In information released Wednesday evening, the city of Raleigh water reported “No vegetative damage or fish kill has been observed in connection with this incident.”

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality reported the spill originated in the 2800 block of Airport Boulevard. Upon arrival Tuesday night, utility responders identified an active sanitary sewer overflow emanating from a sewer lift station bypass under the control of a private contractor performing work for a private developer.

Staff confirmed that the overflow was the result of a failed joint within a pipe that was set in place to bypass a forced sewer main that serves the Brier Creek pump station. A pump and haul operation commenced while the contractor worked to repair the bypass piping.

Some of the earliest video of the spill was posted on the site: www.facebook.com/raleighdowntown.

According to a press release from the city of Raleigh, discharge from the failed bypass was contained within two excavated pits within the construction site on the RDU International Airport property and did not reach surface waters. It is estimated that approximately 1,143,800 gallons of untreated wastewater were discharged from the failed bypass pipe.

Capital Improvements Division staff worked to assist the contractor with the repair of the bypass, which was completed around 10 p.m. Tuesday, stopping the overflow at that time. Collection of the wastewater discharged on the construction site property is ongoing.

During the pump and haul operation, a contractor hired by the construction project general contractor mistakenly discharged wastewater from this incident into a storm drain in the vicinity of 7601 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh. This resulted in wastewater reaching surface waters via Turkey Creek. Work to collect the discharged wastewater and clean the affected creek is ongoing. The contractor has yet to provide data to allow estimation of the total amount that reached surface waters.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and The Division of Water Resources, was notified of this incident on May 13, 2026, at 8 a.m. Staff from the Division of Water Resources conducted site visits of both locations. Additional follow-up will be completed in the coming weeks.

On its facebook page, the organization Sound Rivers recommended all community members avoid contact with Turkey Creek and Crabtree Creek downstream of the Lynn Rd and Glenwood Ave intersection until cleanup is complete and water quality samples are clean.

If you experience excessive sewer smells or see sewer spilling from manholes or pipes, please call 919-996-3245 to report immediately.

On Saturday May 2, 2026, deputies received a report of an alleged sexual assault that first occurred in 2005 in Wake County.

After an investigation and consulting with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, Steven Kohls, 57, was charged with eight counts of sexual activity by a custodian, three counts of sex offense – parental role, and two counts of statutory sex offense of a child by an adult.

On Wednesday (May 13), Kohls was taken into custody and processed into the Wake County Detention Center.

Due to the nature of these crimes, no additional information is available.

Rep. Mike Schietzelt spoke to reporters Wednesday (May 13) about House Bill 1199, also known as the “Seatbelt Act,” specifically Section Three, which focuses on impaired driving. Schietzelt explained how this part of the bill works.

“What part three of House Bill 1199 does is it takes all offenders, who are convicted of DWI offenses and requires them to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle,” he said. An ignition interlock device is more commonly known as a car breathalyzer. It works by requiring a driver to blow into the device to measure their breath alcohol concentration, and the car will not allow that person to drive if it exceeds the limit set on the device.

“By voluntarily placing an ignition interlock device in your car, you show that you’re serious about accountability. It shows that you’re serious about changing behaviors,” he added. Schietzelt said that the purpose behind this initiative is not punitive, but to change behavior. “This bill is about trying to do something that actually works, rather than throw somebody in jail, rather than suspend somebody’s license.”

Chris Konschak, Senior Director, Traffic Safety and Government Relations for Responsibility.org, said that the evidence is clear that ignition interlock devices work. “Research shows that approximately 75% of drivers with suspended or revoked licenses continue to drive anyway. Simply taking away a license does not physically stop someone from getting behind the wheel after drinking.” Konschak said studies show the devices reduce repeat drunk driving offenses by roughly 70% when installed.

Stephanie Ronan, a survivor of a drunk driving incident where the driver who hit her was driving on a suspended license, Rep. Dr. Tim Reeder, an emergency department physician and co-sponsor of the bill, and Jeanette Best, a volunteer with MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) also spoke in support of the legislation.

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, was confirmed Wednesday in a largely party-line 54-45 vote and will replace Jerome Powell as chair at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency.

Inflation has topped the Fed’s 2% target for five years and is now rising faster because of spiking gas prices. The Fed’s interest rate-setting committee is divided and saw the most dissenting votes in more than three decades last month. And Powell, after years of personal attacks from Trump and an unprecedented Justice Department investigation, plans to remain on the Fed’s board even after his term as chair ends, potentially creating a competing power center.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a floor speech that it’s critical that a Fed chair “understand not only the macro” but also “appreciate the microeconomy: and that’s the hardworking Americans, their jobs and their livelihoods.”

“Kevin Warsh is just such a person,” Thune said.

Trump has demanded change at the Federal Reserve

The Fed has faced threats to its independence from Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates. Trump also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and launched an investigation into Powell’s Senate testimony about a building renovation.

The probe of Powell had threatened to derail Warsh’s nomination, as Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina vowed to withhold support until the investigation was terminated. The probe was ultimately dropped in April. Every Republican voted for Warsh on Wednesday, as did Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he believes the markets are relieved that Warsh “is going to help lower interest rates over time.”

“Obviously, data driven,” said Hassett. “I’m not putting any pressure on Kevin Warsh.”

In December, Trump said on his social media platform that he wanted a Fed chair who would cut interest rates when the stock market rose — the opposite of what traditional economics would prescribe — and added, “Anyone that disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman!”

Trump’s comments have fueled concerns over whether Warsh will set rates based on economic conditions or instead seek to appease Trump, even if doing so could worsen inflation. At Warsh’s confirmation hearing last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, derided him as a “sock puppet” for Trump.

Still, Warsh denied at the hearing that Trump had pressured him to reduce the Fed’s key rate.

“I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve,” he said.

A critic of the Fed’s leadership in the past

Warsh has been highly critical of the Fed’s recent track record, particularly the inflation spike in 2021-22, the worst in four decades.

He has called for limiting the Fed’s communications, which would be a sharp shift after decades of growing transparency. He has argued that some of its communications tools, such as quarterly forecasts of where its key rate may head, have made it harder for officials to switch gears.

Senate Democrats have also condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his wealth, which amounts to at least $100 million. His investments include stakes in Polymarket and SpaceX, but he hasn’t revealed the size of those holdings. He promised to sell all such assets within 90 days of being sworn in.

“He will be the wealthiest Fed chair in history, but he refuses to provide transparency to the American people about who he is entangled with,” Warren said.

Warsh faces

difficult economic conditions

The Fed is still grappling with how to respond to the 50% spike in gas prices caused by the war in Iran. The increase has boosted inflation, which reached 3.8% in April.

The Fed is tasked by Congress with keeping prices stable, which it seeks to do by raising its short-term rate to make borrowing and spending more expensive, cooling growth and inflation.

The Fed typically looks past temporary price increases that stem from supply disruptions, such as the war’s cutoff of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, because those prices typically level off — or even fall — once supply is restored.

But the Fed also followed that approach after the coronavirus pandemic snarled global supply chains. Inflation turned out to last longer than expected, and Powell and other Fed officials have acknowledged that they waited too long to raise rates. Inflation surged to 9.1% by June 2022.

The Fed’s rate-setting committee has kept rates unchanged for three straight meetings as it evaluates the spike in gas prices. At its most recent meeting last month, three members of the committee objected to language that suggested its next move would be a rate cut. They preferred more neutral language that would allow for a hike. Many Fed watchers saw those dissents as a warning shot to Warsh that he won’t be able to easily engineer rate reductions.

A fourth member of the 12-member committee, Stephen Miran, dissented in favor of a rate cut, as he has at every meeting since Trump appointed him to the Fed’s board last September. Miran is serving until a replacement is named, and Warsh will take his spot.

Powell, meanwhile, said at a news conference on April 29 that he would remain as a Fed governor until the Justice Department closes its investigation into the Fed’s building project, the first time a chair may stay on the board for an extended period since 1948. His term as a governor lasts until January 2028.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has dropped the government’s probe, but she has said it could be reopened if the Fed’s inspector general, which has looked into the renovation project since last July, finds evidence of criminal activity.

NEW YORK (AP) — A rebound for technology stocks led Wall Street to records Wednesday, even though the majority of U.S. stocks fell following another discouraging update on inflation.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and topped its prior all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 67 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite set its own record after climbing 1.2%.

Gains for tech stocks led the way, like Micron Technology’s 4.8% and On Semiconductor’s 11.1%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia, the chip company that was among the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.3% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because of its immense size. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, got an invitation to join President Donald Trump on his trip to China, where they could discuss allowing shipments of Nvidia AI chips to the world’s second-largest economy.

Earlier in the day, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. said that its profit for the 12 months through March zoomed by nearly five-fold from the previous year as its AI investments paid off. China’s Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud growth accelerated in the latest quarter, and its stock that trades in the United States rose 8.2% even though its overall results fell short of analysts’ expectations.

But the majority of stocks outside of the technology industry fell, as pressure builds on Wall Street.

“Corporate earnings and AI momentum are acting as the market’s primary shock absorbers, but the road is getting significantly rougher,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

A report on Wednesday showed that inflation at the U.S. wholesale level was considerably worse last month than economists expected. That followed a report on Tuesday showing accelerating inflation at the U.S. consumer level.

Prices are rising for fuel, transportation and all kinds of other things because of tariffs, bad weather affecting food prices and other reasons. But atop them all is the jump in oil prices created by the war with Iran, which has slowed the global flow of crude to customers worldwide.

On Wednesday, oil prices moved more modestly following big gains early in the week, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 2% to settle at $105.63.

But it remains well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war, and the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that oil inventories worldwide are depleting at a record pace. The resulting jump in oil prices has forced traders to give up most hopes for a cut to interest rates this year by the Federal Reserve. If anything, a hike to rates seems like the next-best bet after no move in rates this year.

Wall Street generally loves lower rates because they would give the economy a boost by making mortgages and other loans cheaper. They can also push upward on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments, but the downside is they can worsen inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.47% from 4.46% late Tuesday and is well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

The rise in yields helped send stocks of utilities and real-estate owners to some of the sharper losses in the S&P 500. Such companies tend to pay relatively big dividends, which become less attractive to investors looking for income when bonds are paying more in interest.

American Electric Power fell 3% after announcing a $2.6 billion offering of its stock.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Birkenstock Holding dropped 12.9% after the British company said its results for the latest quarter were hurt by U.S. tariffs and other factors.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 43.29 points to 7,444.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 67.36 to 49,693.20, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 314.14 to 26,402.34.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi led the way with a jump of 2.6%. It had sunk 2.3% the day before, after a senior figure in the administration suggested the government may redistribute windfall AI profits from companies to citizens. That sapped momentum from AI stocks worldwide on Tuesday.

___

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Jackson has won a preliminary injunction against the owners of Holly Christina Photography. Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins Jr. has ordered the company to deliver all edited and unedited photos and videos within the next 30 days to couples who paid for them and haven’t received them yet.

In addition, all assets owned by the company are now frozen and the defendants have been ordered not do business while the case continues.

“We took this company to court to get justice for brides and grooms who were left without the wedding photos and videos that they paid for,” Jackson said. “This court order is an important step in getting these couples back the memories of their wedding day. It’s also a warning to other businesses who scam consumers: if you come for North Carolinians, we’ll come for you.”

In February Jackson filed a lawsuit against Holly Christina Scott Ayscue, Christopher Owen Ayscue, and their company, Holly Christina Photography. The complaint alleges that they misled and deceived brides, engaged couples, and their families by failing to provide the photography and videography services they promised.

“I have spent hours trying to find a videographer and photographer for my upcoming wedding. This has created a financial strain because I am out of a significant amount of money for services that will not be rendered by HCP,” said Alexis Sullivan, who hired Holly Christina Photography for her wedding earlier this year.

Wedding Couples Share Their Stories

Lauren Mortell, who hired Holly Christina Photography for her wedding this month, said, “I have to spend $7,500 to hire a new photographer. Because I already paid HCP, I am unable to get a videographer. I am nervous about contracting with another company because of what I have gone through with HCP.”

Under the preliminary injunction, the owners of the company are prohibited from moving, concealing, or disposing of any of their money or any of their customers’ money without permission from the court while the lawsuit is pending.   They also agreed that they will not enter into contracts, accept advance payments, advertise, or offer photography or videography services while the case is ongoing.

Since January, the Department of Justice has received 217 complaints from customers of the company alleging approximately $1 million in total financial loss. The business, which primarily sold wedding photo and video packages, failed to provide some or all of the services promised to hundreds of customers.

At least 38 clients received only sneak peeks of their photos and not their full gallery, and approximately 35 clients received only unedited photos when they had paid for editing services. At least 150 customers requested refunds on down payments, but the defendants never provided those refunds.

Additionally, the business double-booked or triple-booked clients on dozens of dates, and in many cases used backup photographers without approval from clients. They also deceptively advertised “last spot” bookings to pressure couples into buying their services.

Some clients paid an upfront deposit, at least $1,500 for most customers, and more than half of customers who complained paid the full cost upfront, an average of about $4,500.

On January 25, the company suddenly shut down, but they continued taking deposits from customers. When the business shut down, at least 29 couples were less than 90 days out from their weddings and were left scrambling to find a new photographer.

Jackson’s complaint seeks a permanent injunction, restitution for the victims, and civil penalties.

The company is looking to fill production roles across assembly, logistics and fabrication—on all shifts.

Caterpillar says these jobs offer competitive pay, benefits and monthly incentive opportunities, with starting wages around 18 dollars an hour—and higher pay for skilled roles like welding.

And, no prior manufacturing experience is required.

“Our Sanford facility plays a critical role in building the compact equipment that supports solving our customers’ toughest challenges,” said Gareth Jones, the Sanford Facility Manager in a press release, “Our focus on delivering a best‑in‑class small and compact equipment sales experience will drive strong business growth for these products across our facilities, including Sanford. We’re continuing to invest in skilled employees who build the high‑quality machines our customers expect.”

The company provides on-the-job training, giving people in the community a chance to build new skills and start long-term careers.

These workers will help build compact track loaders at the Sanford facility—part of a modern manufacturing environment focused on safety, quality and teamwork.

Caterpillar has been in Sanford for more than 25 years and a 665,000-square-foot campus in Lee County.

Americans paid more for their groceries last month, but high gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war were only one of the reasons why.

Prices for food eaten at home rose 2.9% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government figures released Tuesday. That was the highest year-over-year inflation rate for the category since August 2023.

Prices at restaurants, fast-food chains and other places to get prepared meals also increased, putting overall food prices up 3.2% in the last year, the Labor Department’s consumer price index showed.

Fuel prices have soared while the Iran war prevents cargo ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil supplies. Diesel fuel powers fishing boats, tractors and the trucks that ship 83% of U.S. agricultural products. As of Tuesday, the average price per gallon was up 61% from a year ago, according to AAA.

The meat, produce and dry goods vendors that supply Sparrow Market, a small independent grocer in Ann Arbor, Michigan, all added fuel surcharges to their deliveries in recent weeks, owner Raymond Campise said. Wholesale prices for meat, produce and some other products also have gone up, he said.

“For independent markets operating on narrow margins, even small increases can have a major impact,” Campise said.

The full impact of rising energy costs on food likely has not hit retail grocery prices yet in the U.S., according to Purdue University economists Ken Foster and Bernhard Dalheimer. Higher costs to produce, process, store and transport food can take three to six months to show up on supermarket shelves, where prices typically fall slowly once increased, they said.

“Most of what we’re seeing now in the food price chain probably predates the conflict,” Foster, a professor of agricultural economics, said. “We’re cautiously waiting to see what the June numbers and the May numbers might show as they come out in terms of … the extent to which energy shocks in the Strait of Hormuz and shipping blockades and so forth are going to impact food prices.”

The consumer price index measures changes in what people in U.S. cities paid at retail stores for meat, bread, milk, produce and other grocery staples. Over the last 20 years, grocery prices increased an average of 2.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Prices for perishable and refrigerated products tend to increase faster than prices for packaged goods when energy is an issue. Consumers paid 6.5% more for fresh fruit and vegetables in U.S. cities last month than they did in April 2025, and 8.8% more for meat, the Labor Department reported.

But U.S. trade policies and extreme weather also have weighed on U.S. food prices in the last year. In July 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 17% duty on fresh tomatoes imported from Mexico; consumer prices rose 40% in the 12 months before April.

Dry weather in the Western U.S. has been one of many factors pushing up beef prices, which in April were 15% higher year-over-year. Coffee prices were up 18.5%, partly due to drought and other weather conditions that have hurt global coffee production in recent years.

“Today’s CPI showed that food prices have been rising 3.2 percent in the past year, but the story behind that number is more complicated than just an energy shock,” said Dalheimer, an assistant professor of macroeconomics and trade in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

Prices for some foods remained more or less flat or declined over 12 months. Milk and chicken dipped slightly. Butter cost 5.8% less in April than it did a year earlier. Egg prices fell 39% as farmers rebuilt flocks that were decimated by an ongoing bird flu outbreak.

Food prices and broader inflation are likely to feature prominently in November’s midterm elections. During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump often cited the prices of bacon, cereal, crackers and other groceries as reasons why voters should return him to the White House.

Some food producers say they’re struggling now because of higher fuel costs. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents shrimpers in eight states, said some boats haven’t left the dock this spring because they can’t catch enough shrimp to compensate for the cost of diesel.

Fuel typically makes up 30% to 50% of the costs for U.S. shrimpers, but because they supply only 6% of the shrimp that Americans consume, they have limited ability to raise prices or add surcharges for fuel, the organization said.

Higher fuel prices may also be impacting food costs in other ways. Part of April’s 5% annual increase in prices for nonalcoholic beverages may be due to the petroleum derivative that goes into making plastic bottles, Foster said.

“It’s possible some of that’s starting to seep down the supply chain and get into those prices,” he said.

Over the next year or more, Americans could also see higher food prices due to spiking fertilizer costs, since around 30% of the world’s fertilizer travels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fertilizer costs are less of an issue for U.S. farmers this year, since many already had fertilizer supplies in place before the war began, according to Foster. But the effects could become more noticeable next year if the war drags on, he said.

“I expect the Iran conflict to impact the coming years’ food prices through a couple of channels. One, the energy costs and transportation handling. The other would be through packaging costs,” Foster said. “If the conflict were to last longer, then we might see more coming online as fertilizer prices start to impact longer-term planting decisions and cropping decisions.”

“The North Carolina Museum of History is one of the true gems of our state,” said Pamela B. Cashwell, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in a press release.

“This new brand honors the museum’s history while helping carry its work forward for the people of North Carolina,” she said.

Before closing for renovation, the museum welcomed around half a million visitors each year, including more than 83,000 schoolchildren. Those visitors came for field trips, festivals, exhibitions, programs and family memories. Many also remember the Wright Flyer in the lobby, a familiar part of the museum experience and a symbol now carried into the new brand.

The North Carolina Museum of History’s new logo features a refreshed Wright Flyer. 

The new logo is a refreshed Wright Flyer, keeping a symbol familiar to many museum visitors. The color palette pulls from North Carolina’s natural landscape, with deep, rich tones inspired by the mountains, sandhills, and coast. These new brand elements continue to build on the museum’s mission to collect, preserve and interpret the state’s history.

“This brand feels fresh and bold, but it also feels true to who we are,” said C.J. Roberts, director of the Division of State History Museums.  “It reflects the pride people feel in this museum and the trust placed in us to care for North Carolina’s stories.”

While the building is closed for renovation, the museum continues to serve audiences through exhibitions, educational programs, public events and outreach across the state. When the museum reopens, in 2028, the renovation will expand the building and create more space to share artifacts and stories from across North Carolina.

Audiences will begin seeing the new brand across the museum’s website, social media, programs and outreach materials in the coming weeks.

infrastructure improvements and additional gallery space. During this time, the museum continues to engage audiences through in-person programs, virtual offerings and partnerships across North Carolina. The museum is part of the Division of State History Museums within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

To learn more, visit ncmuseumofhistory.org.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Prosecutors said they plan to retry disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh on murder charges in the shooting deaths of his wife and younger son after the state Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned his conviction and life sentence.

State Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office respected the court’s decision, but no one is above the law.

In a unanimous ruling Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court said the conduct by the court clerk “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted. They also said the trial judge went too far in allowing evidence of Murdaugh’s financial crimes into his murder trial.

Murdaugh won’t be getting out of prison. The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence.

Still, the ruling is a win for Murdaugh, who admits to being a thief, liar, insurance cheat and bad lawyer, but has adamantly denied killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul since he found their bodies outside their home in 2021.

The justices ruled Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill, assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, influenced jurors to find Murdaugh guilty. She hoped to improve sales of a book she was writing about the case.

The name of the book was “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.” It was pulled from publication after plagiarism allegations were made.

“As her book’s title suggests, it turns out Hill was quite busy behind the doors of justice, thwarting the integrity of the justice system she was sworn to protect and uphold,” the justices wrote in an unsigned 27-page ruling.

Hill has since pleaded guilty to lying about what she said and did to a different judge.

Murdaugh’s lawyers also argued before the high court that the judge at his 2023 trial made rulings that prevented a fair trial, such as allowing evidence of Murdaugh stealing from clients that had nothing to do with the killings but biased jurors against him.

They detailed the lack of physical evidence — no DNA or blood was found splattered on Murdaugh or any of his clothes, even though the killings were at close range with powerful weapons that were never found.

Prosecutors argued that the clerk’s comments were fleeting and the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming. His lawyer said that didn’t matter because the comments a juror said she made — urging jurors to watch Murdaugh’s body language and listen to his testimony carefully — removed his presumption of innocence before the jury ever deliberated.

Murdaugh’s legal drama continues to captivate. There have been streaming miniseries, bestselling books and dozens of true crime podcasts about how the multimillionaire Southern lawyer whose family dominated and controlled the legal system in tiny Hampton County ended up in a maximum-security South Carolina prison.

The justices in their ruling praised prosecutors, the defense team and the judge for outstanding work, heaping all the blame for having to try Murdaugh again on Hill.

Hill’s attorney in her criminal case didn’t return a phone call or email seeking comment.

Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the justices wrote. “Our justice system provides — indeed demands — that every person is entitled to a fair trial,”