A PeeDee-area judge has closed a courtroom from the public and reporters as he hears pretrial motions in the death penalty case of a Florence County man charged with the 2018 ambush killings of a deputy and a policeman.
78 year old Frederick Hopkins faces two murder charges, accused of opening fire from a second-floor window on deputies he knew were coming to his house with a search warrant in a sexual abuse case his son would later plead guilty to.
Five other lawmen were wounded by the time it was over. Hopkins was also hit. He is in the courtroom in a wheelchair. Thursday's hearing centered on evidence the judge might later decide to exclude from trial.
The prosecutor did not oppose the motion. In other high-profile cases, judges have ruled previous publicity was so great any extra attention from pretrial proceedings wouldn't change things. The courtroom wasn't closed for evidentiary hearings before the Alex Murdaugh trial despite national attention.
