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Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers may have pushed too far, or at least pushed Bland Richter too far. In their analogy-laden response, they ask for sanctions against Murdaugh’s attorneys for having the audacity to file the motion to withdraw Murdaugh's confession of judgment. What do you think of this latest motion? I can’t wait to see what the Judge does with this.

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Justice Alito, in delivering the majority opinion for the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson starts by acknowledging that “[a]bortion presents a profound moral issue on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views”. It is a topic on which discussions of disagreement are difficult to navigate making this case all the more challenging to discuss. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade a 1974 Supreme Court case that extended constitutional protection to the right to an abortion through the due process clause of the 14th amendment. The Court stated in their holding that the “Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” The ruling is over 200 pages and includes concurrences from Justices Thomas, Justice Kavanaugh, and Chief Justice Roberts. The Dissent is delivered by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan. In the Dissent they state “[f]or half a century, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey have protected the liberty and equality of women. Roe held, and Casey reaffirmed, that the Constitution safeguards a woman’s right to decide for herself whether to bear a child.”

This decision leaves entirely in the hands of the states the right to regulate or not, abortion. I hope that this episode breaks down this case in a way that makes it understandable and gives some insight into how I break down topics that are significantly charged.

Resources

• Dobbs v. Jackson
• https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf
• Roe v. Wade
• https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113
• Planned Parenthood v. Casey
• https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/505/833

In a lengthy ruling in the Johnny Depp v. The Sun UK case a Judge rules against Johnny Depp determining that the Sun’s statement that Johnny Depp was a ‘wife beater’ was substantially true and therefore the Libel case was denied. Depp has been ordered to pay the Attorney Fee’s for The Sun UK, the ruling Judge has denied an application for an appeal, Depp has stated that he will appeal to the next court. Deep maintains that he has not been violent towards Heard, his legal team has argued that she has created a Hoax. The Sun UK presented 14 incidents to prove that their statement was substantially true. There is still a pending Defamation case Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard pending in Virginia.

RESOURCES Domestic Violence Support

• https://www.thehotline.org/
• https://www.nrcdv.org/

Depp v. The Sun UK

• Johnny Depp loses libel case over Sun 'wife beater' claim
• Johnny Depp loses libel case against Britain's Sun newspaper
• Johnny Depp beat ex, Amber Heard, 12 TIMES, judge rules as The Sun wins trial
• A critical analysis of the Johnny Depp libel trial
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/guymartin/2020/11/02/johnny-depp-loses-london-libel-trial-murdochs-sun-vindicated-in-naming-the-actor-as-an-abuser/?sh=abd7351177c8
• Johnny Depp Loses Court Case Against Newspaper That Called Him a ‘Wife Beater’
• Johnny Depp case: Lawyer says the Sun's story was 'not researched at all'
• Johnny Depp Loses Libel Case Against 'The Sun' Newspaper
• Amber Heard gets restraining order against Johnny Depp
• Johnny Depp Denied Initial Bid to Appeal His U.K. 'Wife-Beater' Libel Case, Judge Rules (Reports)
• Johnny Depp Can't Appeal Libel Case Against The Sun, Judge Rules
• The full text of the Judgement → https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/depp-v-news-group-newspapers-ltd/

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Alex Murdaugh is asking for more money from a receiver in the Mallory Beach boat crash case to pay for his legal fees to appeal the murder conviction and sentence. The death of Stephen Smith has been linked to the Murdaugh family through rumor and through SLEDs 2021 announcement that they were investigating his death due to information they found during the course of the double homicide investigation into the death of Maggie and Paul. Last week there was a lot of movement in the Stephen Smith case, with SLED making a new announcement about their investigation and ordering a private exhumation. This is another twist in the lengthy Murdaugh saga.

Resources

• Stephen Smith’s Go Fund Me https://gofund.me/659c8bfe
• Murdaugh Trial Playlist The Alex Murdaugh Cases - YouTube
• The Bland Richter Press Release Press Release: Bland Richter Law Firm To Represent Sandy Smith In Stephen Smith Death Investigation

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Federal Judge Durkin is not having any of the Tom Girardi BS. In December 2020 Edelson PC filed their lawsuit against Tom Girardi, Girardi Keese, Erika Girardi, and her companies, former Girardi Keese lawyers Keith Griffin and David Lira. That is the lawsuit that alleges a 20 million dollar loan from Girardi Keese to Erika Girardi, that the divorce was a shame and that the victims are widows and orphans. That same day Edelson PC also filed their Motion for Rule to Show Cause asking the court to enter an order; 1) requiring Girardi Keese to show cause why7 it should not be held in contempt for violating the Court’s orders relating to the settlement of [the six lion air client cases], and 2) granting any such further relief as it deems reasonable and just. The court seems focused on further relief after already holding Tom Girardi and Girardi Keese in contempt. At the end of three days of evidentiary hearings, the court asked the lawyers to further brief on “[d]o I have the power to order you to pay the clients not because you violated a court order but because in failing to come to me you caused the plaintiffs to lose that money”.

It seems that at least as to the Lion Air clients there are court proceedings moving forward strongly focused on how to make the clients, whose settlements weren’t paid too, whole. Remember, this is the Judge who forwarded this incident to Federal Prosecutors, and we know they have at least opened an investigation because Federal Prosecutors filed a motion asking the court for access to unsealed documents. What do you think will happen next?

Key Take-Aways

• Federal Judge Durkin is focused on if he can sanction former Girardi Keese lawyers Keith Griffin and David Lira and possibly Edelson PC as a firm or its lawyers for not bringing issues with Tom Girardi not paying clients of the Lion Air case to the court.
• Tom Girardi Exclusive Voice Mails
• Tom is heard over two voicemails left for attorney Jay Edelson after the filing of the Motion for Rule to Show Cause saying: “I’m a good guy, get along great with all the Judges, I can do some real good shit but I want to make sure that you know we’d be joined at the hip” and “I want to be in charge of all your shit and at the end of about nine months I want you to say ‘God Tom, you made me another Million’”.
• During Testimony during Day 3 of the contempt hearing Jay Edelson testified that Tom Girardi had called him repeatedly after the Motion for Rule to Show Cause was filed and that Tom indicated he could make him a ton of money because of his connections with Judges in California, and that the whole thing was ‘beyond unseemly’.

What Happens Next?

The lawyers for former Girardi Keese lawyers Keith Griffin and David Lira and the lawyers for Edelson PC will submit a briefing to the court about if the court can impose sanctions not for violating the court order, which Tom Girardi, has already been held in contempt for...but for not bringing it to the courts' attention sooner. They will also be submitting a chart breaking down the Girardi Keese client IOLTA account to see what happened with the settlement money after Boeing funded the settlements in March 2020. Seeing what happened with that money will be very interesting.

The court will rule on the Sanctions and contempt. Sanctions may be possible, but contempt here is unlikely.

The lawsuit filed by Edelson PC against the lawyers and Erika Girardi is still moving forward in Illinois and will continue forward into discovery.

And of course....Season 12 of Real Housewives will still feature Erika Girardi...

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