him would be premature because he couldn't show the requisite element that the defamatory statement was of and concerning him as opposed to an amorphous group of people, even a fairly limited group of people. Let's expand upon that, Ben, for a minute. So in other words, this is a big news

update about the fact that this has now been ruled a homicide. If media companies come out and start talking about the backstory between Buster and amplifying the rumors, maybe not. directly implicating them? Are they crossing a line here? I mean, look, right now, we're reporting on this because it's a big situation and this statement, I think, is important. But when could media outlets start crossing the line and be a little bit, they have to be more careful about what they say? And you know what? I'll expand that out, not just the media, but attorneys and other public individuals as well talking about Stephen Smith. Well, I would think about Buster Murdoch. I would say, Jesse, that the media have an additional layer of protection in the fair reporting doctrine.

They can always point to sources. They don't have to vouch for their sources per se. In other words, as you know, it would be a defense for a media outlet to say negligence can be a defense. For lawyers, it's a bit dice here. Lawyers can be, certainly lawyers outside of court can be sued for defamation. not only in their individual capacities, but also as agents of their clients. So lawyers sometimes forget that the second they step out of the courtroom, they're just like everybody else.

So I would say lawyers generally are more vulnerable than media companies. Fox News, of course, is a different situation because there you have personalities on that network who have apparently admitted that what they were saying, they knew that what they were saying is false. And so that, that gives the rare, rare occasion where those media can be found liable for defamation. Yeah, I was wondering when all that was going on, if you were just looking at that and shaking your head and being, oh my gosh, could you not have created a better case? That's totally different. Fox News case is totally different. We won't even get into that. And Jeanette, so when it comes to Ronnie Richter, or it comes to Eric Bland, or it comes to anybody, the friends or family of Stephen Smith, I feel that they've been very careful in their word choice when specifically asked about Buster Murdoch.

What can you tell us about that? They have been. And, you know, it's important to note, Sandy Smith wrote a letter to the FBI back in 2016, I believe. And she outlined some of the things that people in the community had told her. And she did talk about Buster, but you can tell from reading this letter that she is being told these things and she's relaying this to the FBI as she looks for help and investigating what she believed to be a murder, not a hit and run. Now, I think that Eric Bland and Sandy Smith have all said in the last couple of days, and I literally just spoke with Eric Bland, we have no information

that Buster Murdoch is involved in this case. We know what was in the case file and what was reported by people about these rumors that were swirling around. It's a small town. But they've been very careful to say they don't, they don't know. It's just what they've been told and that they don't have any information that Buster was involved. And Sandy even told me on the phone a couple of weeks ago when we were talking that she did not believe that Buster and Stephen had any relationship. They were high school classmates. I think what gets dicey is when people watch these documentaries and I think you have to be really careful and some of these documentaries are very well done but there was one in particular that I watched that came out during the trial and I was

kind of taken aback because I felt they were casting Buster in a really bad light and that it was getting up there to crossing the line and then people watch that and then they they do a news story about it and oh Buster this, Buster that with regard to Stephen Smith and asking all these questions. So you can kind of see how if you're saying, I had nothing to do with this, this was my high school classmate, how you might feel like something really bad is going on and that you are being defamed. I mean, there were people, there was some guy outside the courthouse following Alec Murdoch's sentencing who screamed, busters next. I mean, it's just kind of, and with the internet, it's just, it's fueling the fire. Yeah, it's really troubling, especially when, as I said,

he is the sole surviving son. Think about what he went through. he lost his mother, he lost his brother, and essentially lost his father. And now these are pure speculation and pure rumors. I am curious, though, Ben, as this investigation takes a new turn and maybe, you know, advances as new developments come out, what action could Buster Murdoch take maybe to protect his name, but also the name of his family? And I'm curious because if anything should come out that wrongly implicates his brother or his mother or even his father. Is there any action he can take on behalf of them? Unfortunately, fortunately or unfortunately, the Constitution does not readily allow prior restraints. So clients often come and say, how can I stop somebody who's from defaming me?

And the answer, unfortunately, is usually no, that in light of the First Amendment, the protection of speech is so strong, you essentially have to wait until the speech occurs. and then you can sue for money damages. So there's very little as a prophylactic measure Buster can do to prevent a future speech, even if the future speech is foreseeable. He would have to wait until there's an actionable statement. And then he would have to file a complaint for which the remedy is money damages, which. But just real quick to follow up on that, Ben.

If somebody comes out with something and says something, what he believes is the defamatory against his deceased family members or even his father, can he take an action on their? Well, that's, it's a great question, Jesse. Defamation is a personal action, and it often dies with the victim, as it were. So Buster has to pay attention to any defamatory statements about him as opposed to someone who is deceased. Defamation is an odd tort, and that it is a personal tour. Ben Chu and Jeanette Levy. Always wish we had a little bit more time, but it was great to have you guys here to talk about this really important issue. And we'll see where the case goes next. Thank you both. Thank you so much. Thanks, Jesse. And that's all we have for you here on

Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.