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Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh's lawyer is "mad as hell" after a South Carolina jail accidentally released a recorded phone call between him and his client to a true crime podcast.
"Yeah, that’s me, and I’m mad as hell," attorney Jim Griffin told Fox News Digital, identifying his voice in the audio clip. "Other questions I have are who else had access and listened to those calls. You can tell from the clip we were absolutely talking about trial strategy."
Hidden True Crime podcast released the recording of Griffin talking to Murdaugh, 54, from the Colleton County jail, where the disbarred lawyer was held during his explosive six-week double murder trial.
"I’m investigating to try to determine what happened," Griffin added. "I have sent in inquiries to the jail and sheriff's department."
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Alex Murdaugh confers with defense attorney Jim Griffin during day 25 of the double murder trial of Murdaugh at the Colleton County Courthouse on Monday, February 27, 2023. (Jeff Blake/The State/Pool)
The attorney said he hasn't heard back. The Colleton County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that Hidden True Crime obtained the recording through a public records request.
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"The release of the attorney-client call was an inadvertent human error," the office said. "All jail calls had to be screened by listening to the first few seconds of each call to determine if they fell under attorney-client privilege. Multiple calls were removed, but this one call inadvertently remained in the list for release."
HEAR THE AUDIO RECORDING OF ALEX MURDAUGH TALKING TO HIS LAWYER FROM JAIL DURING HIS DOUBLE MURDER TRIAL
The sheriff's office asked Hidden True Crime not to publish the recording. Hidden True Crime claimed on social media that they received the sheriff's office note only after they posted the call. A portion of that statement reads, "HTC would never knowingly release something that we knew was exempt from public disclosure… We were not told we did anything wrong. We were not told to take anything down."
The disgraced legal scion of a once powerful family was found guilty earlier this month of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and his son, Paul Murdaugh, 22.
In the recently released call, for which no date is provided, Murdaugh is discussing Griffin's cross-examination of a South Carolina Law Enforcement agent.
From left to right: Buster, Paul, Alex and Maggie Murdaugh pose together on a fishing boat. (Facebook)
After Griffin accepts the call, he can be heard telling his client that he can't talk.
"I know that. I’m going to let you go," Murdaugh replies. "But the one thing I want to tell you, please don’t think I’m being critical about that because I’m not. I don’t think you could have done a better job with him than you did yesterday, but I do think that’s something to think about because that’s one thing that seems to me to be a big deal because I don’t know the jury understands that right now."
Alex Murdaugh and his defense attorney Jim Griffin talk before his sentencing at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday, March 3, 2023 after he was found guilty of murdering his wife and son. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
Griffin tersely responds, "I get it, I get it. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Former Manhattan prosecutor turned criminal defense lawyer Daniel Bibb called the breach egregious.
"This is a very big deal. The jail should know better," he told Fox News Digital. "This is a violation of attorney-client privilege but since it was released after the trial ended, it didn't prejudice the jury and won't affect the convictions."
Hidden True Crime indicated that they had received 28 jail calls from their public request, Griffin said.
"I’m pretty sure Alex wasn’t calling anyone but me from the jail," added Griffin, who is concerned that there are more attorney-client phone calls in the batch of released recordings. "One of my most significant questions is why were they recording my calls at all."
Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month in Walterboro, South Carolina, for the June 7, 2021, slayings of his wife and son.
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His lawyers have filed a notice of appeal.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated to include a statement from Hidden True Crime
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