SC Supreme Court Gives Murdaugh Answer He Wanted

Alex Murdaugh's claims that a court clerk tampered with the jury during his murder trial—and his related request for a retrial because of that—will be heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court. Murdaugh was found guilty in March 2023 of the 2021 murders of wife Maggie and son Paul and received a life sentence. Months later, his attorneys pointed a finger at Becky Hill, who they allege told jurors not to trust Murdaugh or "be fooled" by their evidence and pushed jurors to rapidly settle on a guilty verdict. She has denied the charges.

The Guardian reports a trial court rejected Murdaugh's request for a new trial in January, with Judge Jean Toal saying that while she couldn't vouch for the veracity of Hill's denials, the jurors told her any comments Hill might have made did not directly shape their decision to find Murdaugh guilty. Murdaugh's lawyers appealed, writing, "The trial court erred when it held that deliberate jury tampering by a state official seeking a guilty verdict was harmless because, in its opinion, the correct verdict was rendered regardless." They added, per the BBC, "there is an irrebuttable presumption of prejudice when a state official secretly advocates a guilty verdict." The state supreme court agreed to take the case in an order signed Tuesday.

It's been a messy period for Hill, who was reportedly hit with 76 counts of ethics violations by state officials last year, among them that she was biased against Murdaugh as evidenced by a book she published in the aftermath of the trial. The BBC reports she's slated to appear before the State Ethics Commission in December. Hill has also been accused of plagiarism in connection with that book, and has resigned from the Colleton County Court.