Alex Murdaugh is now a step closer to a new murder trial. The South Carolina Court of Appeals issued a ruling Tuesday that sends his case back to circuit court to consider allegations of jury tampering by Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca "Becky" Hill, per WJCL. Murdaugh's legal team is seeking a new trial based on allegations that Hill improperly advised jurors, telling them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony, and pressured them to reach a speedy verdict—by withholding smoke breaks, for example. Tuesday's ruling allows Murdaugh to suspend the appeal of his double murder conviction while the lower court determines if the allegations are credible. If they are, a new trial could be ordered.
In a filing last month, which included sworn affidavits from jurors, Murdaugh's lawyers claimed Hill, who has denied wrongdoing, tampered with the jury "to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial." State Attorney General Alan Wilson has requested that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigate the claims, per CNN. Murdaugh's attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, say it's "welcomed news" in a joint statement. "We intend to proceed expeditiously and will seek a full blown evidentiary hearing addressing the serious allegations pertaining to improper jury communications by the Clerk of Court," they add.
The attorneys are expected to file a motion to disqualify Judge Clifton Newman, who oversaw the double murder trial, from hearing the case, WJCL reports. The South Carolina Attorney General's Office tells CNN they will "respond through the legal process at the appropriate time." Murdaugh was convicted in March of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and adult son, Paul, on the family's 1,770-acre hunting property in Islandton, SC. Weeks later, a former neighbor and another man purchased the property for $3.9 million. The former family home and just 21 acres, not including the dog kennels where Maggie and Paul were fatally shot, are now up for sale again, with an asking price of $1.95 million, per People.
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Meanwhile, Murdaugh continues to face charges. The disbarred attorney pleaded guilty last month to 22 federal counts of financial fraud and money laundering, admitting to "stealing from money meant to provide care for a man paralyzed from the neck down in a wreck, from two sisters who were children when they lost their mother and brother in a crash, the estate of his longtime maid who died in a fall at the family home and from others," the AP reports. He is yet to be sentenced. Murdaugh also faces around 100 state charges related to alleged financial crimes. He's to stand trial on at least some of those charges in Beaufort County beginning Nov. 27, per the Post and Courier. (More Alex Murdaugh stories.)
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