Judge rejects new trial for Alex Murdaugh in double murder case

Charleston, S.C. (CN) — A judge denied a new trial for Alex Murdaugh after ruling Monday that an elected court clerk’s “foolish remarks” to jurors did not impact their decision to convict the ex-attorney of murder last year.

The judge’s decision came after a day-long hearing during which several jurors reported that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill made inappropriate comments about Murdaugh’s case.

Two jurors reported Hill told them to watch Murdaugh closely as he testified at last year’s trial. One of those jurors said Hill told them before deliberations, “This shouldn’t take us long.”

“To me, it felt like she made it seem like he was already guilty,” she testified.

The juror said Hill’s comments and pressure from fellow jurors influenced her guilty verdict.

An alternate juror testified that Hill warned them that the defense would “distract” or “mislead” them during their presentation.

“Everybody could hear it,” she said.

Hill took the witness stand and denied discussing the case with jurors. Other jurors did not report hearing the clerk’s remarks.

Jean Toal, a former South Carolina Supreme Court Justice appointed to hear arguments, determined that Hill was “not completely credible” in her testimony, but her comments did not influence the jurors.

The judge’s decision was a setback for the 55-year-old defendant, who has maintained he is innocent in the fatal shooting of his wife Maggie and their son Paul almost three years ago at the family’s hunting estate.

The brutal crime and subsequent investigation captured national attention before the trial. Murdaugh’s attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, argued in their motion for a new trial that Hill hoped a guilty verdict would boost sales of her self-published book.

Toal agreed the clerk failed in her duties in a quest for publicity.

“Mrs. Hill was attracted by the siren song of celebrity,” Toal said.

Barnwell County Clerk of Court Rhonda McElveen testified that Hill told her two months before trial that she wanted to write a book so she could build a lake house. Hill denied the conversation took place.

Hill testified that she and her co-author made about $100,000 from the book, but she denied she wanted a guilty verdict. She acknowledged she took some “literary license” during the writing, including a made-up passage where she claimed to lock eyes with a juror and share a thought — he’s guilty.

While one juror said Hill’s statements influenced her verdict, Toal described her response as “ambivalent.” In a prior affidavit, the juror said it was pressure from other members of the jury that influenced her verdict.

Murdaugh is expected to appeal Toal’s decision.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement after the hearing that Murdaugh's convictions were based solely on the facts and evidence in the case.

"He will spend the rest of his life behind bars because he was found guilty," Wilson said. "It is time to move on from Alex Murdaugh.”

Even if Murdaugh’s conviction was overturned, he would remain in prison.

The disbarred attorney was sentenced in November to 27 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients of his family law firm.

Follow @SteveGarrisonPC

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