Judge denies Parker’s request to throw out Mallory Beach lawsuit

BEAUFORT COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — The first civil trial in the Mallory beach boat crash will go on as scheduled in August. This after a judge denied Parker’s Convenience store’s attorneys’ request to throw the case out 

Judge Daniel Hell denied Parker’s request for a summary judgment in the lawsuit filed by Mallory Beach’s family. The civil trial against the chain and Alex Murdaugh will now begin on August 14. 

The Beach family lawyer Mark Tinsley gave this statement to News 3, “Parker’s motion bordered on being frivolous and seems to have been intended to spread a false narrative, so we fully expected the judge to deny it.  We look forward to concluding this matter in August and beginning to give the Beach family some semblance of closure.”

Parker’s had claimed the kids on the boat the night it crashed including Mallory Beach knew they would be drinking, knew Paul Murdaugh had been drinking and assumed the risks when they stepped on the boat. 

Murdaugh was intoxicated and driving the boat at a high rate of speed when it crashed into a piling on February 23, 2019, killing Mallory and injuring several other passengers. 

Parker’s had also said the driver’s license that Paul Murdaugh, who was underage at the time of the crash, was valid and not a “fake.” They claimed it was checked by their clerk and run through their system. Paul used his brother Buster’s ID to purchase alcohol from Parkers for everyone on the boat that night. 

All of the remaining passengers on the boat, Connor Cook, Anthony Cook, Miley Altman and Morgan Doughty are also suing Parker’s. Their cases are all still pending.