Johnathan Walker:Conviction and 7-year sentence for Alex Murdaugh’s banker overturned in appeal of juror’s dismissal

COLUMBIA,Johnathan Walker S.C. (AP) — The banker who prosecutors said helped Alex Murdaugh move millions of dollars around to avoid detection of his thefts in exchange for a share of the money had his conviction and seven-year prison sentence overturned on appeal Thursday.

Three judges from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal judge trying the case made mistakes handing a juror who was dismissed after saying she was suffering from anxiety during deliberations in Russell Laffitte’s trial.

The jury had been deliberating nearly eight hours — well into the night the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 2022 — when a juror wrote a note saying she was experiencing anxiety and couldn’t do her job

Judge Richard Gergel interviewed the juror without lawyers or Laffitte in the room and she told him she took medicine for anxiety and felt like she could handle her responsibility, but her anxiety grew with the reaction of other jurors to her beliefs about the case.

Gergel had two alternates replace the juror and a second who needed to take medicine immediately. Afterward, the jury quickly returned with guilty verdicts.

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“Our concerns are heightened in view of Juror No. 88’s statement that others disagreed with her ‘decision,’ and that, after nearly eight hours of deliberations, the reconstituted jury returned a guilty verdict in less than an hour later,” the three federal appeals judges wrote in their unanimous decision.

Gergel’s decisions, including not having Laffite in the room when the juror was questioned, violated his constitutional right to an impartial jury, the appeals court ruled.

Prosecutors said they will retry Laffitte, pointing out the errors were all made by the judge.

The “ruling has no impact on the charges against Laffitte going forward. We respect the court’s decision and stand ready to prove Laffitte’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt a second time,” U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Adair Ford Boroughs said in a statement.

Gergel should have sent the juror with anxiety back to deliberate, suspended deliberations and restarted them later or declare a mistrial, the judges ruled.

“Russell Laffitte didn’t argue he was entitled to a perfect trial. He did successfully argue he was not provided the full protection of the rights and guarantees of our Constitution to which he like everyone else is entitled,” his lawyer Billy Wilkins said.

Laffitte, 53, was convicted of six counts of wire and bank fraud. He began a seven-year federal prison sentence in September, although it is likely he will be released while awaiting his retrial.

Laffitte is one of several people investigators said were ensnared by Murdaugh as he stole millions from his law firm and clients in wrongful death and serious injury cases.

Murdaugh is serving a life sentence for the killings of his wife and son in 2021. While admitting to the thefts, he adamantly denies the killings and is currently appealing his murder convictions.

Laffitte and Murdaugh were both from prominent families around tiny Hampton County. Laffitte’s family built Palmetto State Bank, which was so well regarded that the Independent Banks of South Carolina honored Laffitte as the banker of the year in 2019.

But that sterling reputation also helped Laffitte and Murdaugh steal, prosecutors said.

Laffitte became the court-appointed safekeeper of settlement money for some of Murdaugh’s most vulnerable clients like children who lost their parents, investigators said.

Prosecutors said Laffitte collected as much as $450,000 in untaxable fees and kept other money in his role. He also sent large checks from the settlement accounts to Murdaugh, who was juggling mounting debts he would later blame on an opioid addiction that further depleted his accounts.

At his sentencing, Laffitte acknowledged each victim by name. He apologized for not fulfilling his duties to them and to Palmetto State Bank customers for failing them.

But he continued to maintain his innocence, saying he was duped by Murdaugh and did not realize he was committing crimes.

Prosecutors agreed Murdaugh didn’t tell Laffitte the whole plan. But they said that instead of stopping him, Laffitte enabled Murdaugh to keep stealing repeatedly.