Alex Murdaugh was denied a new trial for murder after his attorneys allegedly tampered with the jury by Colleton County Clerk Rebecca Hill.
Monday’s hearing came after Murdaugh’s lawyers accused Hill of tampering with the jury during the double-murder trial and “advising them to disbelieve Murdaugh’s testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick conviction and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense,” according to the motion for a new trial filed by Murdaugh’s defense attorneys Richard Harpootlian and James Griffin, previously reviewed by PEOPLE.
His attorneys also argued that Hill repeatedly referred to Murdaugh to the jury in ways that made him guilty.
Tracy Glantz/The State via AP
“Ms. Hill did these things to secure book work and media appearances that would not have occurred in the event of a mistrial,” the attorneys argued. “Ms. Hill betrayed her oath for money and fame.”
Last March, Murdaugh was found guilty of the 2021 murders of his wife Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and youngest son Paul Murdaugh, 22. Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before reaching a guilty verdict.
During Monday’s hearing, one juror — identified only as Juror Z — testified that Hill’s comments “made it seem like he was already guilty” during a live broadcast of the hearing. The other 11 jurors denied that Hill influenced their guilty verdicts.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/murdaugh-deaths-2-b5676d00cbe44c479fc6394cc94850a2.jpg)
Maggie Murdaugh, left, and Paul Murdaugh.
Maggie Murdaugh/ Facebook
In her ruling Monday, Judge Jean Toal said Murdaugh’s defense needed to show Hill influenced the jury with the inappropriate comment. While she felt that Hill was “not entirely credible as a witness” and that he was attracted to celebrities, Toal revealed that her comment did not sway jurors.
“I just don’t believe that our South Carolina Supreme Court is requiring a new trial in a very long trial based on some flippant and silly publicity-seeking comments by a clerk of the court,” Toal said.
Want to keep up with the latest crime reports? Sign up for PEOPLE’the free True Crime newsletter for the latest crime news, tracking ongoing trials and details on intriguing unsolved cases.
Following his double-murder conviction in March, Murdaugh was sentenced to two life terms in prison. In November, the disgraced attorney pleaded guilty to 22 financial crimes, including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud and more, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office previously confirmed to PEOPLE.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education