Smoke from wildfires that has polluted the air across swaths of the Eastern United States and frequently impacts the West could affect garden plants if the exposure is prolonged

Prosecutors have responded to Alex Murdaugh’s allegations of jury tampering at his double murder trial stating that South Carolina investigators have found “significant factual disputes” with the claims. The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office filed the response on Friday moving to dismiss Murdaugh’s request for a new trial due to “procedural defect”. The filing, which came just under deadline on Friday afternoon, is the state’s first response to the allegations made in the defence’s bombshell motion last week. Murdaugh demanded a new trial after his legal team accused Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill of pressuring jurors to return a guilty verdict. Prosecutors also said that they want Murdaugh’s defence team to show that they did not know about the alleged jury tampering during the murder trial. Ms Hill has not commented publicly on the allegations. The response from the state on Friday comes a day after a smiling Murdaugh appeared publicly for the first time since he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul, this time to face a string of financial fraud charges. At the status hearing in Beaufort County, Judge Clifton Newman set the trial date for 27 November. The case will focus on the millions of dollars he stole from the family of his dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, part of the 101 state charges in response to his alleged financial crimes. Two former friends and alleged co-conspirators in the case also appeared in court on Thursday, former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte and former attorney Cory Fleming, the latter sentenced to 10 years in prison. Read More Smiling Alex Murdaugh appears in court in shackles as trial date set in financial fraud case Alex Murdaugh’s demand for new trial over jury tampering claims awaiting response as deadline looms – live

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