Alex Murdaugh files appeal challenging denial of new trial
Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh is appealing the court’s denial of a new trial in the case of his wife and son’s killings. His lawyers lodged the appeal after Murdaugh’s plea was rejected due to alleged jury tampering. Former clerk Becky Hill resigned amid accusations that she influenced the verdict for potential book sales, although the court found no impact on the jury. Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh is challenging the court’s refusal to grant him a new trial for the murders of his wife and son. Following allegations of jury tampering, his appeal was prompted by the dismissal of his initial plea. Former clerk Becky Hill, under scrutiny for potentially influencing the verdict for personal gain, resigned despite the court concluding no jury tampering took place.
Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh is appealing the court’s decision to deny him a new trial for killing his wife and son.
Murdaugh’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal on April 11, about a week after the disgraced South Carolina attorney received the written order that denied him a new trial, WCSC reported. Murdaugh had previously requested a new trial based on alleged jury tampering by former Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill, who resigned in March, nearly two months after the allegations against her failed to get Murdaugh a new trial.
Murdaugh was denied the new trial in court at the end of January but only received the official written denial earlier this month.
At the time, South Carolina Judge Jean Toal denied Murdaugh’s bid while condemning Hill in her remarks about her ruling, CNN reported. Toal said Hill was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity” and that she “wanted to write a book about the trial and expressed that as early as November 2022, long before the trial began.”
Hill has denied the allegations against her, but Toal determined that Hill had told another clerk and others of “her desire for a guilty verdict because it would sell books.”
“She made comments about Murdaugh’s demeanor as he testified and she made some of those comments before he testified to at least one and maybe more jurors,” Toal said, according to CNN. “Did clerk of court Hill’s comments have any impact on the verdict of the jury? I find that the answer to this question is no.”
Toal further explained that she had personally interviewed each juror and that 11 of them said that they either hadn’t heard any comments from Hill or, of those who had, that those comments did not affect their judgment. The 12th juror, according to Toal, was “ambivalent” during testimony and only said she felt pressure from other jurors.
That juror, according to NPR, testified that Hill made comments that indicated that Hill thought Murdaugh was guilty. Brian Entin, senior national correspondent for NewsNation, posted on X during the hearing that the juror “said her verdict WAS influenced by the clerk of court.”
CBS reported that the juror, identified only as Juror Z, answered “Yes ma’am,” when the judge asked if Hill’s comments affected her vote. The juror later told the judge that she stood by an earlier sworn affidavit that said the other jurors influenced her to vote guilty more than Hill’s comments.
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Murdaugh, 55, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole for the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul.
Murdaugh has denied killing his wife and son but pleaded guilty to various financial crimes and was sentenced to 27 years in prison. He was also sentenced to 40 years in prison for federal financial crimes.
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