By Dianne Gallagher, CNN

(CNN) — South Carolina’s “trial of the century” returns to the courtroom Wednesday, as Alex Murdaugh’s appeal of his double-murder conviction goes before the state’s five Supreme Court justices.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday morning at the South Carolina Supreme Court, where Murdaugh’s attorneys will argue their client deserves a new trial based on alleged jury tampering, prejudicial evidence and failures at trial and during the investigation.

The state maintains Murdaugh was convicted because the evidence against him was overwhelming, arguing in court records he was “obviously guilty” and the jury’s decision was not influenced by anything that Murdaugh’s attorneys allege.

Wednesday’s oral arguments will not feature any witnesses or new testimony but will focus on the legal process of Murdaugh’s case. Regardless, it will mark yet another major moment in a saga that for years has captivated the public, spawning multiple documentaries, miniseries, podcasts and books.

Here’s what you should know:

Who is Alex Murdaugh?

Murdaugh, a once prominent heir to a Lowcountry legal dynasty, is now a disbarred attorney serving two consecutive life sentences for shooting and killing his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, at the family’s hunting property in June 2021.

A Colleton County, South Carolina, jury found him guilty of their murders in March 2023 after a highly publicized six-week trial, which also featured extensive testimony about Murdaugh stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable clients and his own law firm.

Murdaugh later pleaded guilty to dozens of federal and state charges for financial crimes related to a yearslong, wide-ranging scheme to bilk his law firm, clients and the government out of about $9 million. He is serving concurrent state and federal sentences of 27 and 40 years, respectively, for those financial crimes in addition to his life sentences.

What is Murdaugh’s appeal about?

While Murdaugh admitted to the financial crimes, he has consistently maintained he did not kill his wife and son, and he is seeking a new trial to prove his innocence.

To that end, his attorneys’ arguments before the South Carolina Supreme Court will combine two separate appeals – one stemming from a 2024 denial of his motion for a new trial, and another stemming from the trial itself.

In the first, Murdaugh’s attorneys argue former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill improperly influenced jurors during the original trial by making comments implying Murdaugh’s guilt to jurors.

In January 2024, after a one-day evidentiary hearing, retired South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal determined those comments did not influence the jury’s verdict and denied Murdaugh’s request for a new trial. Still, Toal found Hill was “attracted by the si

We begin Tuesday morning with overcast skies and strong winds. A Wind Advisory has been set for most of the coverage zone from 1pm into 1pm Wednesday. Southerly winds will impact the area and cause gusts near 50mph. Small pop up showers begin right around breakfast, only bringing on and off light rain. A cold front will dig through the area late tonight bringing more moderate and uniform rain to the area. High Surf Advisories have been extended to San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura beaches through Wednesday evening. Maximum temperatrues rise into the 60s, bundle up!

More pop up showers begin Wednesday morning. All cells will be small and fast moving, only adding a few tenth of an inch to the rainfall forecast. Highs rise into the 50s and 60s and skies remain mostly cloudy. Winds will be quite strong and can cause downed tree limbs and palm fronds. The total rainfall forecast is calling for a quarter of an inch to a half an inch by the beaches and some high terrain nearing one inch. High rise into the 50s and low 60s, this is one of the cooler days of the week.

We begin to dry out Thursday and Friday. The sun will make an appearance and temperatures are boosted a few degrees. This is short lived as another storm brings rain Valentine's night into Sunday. Models have pushed this system back quite a bit, so it appears that your Valentine's Day celebrations will not be impacted! Sunday and Monday of next week will bring some measurable rain, still looking to be a larger system.

The post Rain begins appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Por Devan Cole, CNN

En aproximadamente dos docenas de casos derivados de la ofensiva inmigratoria del presidente Donald Trump en Minnesota que CNN ha revisado, los jueces federales designados por demócratas y republicanos han tenido que usar términos como “desacato” e “incumplimiento” para llamar la atención del Gobierno para que responda a las órdenes judiciales.

Hasta la fecha, ningún juez del Distrito de Minnesota parece haber declarado a ningún funcionario de la agencia ni a ningún abogado del Departamento de Justicia por desacato civil ni haber impuesto sanciones en casos relacionados con la Operación Metro Surge. Sin embargo, la cantidad de amenazas es considerable.

Muchas de las advertencias de castigo han surgido en casos en los que los jueces concluyeron que un inmigrante fue arrestado ilegalmente y debía ser liberado de inmediato.

Otros problemas de cumplimiento han surgido cuando el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) libera a un extranjero con ciertas condiciones a las que no estaba sujeto antes de su arresto, lo que enfurece a un juez que nunca autorizó la imposición de tales restricciones.

“Esto claramente es insostenible”, declaró la jueza Laura Provinzino, designada por el expresidente Joe Biden, a un alto fiscal del Gobierno a finales del mes pasado. “No puedo seguir permitiendo que (los fiscales federales) violen órdenes tan importantes… Si alguien debe ser liberado, tiene que serlo”.

Los posibles castigos ponen de relieve la tensión latente entre el poder judicial federal, que ha tenido que manejar decenas de casos presentados por inmigrantes que afirman haber sido detenidos ilegalmente en las últimas semanas, y los abogados que defienden la operación de la administración Trump, que a menudo tienen poca comprensión de las acciones de sus clientes de la agencia o la capacidad de mantenerse suficientemente al día con el ritmo de los litigios.

A menudo, un juez es quien ordena al Gobierno que “demuestre causa”, o explique por qué el tribunal no debería declarar en desacato a abogados o funcionarios de la agencia.

Sin embargo, en algunos casos, los abogados que representan a inmigrantes afectados por la ofensiva policial han solicitado al juez que imponga sanciones cuando se han presentado problemas de cumplimiento.

“Es muy poco común que funcionarios del Gobierno federal se enfrenten a sanciones por desacato en los tribunales”, afirmó David Cole, profesor de Derecho de Georgetown y director jurídico de la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles (ACLU). “Sin embargo, se ha vuelto casi rutinario bajo esta administración”.

Las diversas amenazas de desacato buscan “presionar al Gobierno para que cumpla la orden judicial”, dijo Cole. “Una vez que la cumplan, el propósito de esas sanciones se desvanece”.

De hecho, aunque algunas de las amenazas de castigo aún se ciernen sobre el Gobierno, caso tras caso, el asunto se ha diluido después de que los abogados del Departamento de Justicia en la primera línea de la Operación Metro Surge de Trump rectificaran los problemas identificados por el tribunal.

Natalie Baldassarre, portavoz del Departamento de Justicia, insistió en una declaración a CNN que la administración “está cumpliendo con las órdenes judiciales” y atacó a los jueces que cuestionaron las acciones del Gobierno en Minnesota.

“Si los jueces corruptos cumplieran la ley al resolver los casos y respetaran la obligación del Gobierno de prepararlos adecuadamente, no habría una carga abrumadora de casos de hábeas corpus ni preocupación por el cumplimiento de las órdenes por parte del DHS”, Comentó. “El nivel de inmigrantes ilegales actualmente detenidos es resultado directo de las sólidas políticas de seguridad fronteriza de este Gobierno para garantizar la seguridad del pueblo estadounidense”.

By Alicia Wallace, CNN

(CNN) — We’ll get a first look Wednesday at the state of the US job market as 2026 kicked off, as well as a clearer picture of hiring in 2025.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release the January jobs report at 8:30 am ET Wednesday. The crucial employment snapshot is slightly delayed because of the brief government shutdown and will show whether the trajectory improved for the US labor market, which has been stuck in a low-hire and low-fire lull.

Last year, the economy posted its weakest year of job gains outside of a recession since 2003.

The year ended with the economy adding 50,000 jobs in December (roughly matching the average monthly gain for the year) and unemployment dipping to 4.4%, the BLS reported.

“Many workers feel stuck in their careers or feel frozen out of the job market,” said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at employment site Glassdoor.

The all-important churn needed for a healthy labor market has slowed considerably, and there are more people searching for jobs than are available.

The January jobs report will also include a series of critical revisions (namely, the annual benchmark revision) and statistical modeling adjustments that not only will provide a fuller look at past employment trends but also could very well shape our current and future view of the labor market.

There’s going to be a lot to unpack Wednesday, so here’s a cheat sheet to help get up to speed:

What are the expectations for hiring and unemployment in January?

In short: Expect to see more of the same. Heading into this year, economists said monthly job gains could hover around that 50,000-a-month range.

The recent batch of labor market data (both public and private) indicated that there’s a high likelihood that job growth was tepid, unemployment remained subdued and that health care remained a primary driver of overall hiring.

There’s a possibility that seasonal and weather-related factors could result in a stronger-than-expected reading for January: Weaker holiday hiring has meant fewer post-holiday layoffs, and unseasonably warm weather during the early part of last month could have bolstered employment in industries like construction.

Economists’ consensus estimates are for job gains of 80,000 last month and for the jobless rate to stay at 4.4%, according to FactSet.

Why have job gains been relatively sluggish?

There is a combination of factors at play.

On the supply side, Baby Boomers are aging and retiring, population growth has slowed, and there’s been a sharp reduction in immigration and an increase in deportations.

On the demand side: Large employers are whittling down their ranks after over-hiring during the pandemic; high levels of uncertainty – particularly around the Trump administration’s sudden, shifting and sweeping domestic policy changes – have clouded businesses’ decision-making and stifled hiring; firms have shifted some investments away from hiring and toward equipment and technology (including artifi

By Aleks Klosok, CNN

Milan (CNN) — Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned him from wearing his helmet featuring images of athletes killed during the war in Ukraine.

The helmet was worn by the 27-year-old during a Winter Olympics skeleton training session in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Monday.

The athletes featured on the helmet are: weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diver and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel.

In a video posted on social media following his training session, Heraskevych — who carried his country’s flag at the opening ceremony — said Toshio Tsurunaga, the IOC representative in charge of communications between athletes, national Olympic committees and the IOC, had gone to the Athletes’ Village to inform him of the decision.

“A decision that simply breaks my heart. The feeling that the IOC is betraying those athletes who were part of the Olympic movement, not allowing them to be honored on the sports arena where these athletes will never be able to step again,” he says in the video.

“Despite precedents in modern times and in the past when the IOC allowed such tributes, this time they decided to set special rules just for Ukraine.”

CNN Sports has contacted Mr. Tsurunaga for comment.

Heraskevych later told Reuters that the IOC’s decision was because of Rule 50.

Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

The IOC told CNN in an email Monday that: “To date, the IOC has not received any request from the NOC, for the athlete to wear the helmet in the competition. Once a submission is made, the IOC will look at the request.”

Ukraine’s Olympic Committee announced Tuesday that it had submitted a request to the IOC for Heraskevych to wear “a helmet of remembrance” at the Games.

“The helmet was created to honor Ukrainian athletes killed while defending Ukraine or who became victims of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Olympic Committee said in a statement.

“The NOC of Ukraine emphasizes that it fully complies with safety requirements and IOC rules, does not contain advertising, political slogans, or discriminatory elements, and was confirmed as meeting the established standards during official training sessions.”

CNN Sports approached the IOC again Tuesday to ask whether it had received the request.

Speaking to CNN ahead of the Games, the Ukrainian athlete promised to used the event as a platform to remind the world of Russia’s ongoing war in his homeland and hinted that protests could take place.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Read more