COLUMBIA, South Carolina – The banker who prosecutors say helped Alex Murdaugh Moving millions of dollars to avoid detection of his thefts in exchange for a share of the cash saw his conviction and seven-year prison sentence overturned on appeal on Thursday.

Three judges of the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the federal judge presiding over the case made errors in returning a juror who was dismissed after she said she suffered from anxiety during deliberations to The trial of Russell Laffitte.

The jury had been deliberating for nearly eight hours — until late on the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving in 2022 — when one juror wrote a note saying she was suffering from anxiety and couldn’t do her job.

Judge Richard Gergel questioned the juror without a lawyer or Laffitte in the room and she told him she was taking medication for anxiety and felt capable of taking responsibility, but her anxiety increased with the reaction of the other jurors to his beliefs about the case.

Gergel had the juror replaced by two alternates and a second who had to take medication immediately. Subsequently, the jury quickly returned with guilty verdicts.

“Our concerns are heightened by Juror No. 88’s statement that others disagreed with his ‘decision’ and that after nearly eight hours of deliberations, the reconstituted jury returned a guilty verdict less than an hour later,” the three federal judges said. »wrote the appeal judges in their unanimous decision.

Gergel’s decisions, including not having Laffite in the room when the juror was questioned, violated his constitutional right to an impartial jury, the appeals court ruled.

Prosecutors said they would retry Laffitte, emphasizing that the errors were all made by the judge.

The “decision has no impact on charges against Laffitte going forward. We respect the court’s decision and are prepared to prove Laffitte’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt a second time,” South Carolina U.S. Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs said in a statement.

Gergel should have anxiously dismissed the juror to deliberate, suspended deliberations and resumed them later or declared a mistrial, the judges ruled.

“Russell Laffitte did not argue that he was entitled to a perfect trial. He successfully argued that he did not receive the full protection of the rights and guarantees of our Constitution to which he is entitled, like everyone else,” said his attorney Billy Wilkins.

Laffitte, 53, was convicted of six counts of wire and bank fraud. He began a seven-year federal prison sentence in September, although he will likely be released pending retrial.

Laffitte is one of several people who investigators say were framed by Murdaugh as he stole millions of his law firm and clients in wrongful death and serious injury cases.

Murdaugh is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife and son in 2021. While admitting to the thefts, he categorically denies the murders and is currently appealing his decision. murder convictions.

Both Laffitte and Murdaugh came from prominent families of the small Hampton County. Laffitte’s family built the Palmetto State Bank, which was so well regarded that South Carolina Independent Banks honored Laffitte as Banker of the Year in 2019.

But that stellar reputation also helped Laffitte and Murdaugh steal, prosecutors said.

Laffitte became the court-appointed guardian of the settlement money for some of Murdaugh’s owners. most vulnerable customers like children who have lost their parents, according to investigators.

Prosecutors said Laffitte took as much as $450,000 in tax-free fees and kept other sums in his role. He also sent large checks from settlement accounts to Murdaugh, who was juggling mounting debts that he would later blame on an opioid addiction that further depleted his accounts.

During his sentencing, Laffitte recognized each victim by name. He apologized for failing to fulfill his duties to them and to Palmetto State Bank customers for failing in their obligations.

But he continued to maintain his innocence, saying he was deceived by Murdaugh and did not realize he was committing crimes.

Prosecutors agreed that Murdaugh did not tell Laffitte about the entire plan. But they said that instead of arresting him, Laffitte allowed Murdaugh to continue stealing multiple times.