Motion filed to disqualify Horry County solicitor’s office in murder case

An attorney for a 48-year-old Murrells Inlet man accused of murdering a 32-year-old woman filed a motion to disqualify the Horry County Solicitor’s Office from prosecuting the charges, according to court records.

Randy Gale Robinson, charged with the January 2014 murder of Angie Pipkin, had his defense attorney, Morgan Martin, file a motion on his behalf after Christopher Helms, who was previously a public defender on Robinson’s case, was recently hired by the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Martin could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

“To me it’s no conflict of interest,” Horry County Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said. “It would be something if he discussed the case with us, but he hasn’t. He understands the rules.”

Now a judge will hear from Robinson’s attorney and the solicitor’s office, most likely in December or January, and decide whether the case should be moved to another location in South Carolina outside Horry and Georgetown counties, Richardson said.

“All we’re going to do is tell the truth… I think we’re in good shape,” Richardson said of the possibility of the trial being moved.

Richardson said Martin did what any good defense attorney would do in filing the motion and said it could potentially be grounds for an appeal if this information came out later.

He added there’s no concern about similar motions from Helms’ other cases being filed.

Robinson, who is also charged with obstruction of justice in the case, was arrested in March 2014 and is still being jailed at J. Reuben Long Detention Center, where he is being held without bond for the murder charge and on $5,000 bond for the obstruction charge, according to jail records.

Authorities filed the obstruction charge after they said on Jan. 26, 2014 Robinson gave false, misleading or inaccurate information about Pipkin’s disappearance and his activities during the evening of Jan. 16, 2014, which is when Pipkin was last seen, police said.

Pipkin was reported missing by her mother, who told police that Pipkin's father took her to the IGA grocery store in Aynor to meet a friend, and Robinson is listed in the original police report, but it is not clear if he was the friend Pipkin was planning to meet.

Her remains were found in May 2014 in a Florence County wooded area at a private hunting camp about five miles south of the U.S. 76 bridge over the Great Pee Dee River.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Motion filed to disqualify Horry County solicitor’s office in murder case."