When Alex Murdaugh was convicted of the murders of his spouse Maggie and son Paul again in March, his authorized staff insisted that the combat wasn’t over.
Six months on, his attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin descended on the South Carolina courtroom of appeals in Columbia and filed a movement calling for a brand new trial.
Motions for appeals or new trials are hardly unusual in felony circumstances.
However, the muse for the request from Murdaugh’s attorneys is.
Within the bombshell 65-page submitting, Murdaugh has accused Colleton County Clerk of Courtroom Rebecca Hill of breaking her oath by allegedly tampering with the jury within the case, pressuring them into returning a responsible verdict towards him.
He claims that she suggested the panel to not be “fooled by” Murdaugh’s testimony on the stand or “misled” by the defence’s proof, pushed them to succeed in a fast responsible verdict, and misrepresented “important and materials data to the trial decide in her marketing campaign to take away a juror she believed to be favorable to the protection”.
It’s a collection of bombshell accusations, supported by affidavits from some jurors, which has propelled Murdaugh and his infamous double homicide trial again into the highlight as soon as once more.
So simply how critical are these allegations?
And can this now pave the best way for Murdaugh – a person convicted of killing his spouse and son in chilly blood, a person dealing with one other 700 years behind bars on 100 monetary fraud prices and a person embroiled in a sprawling saga of thriller deaths – to be granted a brand new trial?
Distinguished lawyer Duncan Levin advised The Unbiased that the claims specified by the courtroom paperwork are “extraordinarily critical” and, if true, Murdaugh may – and will – be granted a brand new trial.
“The allegations within the criticism are extraordinarily critical,” he mentioned.
“The criticism asserts that an elected state official, the Clerk of Courtroom Rebecca Hill, engaged in deliberate misconduct by tampering with the jury throughout Mr Murdaugh’s trial for the homicide of his spouse and son.”
Mr Levin – the previous assistant district lawyer within the Manhattan DA’s workplace and distinguished felony defence lawyer at Levin & Associates who has represented purchasers together with Harvey Weinstein and Anna Delvey – defined that the accusations may quantity to a violation of Murdaugh’s rights.
“If confirmed true, these allegations not solely undermine the integrity of the judicial course of but additionally signify a big violation of Murdaugh’s constitutional proper to a good trial,” he mentioned.
Now that the movement has been filed, he mentioned that an evidentiary listening to is prone to happen the place the proof for the accusations can be laid out.
If the allegations are confirmed to be true, Mr Levin mentioned that Murdaugh ought to then “unquestionably” be granted his request for a brand new trial.
“The actions described, significantly these of a courtroom official who’s entrusted with upholding the rules of justice and impartiality, basically undermine the equity of the trial and the credibility of the decision,” he mentioned.
“Tampering with the jury, pressuring them, and interfering with their deliberations are actions that instantly violate the defendant’s proper to a good and unbiased jury trial.
“In such circumstances, the regulation sometimes requires the granting of a brand new trial to make sure that justice is served with out the taint of undue affect or misconduct.”
Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys demand new trial over allegations of jury tampering
He added: “These actions, if substantiated, may result in extreme penalties for these concerned.”
Ms Hill is but to answer the bombshell accusations levelled towards her and is presumed harmless.The Unbiased has reached out to her for remark.
However, Murdaugh’s attorneys have recommended that some members of the jury may additionally discover themselves in authorized scorching water.
Talking on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning, Mr Harpootlian recommended that jurors must also be searching for authorized counsel.
Mr Levin mentioned that it’s attainable jurors may doubtlessly face authorized penalties if the accusations prolong to their very own misconduct.
“If there may be proof or considerations of juror misconduct, resembling receiving exterior data, discussing the case prematurely, or being influenced by exterior elements, jurors may doubtlessly face authorized penalties or be known as upon to testify about their actions through the trial,” he mentioned.
South Carolina Legal professional Basic Alan Wilson has thus far solely launched a short assertion on the movement, saying solely that “we’re at the moment reviewing the protection’s newest movement and can reply via the authorized course of on the acceptable time”.
Murdaugh’s attorneys allege that Ms Hill was pushed by fame and a need to safe a guide deal when she allegedly pressured the jurors to shortly return a unanimous responsible verdict towards him.
When Murdaugh took the stand, the movement claims Ms Hill instructed the jury to “watch him intently,” to “have a look at his actions,” and to “have a look at his actions” on the stand – one thing not less than one juror mentioned they understood to imply that Murdaugh was responsible.
When the defence introduced proof, they have been allegedly urged not “to be fooled”.
The movement additionally claims that Ms Hill had frequent personal conversations with the jury foreperson and repeatedly requested jurors for his or her opinions about Murdaugh’s guilt or innocence.
One of the damning accusations centres across the dismissal of juror quantity 785 simply hours earlier than jury deliberations started.
Based on Murdaugh’s attorneys, Ms Hill “invented a narrative a couple of Fb put up to take away a juror she believed may not vote responsible”.
Decide Clifton Newman eliminated the feminine juror from the panel for allegedly discussing the case with not less than three different folks exterior of the courtroom. The girl then prompted some light-hearted – and widely-reported – aid when she requested to select up her “dozen eggs” from the jury room earlier than she left.
Based on the movement, Ms Hill had gone to Decide Newman on 27 February – the day after Murdaugh testified – claiming that she had seen a put up in native Fb group “Walterboro Phrase of Mouth” from juror 785’s former husband Tim Stone.
The put up purportedly claimed that the juror was consuming along with her ex-husband and, when she grew to become drunk, she expressed her views on whether or not Murdaugh was harmless or responsible.
A follow-up put up from an account known as Timothy Stone apologised for the put up saying that he was pushed by “Devil”.
Murdaugh’s attorneys declare that the posts have been both fabricated or not written by Mr Stone.
Maggie and Paul have been discovered shot lifeless on the household’s 1,700-acre Moselle property again on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had known as 911 claiming to have discovered their our bodies.
Throughout his high-profile homicide trial, jurors heard how Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun whereas he stood within the feed room of the canine kennels on the prosperous household’s 1,700-acre Moselle property. The second shot to his head blew his mind nearly totally out of his cranium.
After killing Paul, prosecutors mentioned Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fireplace on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband.
Throughout the dramatic six-week trial, Murdaugh confessed to mendacity about his alibi on the night time of the murders however continued to assert his innocence of the killings.
The jury didn’t agree and the disgraced authorized scion was convicted in March of the brutal murders.
Past the homicide prices, Murdaugh, 55, can also be dealing with a slew of economic fraud prices for stealing thousands and thousands of {dollars} from his regulation agency purchasers and his lifeless housekeeper’s household.
He’s anticipated to plead responsible on 21 September to federal prices – marking the primary time he has pleaded responsible to against the law in courtroom.
Murdaugh can also be dealing with round 100 monetary prices in state courtroom in addition to prices over a botched hitman plot the place he claims he paid an confederate to shoot him lifeless.
Murdaugh’s high-profile conviction additionally shone a highlight on another thriller deaths tied to the South Carolina authorized dynasty.
Following Maggie and Paul’s murders, investigations have been reopened into the 2018 demise of the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield and the 2015 murder of homosexual teenager Stephen Smith.
In the meantime, on the time of his homicide, Paul was additionally awaiting trial for the 2019 boat crash demise of Mallory Seashore.