COLUMBIA, S.C. — Attorneys for jailed South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh filed a lawsuit Monday against the interim director of Richland County’s Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center over the alleged improper release last week of Murdaugh’s phone calls from jail.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, seeks to prevent the release to the public of any further taped conversations between Murdaugh and others, including his family members. The lawsuit named Shane Kitchens, interim director of the detention center, as defendant in the case.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Recordings of Murdaugh’s conversations were aired on internet site FITSNews.com. The organization said it had obtained the recordings by means of a Freedom of Information request.
The lawsuit said that federal law “prohibits the disclosure of recorded telephone communications of inmates to the public in response to a records request.”
“The reason we filed the lawsuit is to prevent any further disclosure of his intercepted telephone conversations to the public in order to protect Alex’s rights to a fair criminal proceedings and to avoid further exploitation of Alex and his family members in their personal communications,” said attorney Jim Griffin, who represents Murdaugh along with lawyer and state Sen. Dick Harpootlian.
It has long been known that law enforcement has the right to tape record any and all inmate telephone calls made from a jail or prison. It is not uncommon for prosecutors to play recordings in court to support criminal charges against an inmate. Inmates are warned that all recordings are recorded.
However, it is highly unusual for jails or prisons to release such recordings to news media.
“I am unaware of any jail disclosing recorded telephone conversations with an inmate to the public,” Griffin said. “It certainly can open up a Pandora’s box of unintended consequences for both prosecutors and defense lawyers.”
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