HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WSAV) — The judge overseeing a lawsuit filed by Mallory Beach's family against the head of a Savannah corporation has stepped down.
The family's attorneys filed a request asking for Judge G.D. Morgan to step down after finding out the Judge hired a law clerk who used to work for the attorney's representing the Parker's corporation.
The request said that hiring "creates an appearance of impropriety requiring recusal pursuant to the S.C. Code of Judicial Conduct."
In an order filed Oct. 18, Morgan decided to recuse himself from the case "in the interest of justice and in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety," even though the court "finds no impropriety in continuing to preside."
Mallory Beach died in February of 2019 when the boat driven by an intoxicated Paul Murdaugh crashed in Archers Creek.
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A Parker's clerk was caught on camera selling the underage Murdaugh some of the alcohol he drank that day.
The lawsuit claimed after the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, Greg Parker conspired with a documentary filmmaker and private investigators to leak Mallory's autopsy pictures and "inflect emotional distress" on the Beach family to try and help his case.
The Parker's corporation already agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit with the Beach family and other passengers on the boat the night Mallory was killed for $15 million.
There is no word on when a new judge may be named in this civil case.
2024.10.18-Order-Granting-P-Motion-for-Recusal-Judge-Morgan-New-Judge-to-be-AssignedDownload