Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #16 - Cory Fleming Sentenced To 20 Years for Stealing Satterfield and Pinckney Money + Alex Murdaugh Has a New Trial Date

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

At the end of an epic three-part hearing Thursday, South Carolina Judge Clifton Newman sentenced Alex Murdaugh’s former best friend and co-conspirator Cory Fleming to 20 years in state prison for his role in helping Alex steal millions from the Satterfield and Pinckney families. True Sunlight co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell break down that dramatic hearing, plus they discuss what went down in two other hearings that happened in this same courtroom: One for Alex and one for Russell Laffitte. Liz and Mandy have also spent days dissecting those documents as the accusations against Becky were very serious. Last week, things spiraled into chaos again when Dick and Jim filed a long and shocking motion accusing clerk of Court Becky Hill of jury tampering.  We also spent a lot of time rereading Becky Hill’s book. Did we find concerning things? Yes. Do we think there is a chance of a new trial with this? Not at all.. unless we hear new information that wasn’t included in that motion. Which could happen... We will do a deep dive on all of that in a future episode. But today we need to talk about the very big deal… Cory Fleming was sentenced from 10-20 years (learn why there is such a gap on this episode too). Let's get into it... And just reiterating our big announcement about Blood On Their Hands - Mandy's new book which will be available in book stores near you on November 14th! Learn more or Pre-order your copy at bloodontheirhandsbook.com or lunasharkmedia.com/book. Premium members will also get access to a ton of new content matched with each chapter when the book releases in November.  And don't forget Premium Members get access to searchable case files, written articles with documents, case photos, episode videos and exclusive live experiences with our hosts on lunasharkmedia.com all in one place. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. We all want to drink from the same Cup Of Justice — and it starts with learning about our legal system. By popular demand, Cup of Justice has launched as its own weekly show. Go to cupofjusticepod.com to learn more or click the link in the episode description to get a hot cup of justice wherever you get your podcasts! Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cup-of-justice/id1668668400 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Itp67SQTZEHQGgrX0TYTl?si=39ff6a0cc34140f3 SUNscribe to our free email list to get alerts on bonus episodes, calls to action, new shows and updates. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3KBMJcP And a special thank you to our sponsors: Microdose.com, PELOTON, Simplisafe, and others. Use promo code "MANDY" for a special offer! For current & accurate updates: TrueSunlight.com facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/ Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod Twitter.com/mandymatney Twitter.com/elizfarrell youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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or alternating with Renogie Triple Serum. Try it at a LAMCOM counter today. I don't know when the Murdoch saga will ever end, but today was huge when it comes to accountability and hope for a better justice system in South Carolina. Ultimately, Judge Newman sentenced Cory Fleming to 10 to 20 years in state prison. For what he said was an unimaginable, an unprecedented crime. That is a very big deal. My name is Mani Matney. This is True Sunlight,

a podcast exposing crime and corruption previously known as the Murdock Murders podcast. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production and written with journalist Liz Farrell. [♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Hello, hello! We have a lot to talk about today. I feel like the whole universe shifted, and now we're back in the land of Murdoch madness. Last week, things really spiraled into chaos. When Diggin' Jim filed a long and shocking motion, accusing Clerk of court Becky Hill of jury tampering.

Liz and I have spent days dissecting these documents as the accusations against Becky Hill were very serious. We also spend a lot of time rereading Becky Hill's book. Do we find things that we're concerning? Yes. Do we think there is a chance of a new trial with this? Not at all. Unless we hear new information that wasn't included in that motion, which could happen because sled is investigating these allegations.

We will do a deep dive into all of that in a future episode. Because today, we need to talk about the very big deal. Corey Fleming, with sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison. I say 10 to 20 because he was actually sentenced to 70 years today. He got 50 years total for the satirfield crime, but each sentence will be served concurrently. Meaning, he will only have to serve the length of the longest sentence, and it will satisfy the rest. The longest sentence was 10 years. That sentence will also run concurrently with his federal time, which means Cory will delay going to state prison by 46 months.

The most unexpected part of this was when Judge Newman got to the Pinkney sentence. Cory got a total of 20 years for those crimes, and those will be served concurrently. Again, the longest he got for the pinkney case was 10 years. So he will serve 10 years and it will satisfy the rest of the sentences in this case. But then the judge said Corey would have to serve the second set of 10 years consecutively to the sentence you're currently serving. So the confusing thing is what does that mean?

Does it mean that he serves 10 years and then another 10 years, not accounting for any sentence reductions in early release and things like that? Corey was not currently serving state time when Judge Newman said that. He was currently serving federal time when Judge Newman said that. He was currently serving federal time. So does that mean that the second 10 years starts when Cory is done with his 46 months in federal prison? We don't have clarity on that yet and we are working on it. And we will keep you posted.

But the important thing is that Cory is going away to prison for a very long time, and he didn't get to skip out with just clubbed fed. I want to start with the most important part of the day. What Judge Newman so brilliantly said before he threw the book at Cory Fleming. Well, I guess we've been here listening to argument and presentations and saying this goodness about four hours or more. And prior to that time I was submitted the luminous materials to review. The one thing that I did not review is Judge Gurgles transcript. As much as I admire him and his capabilities as a federal judge and the great work that he does, I don't defer to the federal court system

for in making my decisions. I practice law for 24 years and have been a judge for 23 years. During my time as a prosecutor, I've prosecuted police chiefs, probation officers, professors, and as a judge, a sentence, church, secretaries, preachers, professors, law enforcement, folks. But until I came down to this 14th Circuit in March, I never sentenced a lawyer. So, Judge Newman is saying, one, this isn't federal court and we don't play games here. We do not defer. What a Lime. In 2, Judge Newman is telling us how much experience he has in court, and with all of that

experience, he never sentenced a lawyer until he sentenced Elic Murdoch to life times 2 in March of this year. Now I have a lawyer, co-defendant, colleague of his, facing 195 years in prison. In addition to dealing with and sentencing all those folks, I've certainly dealt with my share of grand larceny cases, people who might steal automobile, facing 10 years in prison, a shoplifter who after the third offense, they're facing 10 years in prison. And I've had my share of sentencing people like the the assailants who were convicted of the crimes that was mentioned and dished out a lot of time to many of them. and dished out a lot of time to many of them. This was the moment I knew things were going downhill fast for Corey Fleming.

Judge Newman was thinking about all of the crimes that he ascends people for and the money at stake. He is saying if a guy got 10 years for stealing one car, the satir field in Pinkmy heist would have added up to hundreds and thousands of cars when you consider all of that money. In this is a part of what makes this crime so unusual. And the other part, it is a lawyer who did this and used the trust of his clients to steal from them.

So this is my second time in these 47 years having to deal with an issue of sentencing a lawyer. And I can not imagine a more devastating, more, anything more precedent. This is unprecedented. This is unimaginable. This is, I think, the greatest crime for a lawyer in the history of the state of South Carolina. Certainly, in the number of years being faced and the impact of the crimes on the citizens of the state. I cannot imagine anyone going to a lawyer in South Carolina at this moment in time and having complete trust in what that lawyer says to them.

Of course, part of my years of practice, I've had clients come to me with, you know, and they come and said that they didn't know how much money they got on their case, that they went to the lawyer's office and the check was turned over and they just asked to sign the check. So they came to me to find out how much money they got in their case. This is totally unprecedented. I cannot, there's no way.

There was a case in this state where the amount of thievery exceeded what's occurred in this case. it. What's occurred in this case? So, Corey was already squirming, as Judge Newman was saying this. His lawyer, Deborah Barbier, had this look of defeat on her face already, and then Newman kept going. And he dropped another clue that he wasn't playing games here and he compared the impact statements that were made on Corey's behalf earlier in the day which we will talk about to a funeral. Now the your presentations on behalf of Mr. Fleming were certainly inspiring. Reminded me of the revival that we had at our church last week. Reminded me of general services that I've had to attend, particularly within the last year.

And I've heard a lot of testimonies so much so that they can go on and on in churches, you know, out of general. And so we ask the people to limit their comments to two minutes because everyone has so many good things the two minutes because everyone has so many good things to say. And most folks reminded me of what was said in federal court, sort of a disregard to the dual sovereignty of the I didn't read Judge Gurgles' transcript. He's in a different system, different sovereignty. I've never deferred to a federal court to guide my sentence as a state court judge.

Now for all of the great things said, but Mr. Fleming, and I've made the funeral reference because it's as if, we're, as if he's no longer with us, as if, you know, we're out of funeral and that he will not have an opportunity to redeem himself. He will not have an opportunity to do good deeds. Okay so when a judge compares your impact statements to a funeral, it's not good. And then it got worse for Corey.

So much worse. Judge Newman started talking about the last time he was at the Bufer County Courthouse just weeks ago for the Christina Pangolang in case. Christina was a special needs child who was left in a hot car to die by her mother and her mother's boyfriend who were on meth at the time. As Judge Newman was telling this horrifying story, most of us were sitting there thinking, huh, I don't know where he is going with this, but it cannot be good for Corey. And it was not.

Then Judge Newman so powerfully reminded the court that the pinkies were vulnerable like that little girl, and they were taken advantage of in the worst way. No amount of stories, saying how good of a person the quarry was and how good quarry was to some, can change that fact. We will talk about those stories in a minute. And so when I'm listening to Mr. Bamberg talk about Mr. Pankney, I can paint me. I'm thinking of that same type of vulnerability that that child had. He was a child at the time, wasn't he?

I used to, like, see, not when you're on. Yeah. And so he placed his trust. And respected and member of the bar, he very respected and member of this community. And I could tell that by the, all of the bar, a very respected member of this community. And I could tell that by all of the folks here. I sometimes say that there isn't very much between any of us, we all have good and we all have bad.

And certainly everyone was here to tell me about all the good and we all have bad and certainly everyone was here to tell me about all the good and Mr. Fleming, but we're dealing with the consequences of the bad and that is bad as it gets in this case for a lawyer who has a prior record. He has no prior convictions, but when you carry on a scheme of over a decade, that's a record. Record that did not result in charges of conviction conviction but a record of his life. And as bad as it was with Mr. Pinkney, then we moved to the satan fields. Again, vulnerable people. So I imagine, and I know that many of the friends and family and colleagues were totally shocked, not at what the good Cory Fleming has done over a period of time, but this Cory Fleming in these cases. And quite frankly, when the people come to me and weren't to lay the burden on me, so Judge, please be lenient.

That's not my responsibility. You know, I believe in justice and mercy. The leniency is not part of Micah. The scripture. Can you imagine being courted and after pleading to more than 23 counts, thinking that you've outsmarted the system by going to federal court quickly and getting a good deal. And then all of a sudden, you're sitting there and state court hearing Judge Newman say the words

leniency is not my responsibility. And then he reminds the court that you're facing a hundred and 95 years in state prison. Then Judge Newman said this. My heart bleeds for you because I have no doubt of the quality of human being that you are as reflected by all of the positive comments that you must suffer the consequences of your actions, and these cases that you're standing

before me for, and tempering justice with mercy. It's my responsibility to impose a sentence. And there are so many, if I were to spend time here now, imposing a sentence on each of these indictments individually, you know, be here for a few hours probably. So suffice it to say with regard to the set of fields and need a clerk here take notes for me on count. 10. This is the moment when I honestly started wondering if Judge Newman was about to sentence

Corey to the rest of his life in prison. If your sentencing requires pen, paper, math, and notes, it is almost never a good thing. And it was not for Corey. I want to talk about Judge Newman for a second because he was the star of the show today and he definitely was not trying to be. This was the first time we were seeing Judge Newman after Dick and Jim's jury tampering press conference. And even though they were careful not to blame Judge Newman in their rants, it was clear that at the heart of though they were careful not to blame Judge Newman in their rants, it was clear

that at the heart of this, they were trying to not so subtly hint that the judge should recuse himself from Alex's cases, and that they're trying to create a world where Alex's cases aren't heard until after Judge Newman retires. Judge Newman, but Judge Newman made it clear Thursday that he does not defer. He does not suffer fools. In more than that, he's just a very wise man. This was never more evident than during one of Corey's impact statements. It was one that really captured the gist of not only Judge Newman's wisdom,

but the cluelessness of the people who spoke on Corey's behalf. Good afternoon, Judge. I am Lisa O'Brien, and I'm beaferred resident born and raised here. I met Corey and his wife and children at the Y. I taught spin there for about 16 years and he and his family actively participated in my classes. In 2011, our oldest son was brutally attacked and beaten and robbed in his home in the middle of the night here in Port Royal. I didn't ask for help, but Corey knew my my anguish, she saw it on my face, and he approached me outside after class and told me that he and his wife would do anything to help us through this process. She went on about all of the great things Cory did for her and why she was there speaking on his behalf.

She cried like so many others about how the crimes did not match the quarry that she knew, and how she would still stand up for quarry flimming, even after he admitted to doing horrible things. I would stand up for quarry in a minute and Eve and his family, because one thing in somebody's life that happens a couple of times does not define them, he is more the whole picture of who he is, is more than this, and this is terrible, but this does not define him. And I just ask for you to consider that. him. And I just asked for you to consider that. But here is where Judge Newman was just purely brilliant. He let her finish speaking. And then he asked her some questions. There were five assailants and they were apprehended the night of the crime. They were caught by Detective Rouge.

And it took about two years to prosecute. They did all plead guilty. How much time, what was their sentence? It ranged from 15 years to 20 years for all five. 15 years to 20 years each. Yes, sir. Well, each person was sentenced with a concurrent. So they were charged with three things. Berglier in the first degree, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The burglarie first degree was 20 years for one individual in the armed robbery, 20 and five for the weapon. And that process matched each person down the line. How old were they? They ranged in ages from 23 was the oldest person. The youngest one was

about a month from turning 17. And what year was that? 2011. Are they still in prison? Yes, sir. The first one will be released next year. All right. Thank you. You're welcome.

We don't know this woman, so we can't say for sure. But it didn't seem like she was aware of what the judge was doing here. It didn't seem like she was picking up on the irony, but we're sure Corey got it and we're sure his lawyer friends and the gallery got it too. Through his questions, Judge Newman was reminding this woman that actions have consequences, that when someone breaks the law and causes harm to someone else, we as a society want to make sure that they get held accountable for it. And we especially want that justice when it involves one of our own.

This woman was standing up for Cory by telling the story of how Cory helped her family try to get justice for the harm caused to them by these assailants. And she did this while simultaneously asking the judge to give Cory mercy, to give Cory less time than the crimes had earned him. Why? Because Cory is one of her own. It was okay to hold those accountable for what was done to her son. But here, in this case that did not affect her, here she wanted a different outcome.

It was the same thing that was said in federal court. These people, as Eric Blan calls them, the country club crowd, told the court about the nice things that Corey had done for them, but they still were very tone deaf. Another woman who knew Corey from the YMCA and who also spoke at his federal hearing, told the court about how Cory helped her with her frozen pipes on Christmas Day. Turns out, she was talking about the frozen pipes in her outdoor shower. We're so glad he got her through that tragedy. There were fewer people who spoke on Cory's behalf today, because according to his lawyer,

they had to leave after lunch for other appointments. But again, there was nothing new here, and that is where Debbie's strategy went so wrong on Thursday. She played the same game against a different team, and it just didn't work. And she seemed to know it. She seemed occasionally flustered and even at one time, accidentally referred to Corey as Mr. Guilty and said a Mr. Fleming. Remember in true sunlight a few episodes ago, after Corey's federal sentencing, when Liz said that we were concerned,

that Debbie might have fairy godmothered, Corey out of the state charges He is said that we were concerned that Debbie might have very God-mothered, Corey out of the state charges, and that our federal government allowed her to do it for so very little in return. Specifically, we were really worried that Debbie was going to rob the South Carolina Attorney General's office of their ability to do their job and prosecute Cory for not only the 18-saturday field charges, but also the five Pinkney charges. And remember, Cory didn't plead to any Pinkney charges in federal court, but he did pay restitution for them and let the

Pinkney speak during his federal sentencing, which we thought was a way of Debbie brilliantly paving a path to clubbed for Corey. Thankfully, we were wrong. We'll be right back. If you know Fintech, you know the category is moving fast. And as your company continues to grow, Visa has innovative solutions that can help you scale and succeed. Need to integrate payments?

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Witten and Lublin employment lawyers, bad bosses hate us, employees love us. Though we will give credit for getting so much closer to the finish line than Ellic and Russell's attorneys did and ever will, she almost did it. But she was out of moves. Debbie ended up focusing a lot of her game Thursday on emphasizing that Corey had already been sentenced in federal court, and by the way, can we just say one thing? Shame on the federal government for allowing this obvious bypassing of state accountability

in favor of softening the landing for these guys. Shame on every single one of them. The plan was clearly twofold. The first step was to get a nice reduction of Corey's 23 state charges in a tight little package of one charge, for which he would serve very little time. The second step was to get the state to drop its charges, or in lieu of that. Have Cory throw himself at the mercy of the court while reminding the court that he has already been sentenced for these crimes. While Cretan argued that the state had the right to hold someone accountable for bringing its laws, Debbie argued that the state and federal government

want the same thing. I know that the South Carolina Attorney General's Office and the United States Attorney's Office share the exact same goals. And those, the primary goals of those offices. Our number one to protect the public. And number two to promote respect for the rule of law. And number three to defer and deter future misconduct. And also, in the end, to ensure that a punishment that is sufficient,

but not greater than necessary, is imposed. And I submit to your honor that all of these goals to ensure that a punishment that is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, is imposed. And I submit to your honor that all of these goals are accomplished in a concurrent sentence. No individual should be forced to serve two separate sentences for the exact same ill-equal conduct. And I want to address a matter that Mr. Bamberg and Mr. Waters of both raised regarding the PINK-NIE matter. The PINK-NIE matter was fully included in the state sentence, and Judge Gurgle made that extremely clear.

It was included in the law's calculations. They were notified under the mandatory victims act. The were the loss amounts were included in the last calculations. The restitution was ordered on the pink knee case. Misspankney and Mr. Bamberg were were available to speak at the sentencing. They attended all the hearings that I'm aware of and they've been given treatment just as any other victim in front of court. So that matter has been heard and it hasn't litigated because Mr. Fleming acknowledged his guilt in those matters. So this idea that justice hasn't been served in that case, I take issue with that because it has. I mean, you don't order restitution in a case unless there's findings made and unless they are considered victims in the case and unless that conduct was folded into the sentence created by Judge Gurgle. And so, Your Honor, what I would submit

is that the desire to pursue dual prosecutions, it's within the discretion of these prosecuting bodies. But it also, that desire still has to be tempered by the rule of law. And justice, I would submit, is not served for South Carolinians or defendants by obtaining multiple convictions in a profile case in requiring a man to serve two separate sentences for the same offenses. And that, your honor, is consistent with the rule of law. I would submit your honor that, and there's been a lot of talk about this involves a state license, and a state court system, and state judges, and I don't disagree with any of that. Of course it does.

I mean, that's why we're here because Mr. Fleming has admitted guilt in that. But when you look to, you know, who the, the United States attorney's office and the attorney general's office, who they serve, they serve the public. And it's not two separate publics, it is the public. But here's the thing, they don't have the same goals. In fact, today proved to us that federal court

was exactly what we thought it was, a soft place to land for the good ol' boy criminals. Attorney's Eric Bland and Justin Bamberg both pointed this out in their individually remarkable impact statements on behalf of the satir fields in the pinkies. Now unlike federal court, Eric and Justin were given time and space to say what they needed to say. Both of them made three very crucial points. One, that there were real victims in these crimes. Two, the Corey did not accept

full responsibility until he saw an easy out with the feds. And three, this isn't federal court, it's state court for state crimes. And if we want to send a message so that no other lawyer ever does this again, leniency and state court is not the answer. Here's Eric. He fought these charges. He wrote a letter to the Georgia board and Now unlike our South Carolina border proceedings, the Georgia Bar proceedings are open. I was a complaining party, because whenever I bring claim

against the lawyer, for mathese and so that, it's my duty to notify bar, and so I notify South Carolina bar and do it by Georgia bar. So I'm part of the process in Georgia. They want to hear from the complain party. So when Mr. Fleming filed his response to the George Barter complaint, I got it. It was a 57 page response that he did under a short

teletruth, just like he's going to do when he stands before you today. You know what he told the judge, Barbell? I was a victim of Alex Murdall's death. I had no idea what he was doing. I was just like everybody else. I didn't understand how to do this structure like a flood of forged.

Mr. Waters shared with you that February 2017 letter. It was crystal clear and you'd already done structures, but even if you haven't done structures, it says you can never get to check as the settling plane of lawyer. It's gotta go from the paying insurance company to the annuity insurance company that's gonna issue the structure.

Here they got the checks. Like Mr. Wörter said, Fords doesn't get money. They're a broker. You don't send money to Fords. He goes to an insurance company. But in that 57-page response, he says, I am. No idea what was going on. He didn't, you know what he said? I stole from my law partners. I didn't steal from the clients. When I stole those three checks of the $9,500,

the $8,500, the $9,000, I was stealing from my law partners. By the way, Judge, you read the rules of professional condo. We don't have a license to steal from our law partners, either. That's another no-no. So, I know you're a just judge. I watched you. I've watched you your entire career. I know how much you care about what our profession.

I certainly know how much you care about our state. And this whole murder, Fleming, Lafitte de Backel has stained our state. For Eric, it felt like this speech had been building up at the back of his rope for years. It was a powerful moment hearing it all come out. And I'm gonna leave with saying one thing, the hand of one is the hand of all. And Mr. Fleming is pleading guilty to every single charge, which means every single element of every single crime and every single fact that Mr. Waters has announced for the basis of those. So I ask you to do your duty.

To look at this as these are state court independent charges, not to look at what he's been sentenced to federal court, so that kind of takes care of it. These are claims that our citizens, the state of South Carolina, brought through a grand jury advanced with our dollars through the South Carolina in terms of general.

And I'm confident in the end, at the end, you will give that proportionate just sense that deals with retribution to punish Mr. Fleming appropriately, but not overly so. To tell me, and every other lawyer lawyer you cannot steal from your clients your duties are to your clients not to yourself Thank you. I have to say I got Tiri I'd watching both Eric and Justin in court today I thought back to two years ago this month when I first met Eric Bland and was blown away by his energy.

And I thought back to the moment my friend Justin, who I knew as a local reporter, called me to tell me he was officially in the game of the Murdoch madness, representing one of Alex financial victims. I felt like a proud little sister listening to my big brothers fight for good injustice today. The way they both gave Tony Satterfield a nod of confidence and pride. When he spoke and for gay Cory, it was beautiful. In a reminder of how so many of us have gotten so close through these tragedies, and sometimes how good people prevail. Here is Justin explaining to Judge Newman He could have said to this woman, I am so sorry for what you went through. I want to own up to the fact that I took some of your money.

No, he didn't. In fact, they took the money and they went to the Colorful Series to watch baseball. Meanwhile, this woman is still recovering. She's still dealing with the lost person. And no one cared. And I've said this before, Ms. Pantney, myself, the Pantney family, no one, everyone believed in Mr. Fleming regrets everything that he did, not just at the end, but to the Southfield family over a decade later. Nobody doubts that he regrets it. It's hard to not regret your decisions when you're sitting there. I think everybody regrets that itself, complete social tasks.

We do not believe that he is more school for what he did. And there is a difference between hybrid, red, and car, and yellow, and true remorse for what I did to you. When we hear these numbers, you're on. And we hear numbers like half a million dollars. We hear numbers like three million dollars. We hear about total amount of money stolen. We have to remember that where we come from and myself is pinky that I'm talking about geographically. Where we live.

We're eight thousand dollar chip. 96 hundred dollar chip. Yes, for privilege attorneys and others who either have been very blessed or very successful or work very hard to get there, it may not sound like a lot of money when you hear about $4 million. Minimal wage in our state, there 15,850 dollars if you're making minimal wage that's how much you earn working for a year. Some of the money that was spent in the law was she would have to work over half a year to earn and then pay taxes on it. This is not a small amount of money. This is not even a big deal of trouble. And again, Justin made sure he got it on the record. The Corey saw the federal court as an opportunity for him. And let me be clear here, the feds let him have that opportunity.

Well, you're on a mutual system. And I go, much of what Eric plans to do, that this was a black eye. To its heart, it was a black eye. To the legal professional, it was a black eye to our state. But it was a dagger in the heart of the clients who trusted their orders. Mr. Furman knew he wasn't supposed to be rich. We firmly believe, and I've had to give that conversation

to this being about this. It wasn't until the federal government came, and now there was this window of opportunity to possibly serve a sentence in federal court that Mr. Fleming was then willing to say, yes, I did, I was positive. Up to that, there was no yes for spending out of the group. That wasn't represented to the OEC ethics as you heard or something like that. It was an odd and odd night and one of the most difficult things for Miss Pintini and every other victim is having to know that

you are truly a victim of bad acts from bad actors and then you're those same bad actors who took bad acts saying that they're a victim. It's demeaning, it reopens old wounds and it's highly offensive and in the world of white collar, crime are on. If we talk about Wall Street, it's not necessarily people stealing your money and you willingly give it to the investment bank. No one willingly gave Cory Flin and their money to be deceived. And Craton Waters was on fire Thursday as well. Big Craton energy all day. He knows this case like the back of his hand.

Like he did a few weeks ago in Cory's plea hearing, Craton used this amazing speeding analogy to show the judge existing in the city. And like he did a few weeks ago in Cory's plea hearing, Creighton used this amazing speeding analogy to show the judge exactly what Cory did and why punishing him in federal court is just not enough. And you might hear essentially that the state, in general, the state law enforcement division, are being unreasonable because we refuse to accept and just check the box that Mr. Fleming was only doing 58 instead

insisting because of the hard work that was done by all these folks to really dig deep in uncover the truth. The truth matters, you're on the truth about what happened to the system matters. The fact that he was doing 90 miles an hour matters. It matters. It's not enough to just say I did 58 and we say, okay, that's fine, we're done here. What really happened matters when it affects the integrity of the system, when it was abuse of the system of the very courtroom in which we are in right now. Your honor. Your Honor, independent accountability for his abuse of his state law licenses, state court

actions is warranted in this case. Consecutive time is warranted. Consecutive time is warranted for the extent of the reality of what Mr. Fulhamic did to the Satterfields exposed in this courtroom from 90 miles an hour, independent accountability is warning for that, above and beyond whatever was before. I'll give Mr. Fulhamic credit for pleading guilty, but he doesn't get credit for the delta, for the difference between 58 and 90 miles

now. And his inability and refusal to admit to that, to only admitting to the most mitigating version of events that he can no longer deny because he's caught red handed, that only should get so much credit. You're honoring. There needs to be independent accountability for the truth of what happened to the sacrifields above and beyond any other proceeding that has nothing to do with what happened here or what this proceeding.

Independent accountability is warranted for panel opinion. Who as Mr. Bamberg said, has convictions relating to the conduct victimizing her in this court. And while you may hear that in another proceeding, they roll that into a PSR, that's not the same thing. And we don't even get them. I don't know it's in that thing. It doesn't matter, though, a lawyer should not get one stop shopping for victimizing multiple

clients over the course of the decade. It's not by one get one stop shopping for victimizing multiple clients over the course of a decade. It's not by one get one free. There should be independent accountability here today consecutive accountability from this painting. He should not get by one get one free. An independent accountability is again warranted for the state judicial system itself. They must defend itself and have its own independent accountability and not allow someone when the state is unhappy with 58 miles an hour to just make a deal and that be the end of it. Ask your honor or consecutive sinencing. Ask your honor that even if you run sinencing

for the satir field's concurrent, do anything else that happened? That any sentence for the Pignis be consecutive? Ask your honor not to let Mr. Fleming who I think we have established does not completely come clean with the reality of his behavior and only admitted to what he's in rebellion to now because he got caught right handed. During his closing, Creighton Waters threw some serious shade at the feds. He referred to federal court as Down the Street. As if Cory was able to just drop down the street and strike a deal to bypass accountability here in South Carolina.

It was a big deal. He said this on record as the struggle between the state and the feds continues in Murdochland. This was the AG's office saying in a big way, look what happens when you all get these cases. You make deals with the bad guys and where is the accountability in that. And so when he talks about accepting responsibility, he's not accepting true responsibility. And that is why there needs to be accountability and state

clear. That is why that when the state said hold on Mr. Fleming that doesn't fit with the facts. That doesn't fit with common sense. That doesn't fit with all we know about how this went down. Mr. Fleming and we said give us some more information. Give us some more time. Mr. Fleming instead went down the street and made a deal to just bypass accountability in this courtroom, which this is where the affront occurred. Mr. Fulbright, Mr. Barbie went in great detail. And Mr. Fleming said it too about how he played guilty in federal court with no deals. No deals.

And he talks about how the paintings were considered in the presenancing work work, which of course the state doesn't have. We don't know what was in that. But what he leaves out when they make this great presentation to you how they play with no deals and therefore that's enough. Just let the feds handle. We just thunder knows at the state, thunder knows at our obligations in the agreement we signed in Whitown district. What he leaves out is, is that he was allowed to plea to a single lesser offense, one charge, zero to five years.

If you've done one charge of what it should have been, that's a 20 year offense. And even Judge Gurgle in the plea transcript on page 75, when they were trying to say, well, there's no deals. We didn't do a substantial or downward departure says, well, in some ways, you've given him a 5K, which is a downward departure motion, by allowing him to plead to the less serious offense.

One charge for zero to five years is not enough, you're on. It's not enough for the reasons that I expressed you. It's not enough because of the difference between what was admitted to in federal court and what we have exposed here today. It's not enough because of the difference that today is where there's the first real accountability, a real conviction for handling. And it's not enough because the state judicial system needs it's say for those who abuse. I said before, a lawyer should not have a lead sentence for the satir fields and a consecutive lead sentence for the pigs.

And that is how the state showed the feds how it is done. That is how craten waters, Justin Bamberg, Eric Blan and so many others work together to get Cory Fleming, a sentence that would send a message to other lawyers in South Carolina who think that they are above the law. That 20-year sentence should make a lot of bad people in the low country really nervous. And that is a big deal. We'll be right back. Are your eyes tired from all the watching, scrolling, and swiping. Escalor Eyes and Lenses are designed to reduce visual fatigue

from digital screens and filter blue violet lights. Relax and protect your eyes with eyes and lenses by Escalor. Ask your optician or learn more at escalor.ca. This episode is brought to you by Canada Post. Canada Post is redefining delivery, with their new state-of-the-art Albert Jackson Processing Center. The largest zero-carbon building of its kind in Canada, with the ability to process up to 1 million packages a day. It's the heartbeat of their network, and its pulse will be felt by every business they proudly serve. They're building a stronger, faster, greener candidate post, designed to fuel the growth of

e-commerce and to deliver more for Canadian businesses. If any of us had any questions about whether Judge Newman had an opinion on Dick and Jim's latest efforts to get Ellic a new trial, or if he had any thoughts on the continued efforts of Russell's twin flame attorneys, Todd Rutherford and Mark Moore to delay Russell's trial until never, we all got that answer within 30 or so seconds of the hearing starting on Thursday. Crank Waters began by introducing the first matter of business. Why Russell LaFeed was here today? Immediately, Judge Newman corrected him.

We're here to stop the case and have to discuss it. Probably, I would have been here to discuss the trial date to settle the trial date. This is when we knew that judge Newman was not there to indulge in idiot behavior. Now, what is idiot behavior? I'm sure we all have our own definitions. For today, it's lawyers whose main objective it is to delay proceedings by any means necessary. Not by citing caselo or pointing to the rules of procedure or the rules of evidence, but by talking loudly with unernd confidence and using shell game arguments. Picture your kids arguing with you over bedtime.

Now picture yourself paying them hundreds of dollars an hour to do that. That's what it was like. So with floor judge Newman entered the room. Russell appeared to be engaged in, to quote Dick Harpullian from the murder trial when describing Paul Murdoch's Snapchat video by the kennels, convivial conversation with Todd. Russell even appeared to be smiling, but when the hearing started, all that changed. Russell crossed his arms and he looked stern.

Mark more crossed his arms and looked uncomfortable and Todd sat back with the heir of a man who can make money simply by saying, oh no, sorry, can't do that on that date because I'm a state legislator. While Crichton read Russell's state charges into the record, Russell helped himself to the Gordhaus pictures that were at his table and appeared to be downing water

just so he'd have something to do with his hands. He was there for a scheduling hearing so what would he be so nervous about, right? He's clearly dealt with worse. Well today was the first day that we know of, that he'd be seeing Alec in person since all this started. Alec is the whole reason Russell is in this mass. He's the whole reason Russell is headed to Florida to start his seven-year federal prison sentence next Thursday. Let's pause here for a second because

this is kind of funny. Reporter Michael DeWitt tweeted the day before the trial that these hearings in Bifur County Courthouse would be a criminal reunion of sorts, which is so true. This was going to be a reunion. And even though we were sort of dreading this hearing because we were prepared to be disappointed on some level because the federal sentencing hearings were so infuriating, this reunion was at least something to look forward to. How would these guys act when they saw each other? The crime boss, Elik, would be in the same spot as two of his co-conspirators, one of them in the same room at the same time. Okay, back to what was happening.

Within a minute or so of Mark Moore speaking, Judge Newman stopped him. Judge Newman was like, nope, let's put a pause on you. Mark's argument was that they couldn't schedule a trial date now because Russell still hadn't heard from the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on his motion to appeal his federal conviction. I'm just telling you, because they have some relationship to the drug. I have my... What is the relationship? Mark told the judge the relationship is that the evidence is mostly the same and that Alex financial crimes haven't been severed from Russell's, meaning that what happens

in Alex's trial could have an effect on Russell's trial. Judge Newman wasn't having that either. Why are I have to think that this isn't our work? We got to set this case aside and proceed with Mr. Murdoch's case, then we'll come back to this case. So I just said yes. You heard that right? Judge Newman was like, yeah, that's what I just said. This was the second time that we realized that he was not in the kind of soft and generous and perhaps tolerant mood that Cory's defense was likely hoping for, and it certainly didn't

help that he had Russell's shenanigans and Elish shenanigans to deal with beforehand. Instead of starting with Russell's tap dancing, we were going to start with ELEC's now. Russell got up and went to sit on the bench behind the defense table, and ELEC's team took their place. Then, Dick's paralegal Holly came over and seemed to whisper something in Todd's ear. He immediately hopped up. Just as Dick was saying, bring in Mr. Murdock. Todd got Russell out of there, kind of. He ended up seeing Russell in that frenzy of a half second on the aisle at the front right by where Ellic was going to walk. It's hard to tell if the two looked each other in the eyes. Russell did keep his head up though.

Then he sat about 12 feet away from Elik, while Elik's attorneys went scorched earth on Judge Newman. Which reminds me, the most horrifying part of today, toward the beginning of the very long hearing Thursday. Elik Murdoch was shuffled into court wearing his prison pajamas. This was the first time we have seen Elik Murdoch in state court since the trial in March. He looked like prison Elik, short hair, cold face, Cold Face, Blank Stair, Orange Fit. As he was escorted to the defense chair, he walked past Russell LaFite and his newly appointed

attorney, State Representative Todd Rutherford. You know, that Todd Rutherford, the one who made the deal that got murderer drawed price out of prison and sent the state into a very costly cleanup mode scrambling to find him, which they eventually did. As Alec waddled his way to his seat, Representative Rutherford made it a point to stand up in Shake Alec's hand. Rutherford actually smiled at Elik. He was bright eyed in bushy tail, almost fan-girling. It was like he was meeting Taylor Swift, but he was Elik Murdoch.

Elik Murdoch, the man convicted of murdering his family, the man accused of stealing millions from the most vulnerable. The man who used and abused the justice system of South Carolina. The one that Todd Rutherford works for. Actions speak louder than words. In this action shook the building for me. And confirmed everything I ever suspected about Todd Rutherford. As a taxpayer of South Carolina, I was horrified to see this man who serves on the committee to elect judges in our state, offer a friendly handshake to a convicted murderer.

Todd Rutherford is one of the most powerful Democrats in the state of South Carolina. He has been a member of the South Carolina House since the 1990s and currently serves as the House Minority Leader. He has his own law firm, which specializes in criminal defense work. Again, fine.

We know that lawmakers have to make a living somewhere. What isn't fine is seeing how many times these two worlds collide for these guys and how the public almost always loses. No matter what anyone says, no matter how many times these guys try to convince the public that lawyers lawmakers don't have a special in with the justice system. We know that it's not true because we see that it is not true. Over and over, we see what is happening. Rutherford, standing up to shake hands with Elik Murdock tells us just how skewed our system is.

It also raises questions about whether Todd Stunt with your rod price could have been some sort of chest move for Elik or Russell, meaning let's see if we can use this new law to get a murderer out of prison early without anyone noticing. But mostly, this is a politician in front of the world saying I can shake hands with this murderer who still has more power than the voters of South Carolina and I don't care what they think. It shows that Elik Murdoch still has power and guys like Todd Rutherford are still going to stick with them even after a murder conviction. Because after all, South Carolina is the land of no consequences. And speaking of the land of no consequences, Dick was there prepared to give the full Harpoolean experience.

The objective was to delay Alex Trial on the financial crimes until, again, never, or at least until Judge Newman retired. Here's how that went. First, Crankin' Red Alex charges into the record. It took a full two minutes and 41 seconds to do that. He told the court that Alex cases remain a priority and that the satirical case was chief among those. He also noted that the state was prepared to try these cases last April, meaning he made sure to remind Judge Newman

that this wasn't their first visit to the Litz-Delay Everything Dumbos circus. Then it was Dick's turn to speak. The audio was pretty bad at this point, so I'll just paraphrase what was said. Dick was like, we have a bunch of objections. What's the rush on this? Also, our impression is that you're retiring January 1st.

Judge Newman was like, hmm, tell me about this impression of yours. Then Dick basically said, oh, if I got that wrong, I apologize. And he immediately went into plan B. Okay, retirement thing didn't work. So now I'll tell him about how busy Jim and I are through the end of the year.

Dick told the court about how he has the oldest civil case in Lexington County that scheduled for October. He made sure to let everyone know this case was about the deaths of five children, probably in the hopes of earning some nobility points and sympathy from the judge. Side note, by the way, these kids were killed by their father. Dic is representing the mother and is suing the state's department of social services. Our state senator has been locked in an eight-year battle to get a big payday from a state agency, which would be great if it resulted in meaningful change to the system.

But is that what it's about? Sorry, but this is a fair question. Then Dick is this. This case was probably finished six months ago. It clearly, I don't think anyone would dispute this, had moral publicity. In any case, in the history of this state, and maybe the country, on national television every day, for six weeks, the motions are, motions hearing recovered, and they're here again today.

It has been podcasted and blogged. You know, we got my captures out there who are gritting their 15 minutes and other thunder nails flying more of their 15 minutes of vain and continue to talk about this. Would you look at this guy? Now we are not so vain as to think this song is about us because who's that sitting next to Dick? Why it's Jim Griffin, the millionth place Murdoch podcaster who joined the fray after the murder trial.

After the 15 minutes were supposed to be over by Dick Harputley's estimation. And oh, what's that there? Oh, it's the motion that was probably written by Phil Barber and Maggie Fox, but that Dick and Jim are taking credit for asking for everyone to do all of this again with another trial. I'd like to again quote Dick when he left the Collatin County Courthouse after Alex sentencing and saw that there was no big gathering of media waiting for him and his team,

like there was for the Attorney General's Office. Hey, where did everybody go? It's all so wild. After ranting about podcasters, Dick then decided to go for broke with Judge Newman, who was not having it. I understand one of the solutions to massive pre-crop was a change of value. And you're honored to try to try this case in less than a year after the verdict came in. In the other case, don't we need to let it calm down?

But where you gonna get it, Jerry? Mars? I mean, there's no good ideas. Alendale, Orange, Board, Buford, Colleton. You're right, and I have to. Appreciate your sense of humor. Alendale, Orange Boy, Buford, Collatin, Hampton. There's not a sense of humor. We have many counties where these indictments were issued. I'm not presuming that a jury cannot be in paddled

just as the trial took place on Collatin County. There is no motion to change your view. I'm not presuming any prejudice in the test is not based on speculation. The test is criminal, not a jury can be a panel. The first after I tend to get a jury, according to the law. What I'm saying is, I think it's being exercised. According to the law, we'd like to interrupt this whining with a fun fact. Of the 18 people who were chosen for Alex Murder Childjury, seven of them said they had never heard of the case, and every juror was asked whether they could put aside any opinions

they might have to impartially look at the evidence presented to them. Next, Dick brought up the elephant in the room and Judge Newman had a response for him. And that, I'm afraid, is what happened on that. Here's the promotion for a new trial that has covered evidence. The current government filed a response from all. We believe the court will be able to order and make, before I show you court judge judge to determine whether or not the court record hammered with that jerk. And that is very good.

And so we would go further with another trial while that matter ended, while that matter been wiggied. You called another color in the county. We are honored that the idea that somehow something happens in Calden County doesn't affect what happens in New York County. I mean, just say the national case, do they not have television now in the Ohio Valley? I don't know. I have a internet.

I don't know. What's the hurry? That's another one. What is the hurry? He's pretty in federal court next Thursday. Every allegation the state has made. The victims will have their day in court. We put the He's pretty incredible. Next Thursday, every allegation to stay in May, the victims will have their day in court.

We plead, you know, we plead to the state to stay in this, I'm doing two life sentences of that world. This is another attempt to get more publicity to make us another natural case. And I'm offended with the attorney general. He's got many other cases, much older than this, but it's right that court TV won't be there for him. This is another effort and creating a national spectacle. Ooh, I have an idea. Maybe Dick and Jim can discuss how offended they are by this being a national trial with court TV cameras when they're taking their flight down the Florida to appear in front of true crime fans at CrimeCon.

Next Dick seemed to accuse Judge Newman of being biased. Now, your honor has some things to say about Mr. Murrider's innocent. Obviously, believe you's guilty of that. You obviously didn't have the dirty family guilty of that. But I would ask you to put those feelings aside and give us a chance to really make this very capricant issue. So, wow, Mr. Grimman and I have time. If there is more than me to try to make a prepare for those problems, which we won't be

in our calendar, we'll be followed. And third thing is why, then, the Attorney General puts a distance between the conviction in the murder case and the trial, if there has to be a trial, on the financial case. I'm a little bit worried about this. I'm sure we can do it, but why? Why? What is the authority?" He always has to throw in there that he used to be a prosecutor and therefore knows better, I guess.

Next up was Craton with Words of Beauty. He addressed the fact that lawyers are just going to have to suck it up because the world is different now. And he put on the record the thing we all know is happening. Dickigg and Jim are using the federal government as a get out of South Carolina prison free card. Ellic is planning to plead guilty next Thursday in federal court. And like we saw with Cory's case, this is all about getting Ellic into federal prison, where the majority of the population looks like him and out of state prison where the majority of the population does not. We are in 2023.

The reality of the media environment is what it is. And then, let's work on, say, the judicial system just can't function because of publicity that just leaves nothing left to happen. This is just the reality that we live in. So, what the defense can do is try to essentially run downstream to the federal authorities and bypass the accountability that needs to happen and state court will regret to solve the abuse of a state oil license on this court, on the other courtrooms from the other counties

that I named. The state judiciary needs the state judicial system needs to answer for this very allegations of this assault. And that's why this is important. That's why this case has priority. And that's why the state seeks to move it forward. This got Dick fired up. He shifted gears and went for a classic tactic.

He put on his best outrage voice and then ranted about something that the defense had requested in the first place and was granted. This wasn't his argument a year ago when he called the murder case for the murder case was not an actor, the financial rise.

And it wasn't that important now all of a sudden is the most important thing in the world. I would not suggest your honor that he pay a decision to try to work in case for not the financial crime. And if we're so, we're pretty good in the position. You know, a world we're at today. Your honor, that is absolutely not what happened.

I didn't say I was happy to travel travel white power cases first. It was the defense's motion for a speedy trial. And Mr. Halterley and his waiver of his legislative community was what led to the murder cases being done for. It was the defense that wanted to travel for a case. They got a question speedy trial and the state said, okay, let's do it. Can you imagine a world in which you either get caught and lie on national television, or you're just simply so used to arguing whatever side of an issue you need to in the moment that you forget the truth? You get called out and corrected on the facts,

and then you turn it around on the other person and blame them for letting you do the thing in the first place. Like I said earlier, it's like arguing with kids about their bedtimes with these guys. After this exchange, Judge Newman was like, okay, so I'll give you three bedtime choices and you get to say which one you want. Dick and Jim chose November 27th for Alex Financial trial. Then they discussed when do your motions. Crane pointed out that Veterans Day was going to be observed on November 10th of this year. And Ian came dick with the insults about state employees not wanting to work on Veterans Day and the whining about his wife. Oh my God. I know the state government people are enjoying this highly. But we're going to have to rearrange a major personal idea to deal with this.

I plan to take thanksgiving and visit my wife or Z. That ain't happened, haven't we? Got to call when I leave here to tell us. So perhaps we'll have to work better today. I'm sorry. Yeah. I would say these people nice and big work just as hard as they did when you're honest all that. I just want to point out how stale it is for lawyers to still be making wife jokes in court at this point. It's 2023.

Your wife is a lawyer too, and the ambassador of Sylvia Dick. She's not some stereotype of a battle ax who's always giving you grief about coming home late on pot roast night. After this, Judge Newman asked Dick and Jim and Cretan if there was anything else to discuss about Elic and then Mark Moore jumped up. in this case. No, you're not in this case, are you? Yes, you got her. But we're coming to you next. I don't. Just chart within the other case.

He charts, which I'm not calling his chart. So we're going to use this to my honor. It's not this game. He's in the case. He's calling the state, he murder, state, you're not murder. Yeah, state, you're murder in a sad or feel a case. Unless you want to voluntarily join in.

These men really are children. After Elic left the room, it was Russell's turn again, and it was a mess. And it's a mess we're going to spare you. Here's what you need to know about this. Russell was convicted in November of last year Almost a full year ago and he has remained for all practical purposes free in April Todd joined Russell's team and claimed he needed to get caught up on things So the judge postponed setting a date for the state trial then in August they said they needed more time

So the judge said fine. We'll talk about this in September. And here we are in September. And Todd and Mark are saying that they need more time because a, they're waiting on the appeal, b, Russell has been assigned to a Florida prison and they need to be able to meet with their client to prepare for the state case and c. I have a red dress transfer. You have a red dress transfer. I have not red that's transcript. You have not read that transcript. I have not read that transcript.

When is the first time you appear at a status conference in this case? And you requested more time. I appear to the status conference. I believe I can make for your honor. And we've been dealing with the federal case ever since. And I understand that the federal case is different than the state case, but I was not aware until today that we might be talking about trying cases as well. And that's what I mean, okay?

And if I have to get ready, I have to get ready, but I have not read all 13 of those transcripts. I have not. I have looked at eight couples, but I have not read all 30 of them. I have not. I have looked at eight couples, but I have not read all 30s. I have not. You know, some people's last names are their old-timey ancestral occupations, like Smith and Millers. Same goes from Mark because he always seems to need more time to do his homework. Also, he always seems to be given more time. Judge Newman agreed to meet again in six weeks to discuss the trial date because of the sticky issue regarding Russell's federal prison

assignment. And can we talk about that for a second too? He wanted to be placed in Jessup, Georgia, where Corey is now headed. And the federal government was apparently like, what's that Russell? You want Florida? Sure. And now he can use that to his advantage. These guys are so messy. They create chaos, or they invite chaos, and then they cite that chaos as the reason

they can't be held accountable just yet, which is why sunlight matters. Continued sunlight, because we all know what happens in the dark. Stay tuned, stay pesky, co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell and produced by my husband, David Moses. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production. Right, Luna?