Mediation fails in lawsuit over boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. Is a trial next?
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2019 Boat Crash Coverage
The crash of a Murdaugh family boat in 2019 killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach and started a chain of events that would remain in the news two years later. Here are the stories from that crash.
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This story first published Oct. 19, 2020.
Now that required mediation has failed in the wrongful death lawsuit over the Archer’s Creek boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, the suit is likely to go to trial. But not soon. The judge still must decide where the trial will be and what laws will govern it.
Before a trial date is set, the judge must determine whether Hampton County or Beaufort County will host the proceedings and whether maritime law can be applied in the case. Federal maritime laws can take precedence over state laws covering a personal injury lawsuit when someone is injured or killed on a navigable body of water. Those laws can affect how victims are compensated.
The lawsuit — and criminal charges against the boat’s driver, Paul Murdaugh — resulted from the crash about 2:20 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2019. The boat, carrying six passengers, all ages 18 to 20, crashed into the RC Berkeley Bridge near Beaufort after a night of drinking. When the boat hit the bridge, Beach was ejected, and her body was found a week later in a marshy area about 5 miles away.
The civil lawsuit, filed just more than a month after the crash by Mallory Beach’s mother, Renee Beach, contends that the responsibility for her daughter’s death rests with Parkers 55; Murdaugh’s father and owner of the boat, Richard Alexander Murdaugh; and brother Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr.
Paul Murdaugh, who is charged with one counts of boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury, has not been named in the lawsuit.
Beach, the defendants, lawyers representing both sides, and a neutral mediator met last month for an 8 1/2-hour mediation, but were deadlocked, according to a recent court filing. It said the mediation was “at an impasse.”
The mediation had already been delayed multiple times.
Before the case can go to trial, the judge must rule on the defendants’ lawyers requests for a change of venue, which would mean the case could be tried in Beaufort County instead of Hampton County, and for the standards of maritime law to be applied.
Multiple people involved in the case on both sides filed court papers arguing why the case should be heard in their preferred county.
Some, including nurses who were working at Beaufort Memorial Hospital when some of the boat passengers were taken there after the crash, argue that the drive to Hampton County would be inconvenient because of their work schedules. Others, including witnesses who were on the boat and residents of Hampton County, argue the commute to Beaufort County would be an inconvenience for them.
The plaintiff and the other defendants have opposed a change of venue.
The separate request to apply maritime law would allow a jury to place partial fault on others it finds are to blame,including Paul Murdaugh, even though he is not named in the lawsuit.
“Because the proximate cause of Beach’s death originated in the maritime activity of ... Paul Murdaugh’s allegedly negligent operation of a boat on navigable waters,” Parker’s liability may be “eliminated or reduced” by “share of fault,” the filing says.
The lawsuit makes negligence claims against three defendants: Parkers for selling alcohol to Murdaugh, an underage minor; Richard Alexander Murdaugh for allowing his son to use his of-age brother’s ID and for failing to supervise him; and Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr. for giving his brother the ID.
The lawsuit has taken many turns, with hundreds of pages of documents filed, four defendants removed from the original suit, two 14th Circuit Solicitor judges having recused themselves, and a new judge, Judge Daniel Dewitt Hall assigned to the case.
In the criminal case, Paul Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty, but the case has remained virtually untouched for more than a year.
No actions have been taken in the case, according to public court documents, since Murdaugh’s bond was modified on July 29, 2019.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 4:25 AM.
