S.C. Supreme Court will hear Murdaugh jury-tampering case

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The South Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear arguments and decide if a judge ruled incorrectly that former Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh shouldn’t be granted a new murder trial over a claim of jury tampering.

The 56-year-old Murdaugh was convicted of the June 7, 2021, killings of his wife and son at their Colleton County home on March 2, 2023. He is currently serving two life sentences for the crimes.

Murdaugh’s attorneys have argued that he wasn’t given a fair trial because of jury tampering by the former Colleton County court clerk Becky Hill, claiming she used the trial to promote herself and her book.

The defense claims former South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal got the decision to grant Murdaugh a new trial wrong when she denied the appeal despite saying Hill was not credible and letting attention overcome her duty.

“The trial court abused its discretion when finding that the jury’s verdict was not affected by Ms. Hill’s tampering despite a juror’s uncontradicted testimony that her verdict was affected,” the defense said. “And 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.”

The defense argued “there is an irrebuttable presumption of prejudice when a state official secretly advocates a guilty verdict” based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion that jury tampering is “presumptively prejudicial” in criminal trials.

Defense attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin pushed for a motion to certify the case by the Supreme Court ahead of an appeal saying the case concerns an issue of significant public interest and a legal principle of major importance.

“The issue of significant public interest is whether the verdict returned after Mr.Murdaugh’s internationally televised murder trial should be overturned due to unprecedented jury tampering by a state official, the former Colleton County Clerk of Court,” attorneys said in a July filing. “The legal principle of major importance is whether it is presumptively prejudicial for a state official to secretly advocate for a guilty verdict through ex parte s with jurors during trial, or whether a defendant, having proven the s occurred, must also somehow prove the verdict would have been different at a hypothetical trial in which the surreptitious advocacy did not occur.”

In January, Toal heard from jurors and Hill about her alleged jury tampering, a move the defense said was to help promote sales of Hill’s book.

Toal ruled there was insufficient evidence to grant a new trial. She said that even if Hill had told jurors to watch Murdaugh’s actions and body language during the trial, the defense failed to prove the comments directly influenced the jurors’ decisions.

Hill’s book was pulled from publication after she itted to plagiarizing a section of the book.

Hill ultimately resigned from the county clerk position after the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division opened an investigation into allegations that she used her elected position for personal gain.

Murdaugh’s attorneys argue state prosecutors did not try to deny the absence of prejudice in the case and that it was proven at the January hearing.

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