Alex Murdaugh appeared in a Richland County, South Carolina, courtroom Tuesday morning to discuss his request for a new murder trial.
Lawyers for Murdaugh, who was convicted last year of fatally shooting his wife and son in June 2021 on their family hunting property, are expected to argue that Colleton County Clerk Beck Hill engaged in tampering. jury before finding Murdugh guilty of the double murder.
Murdaugh appeared in an orange jumpsuit alongside his attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian for the pre-hearing proceedings.
South Carolina Judge Jean Toal said Murdaugh’s defense must prove the bias allegations in order to get a new trial. Harpootlian said he wants the 12 jurors who presided over Murdaugh’s trial to testify about what Hill may have told them, and South Carolina prosecutor Creighton Waters argued they should be questioned in private.
Alex Murdaugh appeared in a South Carolina court Tuesday to discuss his request for a new murder trial. AP
Toal later said that the jurors who presided over the double murder trial should be questioned, officially, in open court.
“We will focus on the jurors who heard the case,” the judge said.
Griffin and Harpootlian alleged in their motion for a new trial that Hill advised jurors not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony, pressured the panel to reach a “quick guilty verdict” and lied to the trial judge in a campaign to dismiss a panelist who sympathized with the defense.
“EM. Hill did these things to secure a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial,” the document says. “EM. Hill betrayed his oath for money and fame.”
Murdaugh was convicted of fatally shooting his wife and son in June 2021. AP
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has opened two investigations into Hill’s conduct during the Murdaugh murder trial, including an investigation into allegations that Hill used her position as a secretary to financially benefit from the sales of her book about the case, which he later admitted included plagiarized writings. and another investigation into allegations of jury tampering.
Neil Gordon, co-author of “Behind the Doors of Justice,” said in a news release that Hill used parts of a BBC article in his writing. Since then, book sales have stopped.
Prosecutors are expected to call Hill to the stand on Tuesday. The defense is expected to call retired Judge Clifton Newman, who oversaw the Murdaugh case, and South Carolina prosecutor Creighton Waters.
Judge Jean Toal said Murdaugh’s defense must prove the bias allegations in order to get a new trial. AP
Murdaugh, 55, was sentenced in March to two life sentences for fatally shooting his 52-year-old wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and their son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, in June 2021.
Murdaugh was also sentenced to 27 years in November for his financial crimes. He agreed to plead guilty to 22 charges, including breach of trust, money laundering, forgery and tax evasion, totaling approximately 100 charges totaling up to $10 million in exchange for a 27-year prison sentence.
Murdaugh previously pleaded guilty to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering in federal court.
Fox News’ Chelsea Torres and Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
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