(CNN) Judge by Alex Murdock A case of double murder He declined to release a ruling Wednesday that would limit prosecutors’ ability to prosecute a disgraced South Carolina lawyer About his alleged financial crimes If he wants to testify in his defense.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin asked Judge Clifton Newman to issue a ruling limiting the scope of the state’s cross-examination if Murdock takes the stand, saying he wants to advise the court when prosecutors consider Murdock testifying.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters argued that Murdoch should be tried on any issue related to the case, including the crimes the state has pointed to as possible motives for killing his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdoch, and 22-year-old Murdoch. Oldest son Paul.
Judge Newman declined to grant the parties’ request, stating that he was “not going to preemptively issue an order limiting the scope of cross-examination.” Any objection, he said, should be addressed when the evidence is presented.
As he prepared to reconsider the scope of Murdoch’s privilege against self-incrimination, Newman said, “The Court should issue some blanket order limiting the scope of cross-examination — I don’t hear that.”
Evidence of Murdoch’s alleged financial crimes — he faces 99 other charges — played a key role in the murder case, in which Murdoch pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of weapons.
After prosecutors argued that Murdoch killed Maggie and Paul, 52, Newman previously allowed evidence to distract from his misconduct, which the state contends will come to light during the June 2021 fatal shooting. The defense, meanwhile, argued to exclude the evidence, saying it was irrelevant to the murders.
CNN’s Alta Spells contributed to this report.
