Will Loving — Direct/Cross/Redirect
650 linesMR. WATERS: Your Honor, one matter I would like to address with the Court. During -- throughout the questioning that the defense has been doing, including one question that was asked here today about any reason why, you know, Alex may kill anyone, and one of the issues that's still outstanding is the issues of the financial motives that are -- that exist. And obviously the State has already made a case as to the admissibility of that information, but I believe clearly to add to that the defense, through their questioning, has opened the door to that. So, this witness has some information to start that, and I think that we've sort of gone through the looking glass on that very issue, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes, sir.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, very briefly, we've fully briefed this. There are a very limited of circumstances where financial information would come in. Simply asking this young man, who they asked about his relationship with Alex and Paul and everybody, if you conceive of -- I think he said -- or are there any circumstances under which you know, you know, that he might kill Paul and Maggie and he said no. That didn't open the door to any financial crime that he may have committed. And again, the admissibility of that financial -- those financial misdeeds is not -- I mean, this, this motive, by the way, is the most ludicrous -- he's about to be discovered as having stolen some money on that afternoon, so he goes home and butchers his wife and son?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes, sir. You've argued that before.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Yes, sir, but what I'm saying is this. I think this idea --
JUDGE NEWMAN: You've argued it before. You've called it ludicrous before, and you're now repeating that same argument.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: It has been awhile perhaps since I said that.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: My point is no door has been opened, and if we're going to have a full discussion on this, you indicated you needed a factual basis. There has been no factual basis established. Thank you.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. Yes, sir?
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, again, and we have argued this and I'm not going to repeat the various arguments that I made. I think that, that we have -- just to sort of summarize it a little bit, we do have a specific confrontation that day. We also have the pendency of that hearing, and for the jury to understand that, we have to understand the extent of what is about to be exposed and what that actually means for him, the prospect of losing everything and life without parole.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Who's your next witness?
MR. WATERS: Will Loving.
JUDGE NEWMAN: And who is he?
MR. WATERS: He is a -- one of Paul's friends. He's mostly here to talk about firearms and shell casings and things like that. But he also will talk about the -- a little bit about the boat case, about the pressures on the family, about selling the house in Hampton, and the fact that, you know, that there were financial pressures because of that boat case that they were having to deal with. And I have made clear to the defense, as well as to Your Honor, that before we went into a subject matter like that, that we would, of course, certainly alert the Court. For this particular witness that will be the questioning that I intend to ask that witness.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, may I address this witness? He's my witness. Any information he has about financial pressure or reason they sold the house is solely based upon hearsay, and it certainly didn't come from any conversations with the defendant. He has no independent knowledge of any of that. So, aside from the overall 404B evidentiary rule, there's no basis of this. This witness doesn't have any actual knowledge of that.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. We will proceed with the testimony. I'll rule based on any objections I hear.
MR. WATERS: Thank you, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Bring the jury.
(The jury returned to the courtroom.)
COURT BAILIFF: The jury is present, sir.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right, thank you. You may call your next witness.
MR. WATERS: Thank you, Your Honor. The State calls Will Loving.
The witness, WILL LOVING, was first duly sworn and testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: Take a seat in the witness stand. State your name again for the record. Spell your last name.
WILL LOVING: Will Loving, L-o-v-i-n-g.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. WATERS:
MR. WATERS: Mr. Loving, how are you doing today?
WILL LOVING: I'm good.
MR. WATERS: Tell the jury just a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where did you go to high school, college, what you do for a living.
WILL LOVING: I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. I went to high school at A.C. Flora. I graduated from Horry/Georgetown Tech. with a forestry degree, pursued that for a few years. I'm now working down in Charleston for a marine construction company. That's about what I'm doing now.
MR. WATERS: What year did you graduate from high school?
WILL LOVING: I graduated high school in 2015, and I graduated from Horry/Georgetown in 2020.
MR. WATERS: Where are you living these days?
WILL LOVING: I'm living in Charleston.
MR. WATERS: Have you ever -- did you ever over the course of your life get to know Paul Murdaugh?
WILL LOVING: Yes, I did.
MR. WATERS: And tell me. When was that roughly?
WILL LOVING: I met Paul when I was probably fifteen years old down at Edisto Beach. He was probably thirteen, and, you know, our friendship -- just met on the beach one day. That's about where I met Paul. But we did pretty much everything together down at the beach whenever I was there and he was there. You know, we would go hang out on the beach, we would go on the boat, go fish or, you know, just hang out.
MR. WATERS: And when you met him at Edisto, do you know where Paul was staying?
WILL LOVING: Yes. Paul was staying at his beach house at Edisto.
MR. WATERS: And over the years as y'all's friendship developed, did y'all start to hang out more and more outside of Edisto?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, we did.
MR. WATERS: All right, and how old were you when that started to develop, more hanging out than just Edisto?
WILL LOVING: You know, probably once Paul was later on in high school, so I would have been, you know, eighteen or nineteen years old, we would -- started getting closer. And then, you know, when I was probably twenty-one and Paul was nineteen we got pretty close.
MR. WATERS: How old are you now?
WILL LOVING: I'm twenty-six.
MR. WATERS: And what are some of the things that y'all got pretty close -- what would y'all do together beside from hanging out at Edisto?
WILL LOVING: We would hunt and fish, go out, hang out with friends. We went down to the property at Moselle a lot. We would go to Edisto a lot. Just kind of going wherever, going with the flow. We would go down for a weekend in Charleston before either one of us -- you know, before I was living there. But, you know, we lived together in Columbia for a short period of time right before everything happened. But, yeah, that's about it.
MR. WATERS: Now, you said y'all lived together. So, y'all were roommates there for awhile before the murders happened?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And was it just the two of you in the house or were others living there as well?
WILL LOVING: It was just the two of us. And I was just kind of just a couch guest, but that kind of turned into a long term thing.
MR. WATERS: Got you. Were y'all planning on getting an additional place around the time that the murders happened?
WILL LOVING: Yes. We had already been in contact with a house, about to sign a contract on a house, me, him, and another friend from Columbia.
MR. WATERS: You mentioned that you would go to Moselle a lot. And what would y'all do as Moselle?
WILL LOVING: I mean, we would do just about anything, depending on what we were there for. If it was during a certain hunting season, we would go hunting or, you know, we might just be there hanging out for the weekend and might be there working. We did a lot of different things while we were there.
MR. WATERS: What kind of hunting would y'all do?
WILL LOVING: We deer hunted, we hog hunted, we duck hunted, we dove hunted, we turkey hunted. Pretty much about everything.
MR. WATERS: Tell me about the hog hunting. How does that work?
WILL LOVING: We did it for a certain period of time with some dogs, and that was -- you know, you got a pack of dogs that would chase them down and you would go up and neutralize them. But then we did a -- we also did it at night with a thermal scope and, you know, it's based of heat vision, I mean, heat signals, so you could see them at night, and you had to use the thermal if you were going to do that.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and when y'all would hunt at night on the Moselle property, how would y'all physically do it? Would you walk around? Would you ride around on the four wheeler? How would that work?
WILL LOVING: Most of the time we took a vehicle, whether it would be one of the, you know, farm trucks or, you know, some sort of buggy.
MR. WATERS: What -- you mentioned the thermal scope. What was that thermal scope on? What kind of weapon?
WILL LOVING: It was on a 300 Blackout.
MR. WATERS: And what color was that 300 Blackout?
WILL LOVING: It was black.
MR. WATERS: And how many 300 Blackouts did the family have?
WILL LOVING: They had two.
MR. WATERS: All right, and were those the only two you're aware of or was there a third one?
WILL LOVING: Those were the only two I was aware of. I had heard something about the third after the fact, but the only two I was aware of were those two.
MR. WATERS: And what had you heard about the third?
WILL LOVING: I just heard it got stolen out of Paul's truck at a party.
MR. WATERS: And was that years ago?
WILL LOVING: Years ago, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So there was a replacement gun, a third one. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. WATERS: What -- what was that gun like?
WILL LOVING: It was about the same as the black one except for the color of it. It was tan. It didn't have any kind of sight on it, you know, the first few times I saw it, and -- but other than that, it was about the same thing, just a different color. It was a tanner color.
MR. WATERS: And where would that gun typically be located?
WILL LOVING: I never really saw it move from the gun cabinet room. Most of the time it was in the main house at Moselle in the gun cabinet room.
MR. WATERS: You mentioned that that particular gun didn't have a sight on it or an optic on it. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: That's correct.
MR. WATERS: And what does that mean? What's the difference between having a scope or a sight and not having one? How do you shoot it if it doesn't have one of those?
WILL LOVING: So you have this -- you have something called iron sights, which is just -- it's already attached to the end of the barrel and it just has a little thing that you can see down but nothing to zoom in your image. It didn't have a sight on it at all. The other one had the thermal sight that you used at night. This one had no sight on it at all.
MR. WATERS: And at some point did y'all go get some sort of optic, or some sort of sight for it other than the iron sights?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir. We went and bought a -- it's called a red dot sight. It's just got a little -- it's not very big. It's about maybe two or three inches, and it just has a little tube and a little red dot in the center of it. It doesn't zoom in either, but it gives you a little better of a look at what you're shooting at, a little bit better than an iron sight.
MR. WATERS: Is it like a thermal sight in that you can see what you're aiming at at night?
WILL LOVING: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, what could you see when you look through the red dot?
WILL LOVING: You can just see whatever is out in front of you from the naked eye.
MR. WATERS: And how does the thermal work?
WILL LOVING: The thermal works at nighttime. You can -- you look and see -- heat glows up in a different color than black. It glows up in white so you can see it very easily.
MR. WATERS: When did you and Paul go buy that red dot sight for that other Blackout gun?
WILL LOVING: It was either in late March or early April, I'm not exactly positive on the date, but we bought it from the Ace Hardware in Hampton.
MR. WATERS: And when you say early March or late April, what year are we talking about?
WILL LOVING: 2021.
MR. WATERS: You went with Paul to get that?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And what did y'all do after you got the sight?
WILL LOVING: We went back to Moselle and we put the sight onto the rifle and sighted it in.
MR. WATERS: Describe to the jury what you mean when you say you sighted it in.
WILL LOVING: When you get a scope that's not already sighted in, you have to calibrate it with the barrel of the gun. So, you have to go and change certain things on the side or on the top, you know, whether it needs to go up or down or left or right when you're shooting. So, that's what we had to do with that one. And it just moves -- it doesn't move the dot necessarily inside the scope. It just moves kind of the whole thing.
MR. WATERS: All right.
WILL LOVING: The whole sight.
MR. WATERS: Before we get into that, I want to ask about the property just a little bit. I'm going to show you what I -- what's been marked as State's 303. And I would ask you to step down with the Judge's permission, and I want to ask about a few areas on the property.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right. Now, after y'all bought that -- well, first of all, where is the residence on this particular image? Do you recognize this?
WILL LOVING: Yes, it's right here.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and -- I'm sorry. Is that better?
WILL LOVING: It's down here at the bottom.
MR. WATERS: All right, and what are these structures up here or right there?
WILL LOVING: This is what they called the shed or the dog kennels or airplane hangar.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and can you point out the kennels in that image?
WILL LOVING: They're right here on this side next to the pine trees.
MR. WATERS: All right, and where are the driveway entrances to the property?
WILL LOVING: The two on this picture right here down to the -- it would come down to the main house right here, or you could come up here and come by the kennels and come down and you would come down to the main house.
MR. WATERS: Was it common for everyone to use both of those driveways?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Which driveway did you use -- did you usually use?
WILL LOVING: I didn't pass one driveway to get to the other, whichever way -- if I was coming from this way, I would turn here. If I was coming from this way, I would turn in there.
MR. WATERS: In your experience and knowing the family, was it common for both to be used?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: What is this structure right here?
WILL LOVING: That is the cabin up on the side of the road, just the old cabin.
MR. WATERS: And was there, like, a shooting range or a shooting house anywhere?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. There was a shooting range across the road right here. It goes -- it's, like, right in here somewhere. It was right next to the pond area. That's just a little fish pond.
MR. WATERS: And what was the shooting house?
WILL LOVING: It was just a little wooden, you know, gazebo looking thing that you sat in and shot at a berm over here.
MR. WATERS: Was there a location that y'all knew at the property called the dove field?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And where was that?
WILL LOVING: It was right here behind this berm off the pine trees.
MR. WATERS: Okay. Now, you said back after y'all bought that red dot sight that y'all sighted in that -- the Blackout. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. WATERS: All right, and which Blackout are you talking about?
WILL LOVING: The tan one.
MR. WATERS: The tan one?
WILL LOVING: The tan one.
MR. WATERS: And that would have been not the black one but the tan one, and not the one that went missing years ago. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, that's correct.
MR. WATERS: All right. Now, where did y'all sight that gun in?
WILL LOVING: We sighted it off the side of the main house right here. There's a little thing of steps that comes into the gun room, and we used the railing of the stairs to brace on and shot down into here as they were making -- they were building a pond right here, so there was a berm so there was nothing, you know, no threat of bullets going back there.
MR. WATERS: Okay. All right. You can have a seat for me if you will, please. When did y'all sight that gun in?
WILL LOVING: We sighted that gun in the very beginning of April or one of the last couple of days of March of 2021.
MR. WATERS: All right, and how do you know that it was late March or into April of 2021 that you sighted in that tan Blackout with the red dot optic on it?
WILL LOVING: Because the -- that same weekend we were out hunting hogs in the dove field with the thermal scope on the black 300 Blackout, and we also took the brown 300 -- the tan 300 Blackout, excuse me, with the red dot sight, but it wasn't very useable because you couldn't see what you were shooting at as it was dark. But we used the thermal, and I remember we saw four turkeys up in a tree, and we were talking about maybe turkey hunting that morning right there, but I think we scared them when we decided to shoot the hog.
MR. WATERS: So, y'all decided to sight in the tan one the next day or thereabouts?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. It was sighted in the day before, I believe, or the same day, one of the two.
MR. WATERS: And y'all were standing right outside the gun room of the main residence.
WILL LOVING: Correct, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's Exhibit 88. Do you recognize this gun?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir. That's the black 300 Blackout.
MR. WATERS: All right, and what optic is on this?
WILL LOVING: The thermal scope.
MR. WATERS: All right. Is this the gun y'all were sighting in, or was it a different gun that y'all were sighting in standing right outside the gun room in March or April of 2021?
WILL LOVING: It was a different gun.
MR. WATERS: It was a different gun.
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did it have a different optic on it right here?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir. It had the red dot sight on it.
MR. WATERS: It had the red dot. I'm going to show you what's been previously admitted into evidence as State's 175. Do you recognize that?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I do.
MR. WATERS: All right, and tell me what that is.
WILL LOVING: This is the stairs that lead up into the door that go into the gun room on the main house.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and was that where you were sighting in that tan Blackout with the red dot optic?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: That's not the one you just looked at?
WILL LOVING: Correct, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And what's through that door right there?
WILL LOVING: The gun room into the game room.
MR. WATERS: And describe -- you said y'all were using the railing to brace it. What do you mean by that?
WILL LOVING: We were using this right side of the railing -- this right side here coming down the stairs railing because we're both right-handed, and you can brace up against it to make sure you're steady when you shoot a target.
MR. WATERS: I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 176, and do you generally recognize that image?
WILL LOVING: Yes. It's the bottom of the brick below the stairs on the side door.
MR. WATERS: All right, and was that where y'all -- in the general location of where y'all were sighting in that third Blackout with the red dot optic?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: In March or April of 2021?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as 177, State's. Do you recognize that?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And what area is that, please?
WILL LOVING: That is the flower bed right next to the stairs going up.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and is that in the same general area where y'all were sighting in that Blackout with the red dot optic?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: State's 179. Do you recognize that?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. It's just the bottom of the bricks at the stairs again.
MR. WATERS: Okay. Same area where y'all were firing that?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: State's 180, do you recognize that?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. That's the flower bed next to the stairs.
MR. WATERS: Okay. Same general area where y'all were sighting in that other Blackout?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: That's not the one I showed you?
WILL LOVING: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: It's not the one I showed you.
WILL LOVING: Oh, no. No, sir.
MR. WATERS: State's 181. Do you recognize that?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir. It's the bricks at the bottom of the stairs, the same area.
MR. WATERS: The same area?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: State's 183?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. Again, it's the bottom of the stairs, same area that we were standing in.
MR. WATERS: Okay. All right. I'm going to show you now what's been marked as State's 184. Do you recognize that?
WILL LOVING: Yes. This is the little gazebo type thing at the shooting range that you sit in to shoot the -- shoot your rifle or whatever you're shooting.
MR. WATERS: After that time on March or April of 2021 that you remember because it was turkey season, correct?
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. WATERS: And when was the, when was the next time that you saw that tan Blackout that had the red dot?
WILL LOVING: I do not recall seeing it again after we used it that night.
MR. WATERS: The black Blackout, was that gun frequently with Paul?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir. If he was at Moselle, a lot of the times we had it with us, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right, and where would you have it?
WILL LOVING: In the back seat of the truck most of the time if we were, you know, riding around late or coming home from somewhere late just to, you know, check something, to go look for a hog or something.
MR. WATERS: Did Paul have a shotgun that he favored?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. He had a Super Black Eagle 3 Benelli shotgun.
MR. WATERS: And can you describe it any further? What did it look like? How was it colored?
WILL LOVING: It was camouflaged sort of like a cryptic kind of bluish/purple camouflage. I'm not real sure of the name of it, but it was more of a distinctive color camouflage.
MR. WATERS: Okay. I'm going to show you what has been admitted into evidence as State's 89. Do you recognize that?
WILL LOVING: I recognize it, yes.
MR. WATERS: Okay. Which gun is that?
WILL LOVING: I'm not sure whose gun that is, but it was used for turkey hunting.
MR. WATERS: Okay. Do you recognize that as one of the guns that was in the gun room at Moselle?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And I want to show you what's been marked as State's 4 into evidence and see if you recognize this one.
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, it's the camouflage Benelli.
MR. WATERS: All right, and which one is that?
WILL LOVING: Paul's shotgun.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and how can you tell the difference between the two camo ones? How do you know this one is Paul's?
WILL LOVING: It just has a distinctive camo pattern on it. They did have two of these shotguns that were exact same.
MR. WATERS: All right. So, this is the one you recognize as Paul's, correct?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: The 300 Blackout round, is it a fairly loud round when it goes off?
WILL LOVING: I mean, yes. I mean, it's a gunshot so it's pretty loud, but it's not extremely louder than any other gun.
MR. WATERS: Was it louder than a shotgun?
WILL LOVING: It's probably a little bit louder than a shotgun, yes.
MR. WATERS: Did you ever have any conversation with Paul about getting a suppressor for that 300 Blackout?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. I asked him why he didn't get one, and he said that, you know, when you put a suppressor on a gun like that it decreases your -- how far you can shoot and makes your accuracy go down. So, it's -- the gun we already had with the night vision was already not a very long distance gun, so he didn't want to put a suppressor on it.
MR. WATERS: The -- up at the kennels, up at the shed area, was it common for firearms to be up there?
WILL LOVING: You know, they were up there from time to time, but I don't think there were really any kept up there, no, sir.
MR. WATERS: On June 7, 2021, did you ever have any conversation with Paul or communication with him?
WILL LOVING: Yes. I talked to him around dinnertime. I was cooking dinner in the apartment that we were staying in, and he called me about wanting to get a hot tub for the house that we were about to move into. And then he sent me a Snapchat a little bit after that, and that was the last time I heard from him.
MR. WATERS: What was the Snapchat of?
WILL LOVING: It was of him and his dad looking at the trees and stuff that they had planted. They had one swoop down that obviously wasn't doing too good, but it was just a video of them looking at trees.
MR. WATERS: And you watched that video on your phone or something like that?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Over the years that you got to know Paul, did you also get to know his family as well?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I did.
MR. WATERS: Did you get to know Ms. Maggie?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I did.
MR. WATERS: To your knowledge, did Ms. Maggie like to go down to the kennels?
WILL LOVING: Yes, she did.
MR. WATERS: And how would she get down there? Do you know?
WILL LOVING: Sometimes she would use her bike or her car or walk. She liked to walk her two labs around a lot around the property, so it was not uncommon for her to go down there.
MR. WATERS: And what would she like to do when she went down there?
WILL LOVING: She would go down and look at the dogs and mess with the dogs. A lot of times she liked to ride her bike, you know, right before it got dark, you know, sunset or something. But she was a dog lover for sure.
MR. WATERS: Would she go in the daytime, or would she go at night when it was dark?
WILL LOVING: I'm -- I only saw her go during the daytime most of the time. I mean, she might be down there once it got dark, but I don't think she would go down there after dark.
MR. WATERS: Let me ask you a little bit about Paul. What was his cell phone usage like?
WILL LOVING: He used his cell phone a lot.
MR. WATERS: Was he one to respond to you pretty quickly typically?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, he would respond pretty fast.
MR. WATERS: Do you know where he kept it when he had it on him, what pocket he kept it in?
WILL LOVING: No, I do not. I mean, I know he kept it in one of his front pockets. I would have remembered if he kept it in his back pockets, but I don't remember which one it was.
MR. WATERS: Were you -- how did you find out about the murders?
WILL LOVING: I was called numerous times in the middle of the night. I finally woke up to one around midnight, I think it was 12:07 if I remember right, and it was a cousin of Paul's, and she told me about everything. And I was in the apartment at the time, and, you know, nobody really knew what was going on, so I got out of the apartment pretty quick. I drove to my parents' house, talked with them for a minute, and we had some friends that were all awake in Charleston. So, I drove straight down to Charleston in the middle of the night.
MR. WATERS: Did you ever go to Moselle in the aftermath of everything?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir. I believe I went on that previous Wednesday and saw the family.
MR. WATERS: Did you ever have a conversation with Alex?
WILL LOVING: I did.
MR. WATERS: Did you talk to him about any conversations that you had with Paul that night?
WILL LOVING: No, I didn't. We mostly just grieved.
MR. WATERS: Did you ask him about what he was doing that night, or what happened, or the events of that night at all?
WILL LOVING: No, I did not.
MR. WATERS: Were you aware of what's called the boat wreck or the boat case?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And were you aware that Paul had been charged in that boat case?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I was.
MR. WATERS: Were you aware that Alex Murdaugh had been sued in that boat case?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I was.
MR. WATERS: And whenever Paul -- did you ever talk to Paul about the boat case?
WILL LOVING: Not much, you know. I didn't want to bring up something like that.
MR. WATERS: You mentioned that the family had an Edisto Beach house. Is that right?
WILL LOVING: That's correct.
MR. WATERS: And the Moselle property?
WILL LOVING: That's correct.
MR. WATERS: Did they have another property at one point in time?
WILL LOVING: Yes, they did. They had their house in Hampton.
MR. WATERS: Did they ultimately sell that property?
WILL LOVING: Yes, they did.
MR. WATERS: What was your understanding as to why they sold that property?
MR. GRIFFIN: Objection, Your Honor. Lack of foundation, hearsay.
JUDGE NEWMAN: You can answer if you know.
WILL LOVING: It was just through the grapevine: to help pay for some of the lawsuits that they were under.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, I would move to strike it as hearsay testimony.
JUDGE NEWMAN: The objection is sustained.
MR. WATERS: You say through the grapevine. Have you ever had a conversation or were privy to a conversation with Alex about that?
WILL LOVING: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you have a conversation or were you privy to a conversation with Paul about that?
WILL LOVING: We talked about the house being sold, but I don't believe he ever told me that that's what it was for.
MR. WATERS: Going back to the 300 Blackout, what was the sort of effective range of that weapon?
WILL LOVING: From what I was told from Paul, it was around 50 to 75 yards it was accurate up to.
MR. WATERS: Did that have anything to do with the discussion about why not to put a suppressor on it?
WILL LOVING: Yes, it did.
MR. WATERS: When y'all were shooting that tan Blackout -- 300 Blackout rifle with the red dot optic on the side of the house in Moselle in March or April of 2021, who was doing most of the shooting of it?
WILL LOVING: Paul was.
MR. WATERS: Did Paul express to you any dissatisfaction with that tan one and the optic?
WILL LOVING: No, he did not.
MR. WATERS: Did y'all discuss any frustration, though, with it being unusable for turkey shooting because of the optic that was on it?
WILL LOVING: For hog hunting?
MR. WATERS: For hog hunting, sorry.
WILL LOVING: No, not really. We kind of knew when we took it with us that it was kind of pointless, but we just took it with us anyway.
MR. WATERS: The red dot was pointless.
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: For night shooting.
WILL LOVING: For night hunting, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: You said you were present when they purchased the red dot. Is that right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I was.
MR. WATERS: You and Paul purchased the red dot?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Who paid for the red dot?
WILL LOVING: It was put on a store credit that was his father's.
MR. WATERS: That was his father's?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Whenever Paul needed money, who would he get that from?
WILL LOVING: He would normally text his dad.
MR. WATERS: When -- you talked a little bit about Paul's habits, and you guys had an apartment in Columbia, right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did Paul like to go to Charleston a lot?
WILL LOVING: He did.
MR. WATERS: Did he like to go to Moselle a lot?
WILL LOVING: He did.
MR. WATERS: Did he spend time in a lot of different places?
WILL LOVING: Yeah, he was all over.
MR. WATERS: He was all over?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Happened to be back at Moselle on June 7, 2021. Is that right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right. One last thing. Have you had the opportunity to view a video at the kennels of Moselle?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I have.
MR. WATERS: And were you able to recognize any voices on that video?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I was.
MR. WATERS: All right.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time I'm going to play State's Exhibit 297.
(The video was played. Audio not transcribed.)
MR. WATERS: Whose voices did you recognize on that video?
WILL LOVING: Paul Murdaugh, Maggie Murdaugh, and Alex Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: And how sure are you?
WILL LOVING: 100 percent.
MR. WATERS: The person whose voice you recognized on there that you identified as Alex Murdaugh, do you see him in the courtroom here today?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Can you point him out for the jury?
WILL LOVING: He's sitting right there.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, please let the record reflect that he's identified the defendant.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It does.
MR. WATERS: Thank you, Mr. Loving. Please answer any questions that the defense may have.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Thank you, Your Honor.
CROSS-EXAMINATION
BY MR. GRIFFIN:
MR. GRIFFIN: Good afternoon, Will.
WILL LOVING: How are you doing?
MR. GRIFFIN: Good. It's a hard day, isn't it?
WILL LOVING: A little bit.
MR. GRIFFIN: You mentioned about a Snapchat video that you received on -- sometime the evening of June 7th. Do you remember what time that was?
WILL LOVING: I don't. It was later in the afternoon, somewhere like 7:00ish, in that area.
MR. GRIFFIN: And what was it of?
WILL LOVING: It was Alex and his son Paul. They were riding around looking at trees that they had built, and you know, laughing, having a good time.
MR. GRIFFIN: Everything -- so he posted it on -- I don't have Snapchat. Maybe most people here has Snapchat, but tell us a little bit about what that is.
WILL LOVING: Snapchat is an app on a, you know, smart phone that you can send pictures and videos to your friends. You can save pictures and videos. But it's just an app that, you know, most young people use.
MR. GRIFFIN: And it's a way to share videos?
WILL LOVING: Correct, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: I don't know if my kids have it, but are the videos supposed to disappear after some period of time?
WILL LOVING: Yeah, they have a limit on them. You can either send it for -- and it will play over and over again until somebody clicks off of it, or it will -- you can go up to, like, from 1 to 10 seconds. But you can also save a Snapchat if you want to, to look at later.
MR. GRIFFIN: And is it like Facebook? You have friends that want to, you know, be in your circle of Snapchat. Is that how that works?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And did Paul have a lot of Snapchat -- are they call friends on Snapchat?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, he did.
MR. GRIFFIN: And would he frequently posts things on Snapchat?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And would he frequently post things that -- you know, events like he did on the evening of June the 7th when he and his father were out, you know, messing around with the tree?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, he would.
MR. GRIFFIN: And would he post stuff with his family, family events?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, he would.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and the Snapchat that -- when he would post it, would go to everybody who's in his, I guess, group --
WILL LOVING: Yeah. You have to send it to certain people. He wouldn't necessarily put stuff -- they had what's called a story that everybody that you're friends with can see. He wouldn't necessarily put stuff on his story, but he would send stuff to whoever he wanted to.
MR. GRIFFIN: I think we'll learn more about Snapchat, but let me ask you. When Paul would post on Snapchat, could people see where he was posting from? Did he have the location services activated?
WILL LOVING: I don't think he kept his location on. Sometimes you can -- they have filters and stuff that show you different areas where you are, but I don't think he kept his Snapchat location on.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, when he posted the video of he and his dad at Moselle, did it -- could you tell that he was at Moselle?
WILL LOVING: Yes. I could tell he was at Moselle just from being there, but, you know, maybe somebody who doesn't know the property wouldn't know.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. All right. The -- you were asked questions about the last time -- well, that you were with Paul and -- well, getting ahead of myself, I'm sorry. So, you and Paul were good friends, and Paul was friends with your friend group out of Columbia. Is that right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, that's right.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then y'all would sort of migrate to Charleston and some of the Columbia folks went to Charleston and y'all would visit down there?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, that's correct.
MR. GRIFFIN: And, I guess, originally y'all met at Edisto family homes and vacationing and -- right?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. That's where everybody met until, you know, everybody went to college, and then everybody just kind of meets up.
MR. GRIFFIN: And sometimes Paul would come to Columbia and stay with you?
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you had another friend, Wills Chapman, and he stayed with Wills?
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. GRIFFIN: And, I mean, Paul was like -- left a 300 Blackout at your house for some period of time, didn't he?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, he did.
MR. GRIFFIN: How long did Paul leave a 300 Blackout at your home?
WILL LOVING: Probably a month or so at least.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and I think when Wills Chapman moved to Charleston, what did he find in his closet?
WILL LOVING: He found Paul's deer hunting rifle.
MR. GRIFFIN: That Paul had left there?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And Paul had thought he had lost a deer hunting rifle.
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. GRIFFIN: And low and behold it was at Wills Chapman's house, right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: I mean, was that unusual for Paul to leave stuff everywhere?
WILL LOVING: No, not at all.
MR. GRIFFIN: And so he was -- would he leave guns around the farm?
WILL LOVING: Yeah, he would every now and again.
MR. GRIFFIN: Would he leave them, say, in the golf cart?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Would he leave them in unlocked trucks?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you were asked about the kennels but what about in the workshop, the shed? Would he leave guns down there?
WILL LOVING: That's where I was, you know, referring to. You know, you would see him down there sometimes, but I don't think there was ever guns permanently down there, no, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and when he left the 300 Blackout in Columbia, was it the one that Mr. Waters showed you that was the black one with a thermal scope?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, it was.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you learned at some point in time that he got a replacement for one he had previously lost?
WILL LOVING: Yes, I did. I didn't even know that it was a replacement. Like I said, I didn't know about the original one. I just remember seeing the brown one.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that brown one did not have a scope, right?
WILL LOVING: No, sir, it didn't, until we bought one.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you went with Paul to an Ace Hardware store and purchased a scope and a mount for it, right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Now, the day that you purchased the scope and the mount, was it the weekend that you were talking about where -- the last time you used it?
WILL LOVING: I'm not sure if it was that weekend or maybe the next weekend, but they were both pretty close together.
MR. GRIFFIN: But you were there when he purchased the scope and the mount.
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you went -- did you go back to Moselle and put it on the gun?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, we did.
MR. GRIFFIN: And did you use the gun that weekend or waited until the following weekend?
WILL LOVING: I'm not sure 100 percent if we used it that weekend or if it was the following weekend. I know we sighted it in that day that we bought the scope for.
MR. GRIFFIN: So, that was the day when you were shooting off the railing beside the gun room.
WILL LOVING: Correct.
MR. GRIFFIN: The day you bought the scope.
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and the -- and it's possible you hunted with it that weekend, but if not, it was the following weekend.
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And had you ever seen that gun again after that weekend or the following weekend, whichever it was?
WILL LOVING: No, sir, I haven't.
MR. GRIFFIN: And would you be able to more accurately provide or know when it was -- I think you said late March or early April -- if you saw the receipt for the purchase?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: I'm going to show you what's been marked as Defendant's Exhibit 62 and ask you first. Do you recognize Paul's signature on that document?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I do.
MR. GRIFFIN: Do you know that to be his signature?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And does that reference a purchase of red dot scope and the mount?
WILL LOVING: Yes, it does.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that's from Ace Hardware?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And were you there with Paul when he bought it?
WILL LOVING: I was.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, we would introduce Exhibit 62 into evidence at this time.
MR. WATERS: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Is that a different one than the one you just handed him that you said --
MR. GRIFFIN: It's the same one.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's already in evidence. Is it just marked for identification, or is it in evidence already?
MR. GRIFFIN: I'm moving it into evidence right now.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
MR. GRIFFIN: Thank you.
(RECEIPT MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 62 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. GRIFFIN: Will you tell the jury what the date of that is?
WILL LOVING: It is March the 6th.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay.
WILL LOVING: 2021.
MR. GRIFFIN: And, Your Honor, I have a calendar here that says March 6, 2021, is a Saturday, and I would just like the Court to take judicial notice that March 6, 2021, is a Saturday.
MR. WATERS: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Okay. So, noted.
MR. GRIFFIN: Thank you.
MR. GRIFFIN: So, knowing that it was purchased on March 6, 2021, a Saturday, does that help you remember when you last used the gun?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. So, that was a Saturday, so we would have sighted it in that Saturday, and I do remember using the gun. It was the first week of turkey season because we were going turkey hunting the next morning, which would have been either March 20th or March 22nd. I can't remember what it was two years ago with the opening day of the season. So, it would have been three weeks after we sighted it in.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. So, you sighted it in on March 6th?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. I'll take that back. When was the last time you saw Paul in person?
WILL LOVING: It would have been the weekend previous, or two weekends previous to when everything happened. It was Memorial weekend.
MR. GRIFFIN: You saw him Memorial Day weekend?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And where did you see him?
WILL LOVING: We all stayed at the Edisto Beach house.
MR. GRIFFIN: And when you say we all, who are you referring to?
WILL LOVING: Me, myself, and three or four other buddies, along with Alex, Maggie, and I believe that was it.
MR. GRIFFIN: And did you spend a lot of time with Paul around his dad and his mom?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I did.
MR. GRIFFIN: And how would you describe Paul's relationship with his father?
WILL LOVING: It was an awesome relationship.
MR. GRIFFIN: What do you mean by awesome?
WILL LOVING: It just kind of seemed like Paul was the apple of his eye.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and from your observations, would you tell the jury what you observed of Alex's relationship with Maggie?
WILL LOVING: I thought they had an awesome relationship as well through everything that I can see. You know, they were always laughing and everybody got along and it was -- nothing was out of the ordinary at all.
MR. GRIFFIN: Did Maggie and Alex open their home up to Paul and Buster's friends?
WILL LOVING: Yes, they did.
MR. GRIFFIN: How many people stayed at the Edisto Beach house that Memorial Day weekend?
WILL LOVING: I'm not 100 percent positive. At least three or four friends.
MR. GRIFFIN: And where did y'all stay?
WILL LOVING: All in the bedrooms. I think somebody might have been on the couch on the porch outside, maybe the couch inside as well.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. So, was Buster there?
WILL LOVING: I believe Buster was there, but I'm not 100 percent sure.
MR. GRIFFIN: Did he have any of his friends there?
WILL LOVING: Yet again, I'm not sure.
MR. GRIFFIN: You mentioned that when you got a phone call from Paul's cousin, I believe after midnight on June 7th or the early morning of June the 8th, you learned what happened and your immediate reaction was to hightail it out of there?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And were you fearful for your safety?
WILL LOVING: At first I wasn't, and then I was told by other friends and, you know, people started telling me to get out of there. So, then I started second guessing myself and, yeah, then I got out of there.
MR. GRIFFIN: And when you left, did you even lock it up when you left?
WILL LOVING: I honestly couldn't tell you.
MR. GRIFFIN: I'm going to show you what I've marked as Exhibit 61, and it's a disc. And before you testified today, did you have an opportunity to view that very short video clip on the disc?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I did.
MR. GRIFFIN: And did you -- are those your initials on the disc?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, they are my initials.
MR. GRIFFIN: And is it a short video of the Memorial Day weekend when you were down at Edisto with Paul and your friends and Maggie and Alex?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, it is.
MR. GRIFFIN: And is it more of a birthday celebration for Alex?
WILL LOVING: It was. It was a birthday celebration for Alex.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, I would like to introduce Exhibit 61 into evidence and play the video.
MR. WATERS: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted without objection.
(DISC MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 61 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. GRIFFIN: Can you just play it without the sound? We're just going to play it without the sound.
(The video was played without audio.)
MR. GRIFFIN: Can you see the video?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Are people singing happy birthday to Alex?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, they are.
(The video was played with audio. Audio not transcribed.)
MR. GRIFFIN: On the Wednesday after Paul and Maggie were murdered you went to Moselle, correct?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, I did.
MR. GRIFFIN: With some friends of yours?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And friends of Paul's?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: How many?
WILL LOVING: I think three of us went.
MR. GRIFFIN: And how many other people were there, friends of Paul's?
WILL LOVING: It was a lot of friends of Paul's there.
MR. GRIFFIN: More than ten?
WILL LOVING: On Wednesday I don't know. I don't think so. I think a lot of people were kind of trying to feel out the situation, so just like the closer friends went. But it was probably ten or so of his friends there when I was there.
MR. GRIFFIN: And what was Alex Murdaugh's demeanor on Wednesday?
WILL LOVING: He was grieving, crying a lot. I think we all were.
MR. GRIFFIN: I think you -- I think you described it as he just couldn't talk. Do you remember that?
WILL LOVING: Yeah, it was pretty hard to talk. When -- you know, he came and grabbed me and two other guys and we just kind of had a big hug, and it was pretty tough for him to make words.
MR. GRIFFIN: Was he crying?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Were you crying?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Was everybody there crying?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right.
MR. GRIFFIN: That's all of the questions I have, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: By the state?
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: Go back to your video. Do you have it still at the end, please, that video?
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. WATERS:
(The video was played with audio. Audio not transcribed.)
MR. WATERS: Who is that guy in the green shirt? Do you know?
WILL LOVING: That's Chris Wilson.
MR. WATERS: Do you know Chris Wilson's relationship to Alex Wilson -- or Alex Murdaugh?
WILL LOVING: Yeah, I think they're best friends.
MR. WATERS: Best friends. Best friends should do each other right. Isn't that correct?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: You were asked about when you found out about the murders and you talked to some people, and then you kind of hightailed it out of your place, right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Because you were scared, or at least thinking about the possibility of some sort of harm. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: That's correct.
MR. WATERS: Because it was a shock for everyone, wasn't it?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: It stopped everything in its tracks, didn't it?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And everybody was worried about this family and what was going on and what had happened. Is that right?
WILL LOVING: That's correct, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Anything else people were worried about went out the window. They were all focused on Alex at that moment, were they not, and themselves. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: I mean, I think they were focused on everybody that had anything to do with it.
MR. WATERS: Anything that had anything to do with his family. Is that right?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: When you were shown this Snapchat video, you were asked about another Snapchat video that you saw the day of the murders?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And what was on that video?
WILL LOVING: It was a video of Alex and his son riding around looking at trees that had fallen over on the tractor, or on the golf cart.
MR. WATERS: Was it a short clip?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir, it was.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: At this point I have State's Exhibit 306, which is a Snapchat video, I believe in without objection?
MR. GRIFFIN: No objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(SNAPCHAT VIDEO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 306 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: As soon as we get it flipped back over, I'm going to play that video. About what time do you recall receiving this video to the best of your recollection?
WILL LOVING: It was later in the afternoon. I was -- I believe it was after I cooked dinner, so probably around 7:00, some time in there.
(The video was played. Audio not transcribed.)
MR. WATERS: Is that the video you saw?
WILL LOVING: Yes, it is.
MR. WATERS: And that was on the afternoon or the evening of June 7, 2021?
WILL LOVING: That's correct.
MR. WATERS: And those were the clothes that he was wearing, at least in that video, that you saw on the evening of June 7, 2021?
WILL LOVING: Yeah. Those are the -- I mean, those are the clothes I saw on the video, yeah.
(The video was played again.)
MR. WATERS: Long pants and a shirt?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And those particular shoes?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And you watched that video in realtime when this came in from Paul's phone that evening. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: That is correct.
MR. WATERS: You were asked about the relationship that you observed between Alex and Paul, and Alex and Maggie. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: That is correct.
MR. WATERS: To your eye, it was a very good relationship. Is that correct?
WILL LOVING: Yes, sir. It was a good relationship from my point of view.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about Alex's finances?
WILL LOVING: No, I did not.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about his law practice?
WILL LOVING: No, I did not.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about where he gets his money?
WILL LOVING: No, I did not.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about where he was spending his money?
WILL LOVING: No, I did not.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about what his bank account balances were?
WILL LOVING: No, sir, I did not.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about the debt that he was carrying? Did you know anything about that?
WILL LOVING: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you know the specific things that were going on in the boat case the week that Paul and Maggie were murdered?
WILL LOVING: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: Do you know anything about civil discovery and how it can expose financial information?
WILL LOVING: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: Do you know anything at all about him being confronted on June 7, 2021, about --
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, I'm going to object.
JUDGE NEWMAN: I didn't hear the question.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about him being confronted on the morning of June 7, 2021, about $792,000 of missing fees from his law firm?
MR. GRIFFIN: Objection, Your Honor. Totally improper.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Objection is overruled.
MR. WATERS: Did you know anything about that?
WILL LOVING: No, I did not.
MR. WATERS: Did you know any of the facts of those things that I just asked you about?
WILL LOVING: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: Thank you. Nothing further.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Anything further?
MR. GRIFFIN: No, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: You may step down.
(The witness exited the stand.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, that's it for today. We'll see you at 9:30 morning. Please do not discuss the case.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: If everyone will be seated. We've come to an end of this day. Tomorrow morning, however, I will address the Rule 404 issue, particularly 404B that provides that evidence of other wrong crimes or acts may be admissible to show motive and some other things, and we'll address that issue tomorrow morning. And as far as witness preparation or witness availability, particularly in light of my ruling with regard to the last question posed, I trust that the State will be prepared to move forward with evidence that establishes facts by clear and convincing evidence.
MR. WATERS: Yes, sir, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: We'll be in recess until 9:30.
(Whereupon, the case was at ease.)