COLUMBIA, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh’s attorney Dick Harpootlian has filed a complaint with the state lawyers’ disciplinary body against Eric Bland, the attorney who represents the estate of Murdaugh’s deceased housekeeper, for comments he’s made to various media organizations.
The new complaint against Bland contains the same allegations Harpootlian made in a Nov. 22 motion seeking a gag order against Bland in Hampton County Circuit Court, Bland told a reporter Monday.
John Nichols, head of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the group that operates under the S.C. Supreme Court, said Monday he could neither “confirm nor deny” the existence of a complaint. Nichols’ group investigates complaints against lawyers out of sight of public view and typically does not comment on ongoing complaints.
Harpootlian said Monday afternoon, “I have no comment.”
But Bland said Monday he is not going to give up his right as a lawyer to speak publicly to counter what he called drastically incorrect portrayals of various legal statements by Murdaugh’s lawyers.
“I defy Mr. Harpootlian to point to anything that I have publicly said that is not true and has not been borne out,” Bland said.
In one major legal action, Bland and his partner, Ronnie Richter, are suing Murdaugh, seeking $4.3 million plus other damages from Murdaugh for an alleged embezzlement of former housekeeper Satterfield’s $4.3 million estate.
At various times, Bland said, Harpootlian has made statements that have “included that Mr. Murdaugh is not responsible for his conduct because he is a 20-year opioid addict ... (and) that Mr. Murdaugh was the alleged victim of a failed roadside murder at the hands of Charles “Cousin” Eddie (Smith).”
“The (lawyers’) Rules of Professional Conduct permit an attorney to correct a false narrative,” Bland said.
Bland added that statements by Murdaugh’s lawyers that imply his allegedly lawless behavior was due to years-long opioid addiction are in stark contrast to Murdaugh’s 20-year history as a “highly successful lawyer.”
Bland said Harpootlian asserts that his statements have prejudiced Murdaugh’s right to a fair trial. But in recent months, Bland said, more than 400 stories have been written about Murdaugh by various news organizations. “Not one of them have said anything positive about Alex Murdaugh,” Bland said.
“Gagging me isn’t going to stop the continued onslaught of truthful and consistent negative publicity that Alex Murdaugh has been the recipient of from hundreds of objective journalists and newscasters over the past two years, and that will continue in connection with his pending criminal charges and other civil cases,” Bland said.
Murdaugh is a defendant in numerous civil and criminal actions. He has been publicly described as “a person of interest” in the June 7 murders of his wife, Maggie, and their younger son, Paul, whose bullet-riddled bodies were found on the grounds of the Murdaugh estate.
At times, Harpootlian’s own statements can be characterized as prejudicing Murdaugh, Bland said. Harpootlian, for example, described Murdaugh as having committed financial crimes that he knows he will go to prison for, and that much of his money has gone to drug dealers.
“What could I say that would be more inappropriate than that?” asked Bland.
Gag order
Last week, Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, the other attorney representing Alex Murdaugh, filed an emergency motion in Hampton County that asked a judge to impose a gag order on Bland — an attempt to silence Bland from talking about the case outside of court and limit publicity before trial.
Harpootlian and Griffin argued that Bland’s comments to various media companies were intended to taint a future pool of jurors against their client and to boost the amount in legal damages he could win for the Satterfield estate.
The motion included comments from Bland that alleged Murdaugh committed many more crimes, and it said Bland “implicitly” accused Murdaugh of murdering Gloria Satterfield.
Satterfield died in 2018 after being fatally injured in a fall at Murdaugh’s house. Murdaugh had homeowner’s insurance in the amount of $4.3 million, and that is the size of her estate that was allegedly stolen from her two sons, according to Bland’s lawsuit.
Among the other examples cited in last week’s filing:
▪ A comparison of Murdaugh to serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins, which the lawyers contend is a “dig” at Harpootlian, who prosecuted Gaskins.
▪ Comments from Bland that advocate in the media for criminal charges against Murdaugh.
▪ A comment from Bland that Gloria Satterfield’s sons “want to believe that their mother died accidentally.” He called Murdaugh a “really, really, really bad person. That’s the bottom line. That’s the tough pill to swallow.... There’s no bottom to him.”
The two lawyers argued that Bland’s “ceaseless barrage of attacks” violates the rules of professional conduct governing S.C. lawyers.
However, Bland, in a statement last week, said the motion created a “false narrative” to shift attention away from the fact that Harpootlian admitted on national television that Murdaugh committed financial crimes — a reference to the state senator’s October appearance on Good Morning America.
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