Motion filed by Murdaugh counsel to exclude evidence and testimony in murder trial

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A motion was filed Wednesday by the Murdaugh team asking for the court to exclude testimony about evidence.

This all has to do with a shirt worn by Alex Murdaugh on the night his wife and son were murdered in June of last year.

According to background stated in the motion, the night Maggie and Paul were killed state law enforcement agents collected the white cotton t-shirt Alex was wearing when he found their bodies.

According to the motion, the murder scene was gruesome and there was a large amount of blood that transferred to Alex’s hands and clothing when he was checking for signs of life.

The motion states there were multiple different types of tests done on the shirt for blood and DNA -- which resulted in multiple pieces being cut out.

In November, Murdaugh’s counsel requested the state send the shirt to an outside laboratory so photographs could be taken of the areas where the state’s expert claims blood spatter is present consistent from a gunshot.

However, after viewing the shirt and seeing its condition with multiple pieces cut out and multiple chemicals used for tests Murdaugh’s counsel filed this motion.

Murdaugh’s team is claiming the state destroyed evidence.

The defense claims they are entitled to a pretrial hearing where counsel can question the lab analysts and others who tested the shirt under oath to determine why particular tests were performed.

The defense is also asking for the state’s expert testimony be thrown out after his opinion changed.

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