In a recent ruling from South Carolina, Alex Murdaugh’s journalist and podcast creator, Mandy Matney, has been sanctioned by a judge for civil contempt. Judge R. Keith Kelly decreed that Matney must cover $171,500 in legal fees and associated costs, alongside a $5,000 penalty. This decision came after the court determined Matney intentionally defied a subpoena linked to legal proceedings involving the infamous Murdaugh family.
A comprehensive 22-page decision was filed on Monday, wherein Circuit Judge Kelly highlighted Matney’s willful neglect of a legitimate subpoena. The court’s prior order had mandated her presence for a deposition. Matney had argued that her refusal was motivated by safety concerns, a justification that the judge found unconvincing.
This contempt ruling is associated with a protracted series of legal battles that emerged following the 2019 boat accident, a tragic incident that claimed the life of Mallory Beach.
Among those accused in the lawsuit are Parker’s convenience stores. They allegedly provided alcohol to an underage Paul Murdaugh prior to the devastating crash. Matney had been called as a non-party witness in connection to this case.
Mallory Beach, just 19 years old, lost her life in a boating accident that occurred in February 2019 in Beaufort County, a tragedy that continues to ripple through the legal system.
Paul Murdaugh was later charged with boating under the influence, but those charges were dismissed after he and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, were fatally shot at the family’s Colleton County hunting estate in June 2021.
The Beach family’s civil lawsuit against members of the Murdaugh family and Parker’s alleges the convenience store chain illegally sold alcohol to the underage Paul Murdaugh before the crash.
The litigation ultimately helped expose Alex Murdaugh’s finances as investigators uncovered the disgraced attorney’s financial crimes.
Kelly wrote that Matney refused to appear at the Bluffton deposition site on March 27 despite acknowledging she understood the court had denied her efforts to quash the subpoena and ordered the deposition to proceed. Instead, she remained at another law office in Bluffton while Parker’s attorneys waited at the noticed location.
The order notes Matney appeared by Zoom from another law office in Bluffton.
“Based upon the foregoing, there is clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Matney’s failure to appear was not the result of confusion, mistake, or inability, but rather was a deliberate decision to disregard the subpoena and the Court’s March 16, 2026 Order requiring that she be deposed within 14 days,” Kelly wrote.
Kelly also found Matney’s explanation that she feared for her safety was not credible, writing there was “no persuasive evidence” supporting her allegations that Parker’s attorneys were trying to harass her or place her in danger.
Kelly pointed to Matney’s social media posts after the aborted deposition, including photos showing her eating lemon pound cake with attorney Mark Tinsley and later dining in Savannah.
The judge wrote the posts “evidence her intent to defy her obligation to appear at the noticed deposition location.”
Parker’s attorneys originally sought more than $310,000 in fees and costs, but Kelly reduced the award by nearly 45%, ordering Matney to pay $171,500, plus a $5,000 fine.
The court awarded $39,900 to Bannister, Wyatt and Stalvey, LLC; $45,950 to Deborah B. Barbier, LLC; and $85,650 to Maynard Nexsen, PC.
Matney criticized the ruling on Monday in a Facebook post.
“I’m not angry that Judge R Keith Kelly found me in contempt of court. I’m angry that he’s ordering me to pay an unprecedented amount of legal fees ($171,000 + $5,000 in fines),” she wrote.
“The South Carolina Justice system is exactly what I’ve been saying all along — CORRUPT,” she added. “And this is my punishment for calling it like it is.”
Kelly wrote there was “no persuasive evidence” supporting Matney’s repeated allegations that Parker’s attorneys were using the deposition process to harass or bully her.
He also concluded the contempt proceedings resulted from Matney’s own conduct, writing that had she appeared for her deposition or accepted one of several alternate locations offered, “she would not be before the Court on a contempt motion.”