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by WILL FOLKS
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A South Carolina circuit court judge has ruled that a true crime podcaster willfully disobeyed a valid subpoena – and a court order – by failing to appear for a deposition in a high-profile civil lawsuit.
According to S.C. circuit court judge Keith Kelly, Lowcountry-based podcaster Mandy Matney “disobeyed both a valid subpoena and this court’s order” when she did not appear for a March 27, 2026 deposition in a case tangentially tied to the ‘Murdaugh Murders‘ crime and corruption saga.
“It is undisputed that despite a valid subpoena, Ms. Matney did not attend the deposition,” judge Kelly wrote in his order (.pdf).
Matney, a former FITSNews reporter, is not a party to the lawsuit – a spinoff of a since-settled 2019 wrongful death case that many believe initiated the unraveling of convicted killer Alex Murdaugh. The spinoff case continues to attract attention within true crime circles given its proximity to the late Paul Murdaugh, who was murdered on June 7, 2021 along with his mother, Maggie Murdaugh. A Colleton County jury determined Alex Murdaugh committed both murders, although those verdicts are now in serious jeopardy due to documented jury tampering and alleged jury rigging.
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The spinoff case focuses on allegations related to the improper disclosure of confidential mediation materials related to the original wrongful death lawsuit – which was settled in July 2023. Among the materials allegedly released in violation of a court order were photographs of the dead body of Mallory Beach, whose family filed the wrongful death action against a host of defendants.
It is not immediately clear why attorneys in the case sought Matney’s deposition.
Matney insists she did not appear at the March 27, 2026 deposition because she believed the location was “an obvious security risk,” and that the attorneys seeking to depose her “were behaving like bullies who wanted revenge on me by intentionally inflicting emotional distress.”
“I was unable to put myself in harms way,” she stated.
According to Matney, she wanted the deposition to be held at another location – a facility “where I had paid for private security to protect everyone in attendance.”
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“I sat ready, willing and able to be deposed at the location where I felt safe communicating and ready to answer questions,” Matney insisted.
A tearful Matney appeared in court last month for what she referred to as “brutal” questioning from attorneys representing Savannah, Georgia convenience store magnate Greg Parker, one of the defendants in the spinoff lawsuit. According to the podcaster, Parker’s attorneys “were using the power of the court to harass me in any way they could.”
Matney was accompanied at the hearing by a bodyguard, but reporter John Monk of The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper – the only journalist present in the courtroom during the hearing – noted the absence of any threat to her safety.
There were no threats while she was there; in fact, the courthouse was nearly empty,” Monk wrote.
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RELATED | MURDAUGH APPEAL RUMORS SWIRL
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Nonetheless, Matney has consistently claimed she fears for her life owing to the powerful people she exposes on her podcasts.
“Women who are in fear for their lives should not be punished by the court for standing up for their safety,” Matney wrote. “Journalists who expose powerful attorneys and billionaires should not be scared into silence. People who speak truth to power shouldn’t fear lawyers using the court system to seek revenge. Attorneys who use their positions (as) officers of the court to bully, harass and defame journalists should be held accountable.”
Kelly has ordered Matney to appear at the Moss Justice Center in York, S.C. on Friday, May 15, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. EDT “to show cause, if she can, as to why she should not be held in contempt of court for willfully failing to comply with the duly issued subpoena… and the order of this court.”
Matney’s husband and business partner, David Moses, has asked her supporters to appear at the courthouse on her behalf, while Matney has specifically requested they wear pink in solidarity.
While it is unclear what sanctions judge Kelly might impose in the event he determines Matney to have been in contempt, the podcaster told her audience this week that “jail is not on the table (as far as I’m concerned).”
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THE ORDER…
(S.C. Judicial Branch)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
On appeal Matney will walk IF she’s held in contempt. Kelly shut down every attempt her lawyers made to “reach an amicable deposition”, she is a journalist and most importantly, she isn’t a party to the actual lawsuit. Parker is a POS and his lawyers are worse.
The Colonel: can anything be worse in your book than arranging for the shooting of a man’s beloved wife and younger son then ensuring the shootings are pinned on the grieving widower and father?
Has anyone other than I really read Malicious Mandy Matney’s (“MMM”) book cover to cover?
Any intelligent reader with impartiality would be compelled to conclude that MMM happily and “giggly-ly” arranged for the shooting of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh and for the pinning of the shootings on Alex.
I pray this all comes out in her contempt hearing.