Lawyers for disgraced South Carolina legal scion Alex Murdaugh are asking the state’s highest court to bar the judge who oversaw his murder trial from presiding over any more of his cases, alleging that comments he made after Murdaugh’s sentencing show that it is not impartial.
In a motion filed Wednesday, Murdaugh’s attorneys asked the South Carolina State Supreme Court to block Judge Clifton Newman from hearing Murdaugh’s request for a new trial and an upcoming trial over Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes.
They do not accuse Newman of acting improperly during the murder trial, but instead cite comments he made during the sentencing and in interviews with the Today Show and Cleveland State University after the jury’s guilty verdict.
Speaking to the jury after reaching his verdict that Murdaugh was responsible for the murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul, Newman joked that “all the evidence points to one conclusion, and that is the conclusion to which they have arrived”.
In his speech at Cleveland State, Newman also said that Murdaugh “committed an unforgivable and unimaginable crime and there is no way he can sleep peacefully,” according to the Daily Mail.
He repeated that claim on the Today Show, saying, “I can’t imagine him spending a quiet night knowing what he did.”
Lawyers representing disgraced Alex Murdaugh are asking the South Carolina Supreme Court to bar Judge Clifton Newman from hearing any more of their cases. AP Murdaugh was found responsible for the murder of his wife Maggie and his son Paul in March. Daniel William McKnight for NY Post
Taken together, defense attorneys argue, Newman’s comments indicate that he thought Murdaugh was guilty, which may prevent him from impartially deciding whether the murder trial was fair.
“If the investigator is a judge who denounced Mr. Murdaugh on national television, the decision on the motion for a new trial will not be reviewable and will always be suspect,” the lawyers argue in the motion, obtained by the Post and Courier.
“The bell cannot stop ringing on appeal.”
In an interview with the Today Show after the verdict, Newman questioned how Murdaugh sleeps at night “knowing what he did.” NBCNews
The attorneys also argue that the judge is a material witness to Colleton County Court Clerk Rebecca Hill’s actions during the trial, as they accuse her of influencing the jury by asking their opinion on his guilt even before to conclude the trial, which lawyers said could have suggested to jurors that he thought Murdaugh was guilty.
The lawyers argue in court papers that Hill “directed them not to believe the evidence presented in Mr. Murdaugh’s defense, including her own testimony,” “lied to the judge to remove a juror she believed would not vote guilty.” ” and “put pressure on jurors to reach a guilty verdict quickly so he could profit from it.”
Murdaugh was then sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in March.
Murdaugh’s attorneys are now seeking a new trial, alleging that a county clerk influenced the jury.Facebook
Prosecutors have not yet responded to the motion to remove the judge, but previously wrote a letter to Newman arguing that he should not resign because updating another judge on the many details of the trial would be too costly.
Newman will now preside over a trial beginning Nov. 27 over Murdaugh’s alleged scheme to steal millions from his late housekeeper’s family, unless the State Supreme Court grants the defenses’ request or suspends any trial or hearing until the case is resolved.
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