Judge denies Alex Murdaugh’s new double-murder trial, finds clerk of court not credible

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - A South Carolina judge denied Alex Murdaugh’s bid for a new double-murder trial after his defense team accused a clerk of court of tampering with a jury.

Murdaugh was convicted in March of the June 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul.

His defense team petitioned for a new trial back in September, alleging jury tampering on the part of Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill during his murder trial.

However, Judge Jean Toal, former South Carolina Chief Justice, ruled on Monday that even if the clerk did tell jurors to watch Murdaugh’s actions and body language on the stand, the defense failed to prove that such comments directly influenced their decision to find him guilty.

Toal said after reviewing the full transcript of the six-week trial, she couldn’t overturn the verdict based “on the strength of some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-seeking clerk of court.”

“I find that the clerk of court was not completely credible as a witness. Miss Hill was attracted by the siren call of celebrity,” Toal said, issuing her decision at the end of a daylong hearing. But she said that Hill’s comments did not by themselves merit a new trial, because they didn’t actively change the jurors’ minds.

Toal said the 12 jurors who testified all said any comments did not directly influence their decision to find Murdaugh guilty.

Jurors in murder trial questioned on tampering allegations

Two jurors from last year’s Murdaugh murder trial said they heard the Colleton County clerk of court make comments before Murdaugh took the stand in his defense.

The first juror called during a hearing Monday that will decide if Murdaugh will get a new trial said Hill influenced her decision.

A second juror told retired South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal that Hill did make a comment to watch Murdaugh’s body language, but that did not influence his decision on the verdict.

Murdaugh’s attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, accused Hill of pushing the jury to convict their client with comments like, “Don’t be fooled by his testimony.” They also allege she tampered with the jury in order to sell copies of her book about the case.

Their accusations are backed by a sworn statement from of the jury and a witness who says Hill had private conversations with jurors to influence their decisions.

Toal questioned each juror from the trial about accusations that Hill influenced the jury’s verdict.

Juror “Z” was the first of the 11 jurors to be called on Monday. She gave answers that were the opposite of what Juror “X” had given Friday.

When former South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal asked Z about comments she overheard from Hill, she said it affected her verdict.

“To me, it felt like [Hill] made it seem like [Murdaugh] was already guilty,” Z said.

When pressed by Toal after being presented with her original affidavit where she said the jury had pressured her she said it was a more accurate representation of what had happened.

It was after Juror Z left the stand that Toal informed the court the other jurors waiting to be questioned had their cellphones and may have watched the questioning.

Two of the remaining jurors itted to having their phones out in the jury room. Another juror said he could hear the others’ phones, but it would not influence his testimony.

Juror Q also said hearing the questions did not influence his testimony.

Juror K, the other juror with a phone, said she saw the questioning on Facebook and quickly closed the app.

Toal wavered very little on questions as the jurors were brought into court one by one asking if they heard Hill make comments about testimony, arguments made in court or deliberation time.

The jurors were then asked about what comments were heard, who else might have heard them, and if those comments influenced the juror’s decision.

Hill herself was set to take the stand after the court’s lunch break.

Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill testifies

Monday was the first time Becky Hill addressed the allegations, and she denied she ever spoke about the case or Murdaugh at all with jurors.

“I never talked to any jurors about anything like that,” Hill said.

But Judge Jean Toal questioned her truthfulness after Hill said she used “literary license” for some things she wrote about in her book on the trial, including whether she feared as she read the verdict that the jury might end up finding him not guilty.

“I did have a certain way I felt,” Hill said.

Under cross-examination, Hill said she spoke with several anchors and journalists about the possibility of writing a book.

Barnwell County Clerk of Court called to stand by the defense

The Clerk of Court for Barnwell County was brought to the stand to answer questions about her friendship with the Colleton County clerk of court Becky Hill.

Rhonda McElveen, who helped Hill during the trial, said that Hill suggested before the trial that they should write a book on the case together, “because she wanted a lake house and I wanted to retire,” and that a guilty verdict would sell more books.

But under cross-examination, McElveen said she didn’t reach out to the trial judge because she didn’t think any of Hill’s comments or behaviors rose to the level of misconduct.

Copyright 2024 WCSC via Gray Media Group, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.