Earlier this year, the outgoing South Carolina District Judge Bentley Price abruptly withdrew from a high-profile civil case involving a lawyer who had been involved during the ‘Murdaugh murders‘ Crime and corruption saga.
Price’s resignation came shortly after our media outlet exposed the judge’s controversial attempts to speed up this contentious litigation – which was initiated by a Hampton, South Carolina, attorney. Mark TinsleyDubbed the “outrage case,” the case stems from a 2019 boating accident lawsuit involving members of the Murdaugh family and several other defendants.
The boating accident lawsuit was settled last summer, but a separate lawsuit alleging malpractice by defendant companies is still pending. That lawsuit, filed in December 2021, centers on the unauthorized disclosure of confidential mediation materials by individuals allegedly employed by the wealthy Savannah, Georgia, supermarket magnate. Greg ParkerFounder of the Parker’s Kitchen Gas station chain.
Parker and his company were among the co-defendants in the boating accident and were accused of leaking confidential information.
While the scandal has ostensibly focused on allegations against Parker and his employees, it has spawned allegations of unauthorized disclosures by Tinsley … as well as alleged Conflicts of interest A former reporter from this media company was involved in the case.
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Before Price’s decision to resign, Tinsley fought tooth and nail to keep the controversial judge on the case – even though Price was deemed unfit by a state judicial review board and denied another term on the district court as a result of that decision. According to Tinsley’s filing, Price “should have been given an opportunity to complete outstanding work on the case before leaving office.”
Tinsley also challenged Price’s disqualification by the South Carolina Bar Association and the South Carolina Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC), which did not nominate him for another term as a judge last November.
“No body … has stated that Judge Price is not qualified by ability to hear these cases, but the Bar Association and the JMSC found him unsuitable by reputation”, Tinsley argued.
Fortunately, these arguments were not convincing …
Since Price resigned, SC Circuit Court judge GD Morgan Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina, has been handling the scandal case. Last month, Morgan issued an order (.pdf) directing Tinsley to “fully comply” with a June 27, 2023, Supreme Court ruling requiring the production of materials that Parker’s lawyers have been demanding for several years.
Two weeks ago, Parker’s lawyers responded (.pdf) to Tinsley’s claims that he has complied with the court’s order and ordered him to “return all documents in his possession … and otherwise fully comply with the order of the Supreme Court in all respects.”
He will?
While we await the latest developments in this case, Price is being scrutinized on several other fronts.
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For those of you who don’t know, Price was the model judge for weak sentences, dubious confessions and shady backroom dealings. Last month, our Dylan Nolan reported on one of his latest miscarriages of justice – the latest in a long line of unscrupulous leniency towards violent criminals.
Price’s tradition of leniency and backroom deals is not limited to these cases, however. In fact, a recent motion filed out of Charleston, South Carolina, may be the first of many motions in which he seeks to undo the damage he has done to the integrity of the Palmetto State’s judiciary.
According to a motion filed last month in South Carolina’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, Shirley Gunn is calling for a retrial after Price allegedly gave jury instructions in a civil case that violated applicable law.
“As everyone except Judge Price (now former Judge Price) knows, the burden of proof for affirmative defenses is on the defendant who asserts them,” says the motion (.pdf) filed by Gunn’s attorneys. “But that is not what Judge Price instructed the jury. Instead, he instructed the jury exactly the opposite… that Plaintiff bore the burden of theProof of affirmative defenses (Emphasis original).”
“Even after (Gunn’s attorneys) informed Judge Price of the correct legal position, he refused to correct his error and properly instruct the jury,” the complaint continues.
In addition, Price reportedly interrupted Gunn’s attorneys during their closing argument “to give the jury the same backwards recitation of the law.”
“For such a fundamental and egregious error as that committed by former Judge Price, there is no cure other than to order a retrial,” Gunn’s lawyers argued.
“Everyone has a right to a fair trial,” noted Victoria Smitha well-known Lowcountry attorney. “If courts do not make consistent decisions about what information can be presented to a jury in accordance with the law and the rules of civil procedure, all justice is at risk.”
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Smith is not an attorney in the Gunn case and has no personal or professional relationships with any of the parties, but she has extensive knowledge of the legal issues at play in the motion for a retrial.
In their view, Gunn should be granted a new trial if Price did indeed “misinstruct” the jury.
“If these things happened, it is not correct and it is very likely that such errors would have denied the plaintiff a fair trial,” Smith continued.
Smith also noted that the trial should never have taken place – at least not under Price’s supervision.
“In my opinion, a judge who is found unfit by the JMSC should be immediately removed from office and no longer have the power to issue orders and preside over hearings and trials, even if his term has not yet ended,” she said. “Since the JMSC found former Judge Price unfit in October or November 2023, I do not believe he should have presided over Ms Gunn’s trial in June of this year.”
In fact… in fact, there are several victims of violent crime who would agree that Price should not have been anywhere vicinity a gavel after he was declared unfit to be a judge.
Will these scandals lead to a change in policy regarding unqualified judges in the future? Let’s hope so…
Last week, John Kittredge was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a position that also serves as the top executive arm of the judiciary. Hopefully his arrival in office, along with rumors of trouble among several lawyers and lawmakers who have maintained the status quo, can move things toward justice.
Certainly, the various Price scandals – and the disappointing aftermath of the Murdaugh trial – have done little to increase confidence in the integrity of our judicial system.
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The plea…
(Ninth District of South Carolina)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Want people is the founding editor of the news channel you are reading. Before founding FITSNews, he was press secretary for the Governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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