Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles denied a motion Tuesday afternoon to dismiss double murder charges against Hiralkumar Gopaldas because of prosecutorial misconduct.
He turned the case over to the South Carolina Attorney General's Office for prosecution and turned the investigation over to the State Law Enforcement Division.
The case was previously being investigated by the Florence County Sheriff's Office and was set to be prosecuted by the 12th Circuit Solicitor's Office. We contacted Solicitor Ed Clements who said he had yet to see the judge's order. We have left a message with the sheriff's office to get their reaction to the case being moved.
Florence County deputies arrested Gopaldas June for the murders of his estranged wife, Punam Gopaldas, and her mother, Vinaben Patel. They were stabbed to death.
Last month, Gopaldas' attorney, Rosemary Parham, asked Judge Nettles to dismiss the charges against her client on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.
In motions filed by Parham, she says a conversation she had with the solicitor and her co-counsel was secretly recorded as they met to review the physical evidence in this case.
Parham says a Florence County Sheriff's Office Evidence Custodian, who was also there, hit his left side with a box at one point, and they heard their conversation from a few moments earlier playing on a recording device.
Parham says the evidence custodian admitted he recorded the meeting on a hidden recorder in his pants and said he was told by someone at the sheriff's office to do it.
Judge Nettles asked state police to investigate Parham's claims and ruled on their findings.
Gopaldas remains in jail at the Florence County Detention Center.
Gopaldas' father, Ranjit Kalabhai, is also charged in the murders.
He's been released from jail on bond.
