Disgraced lawyer and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh is seeking a new trial, saying the court clerk in his high-profile South Carolina trial tampered with evidence, CBS News reports.
#AlexMurdaugh‘s attorneys, #DickHarpootlian and #JimGriffin, spoke to the media on Tuesday about their recently filed motion for a new trial. Murdaugh’s defense team claims the Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca Hill tampered with the jury during his double murder trial,… pic.twitter.com/J1TmmIa27g
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 5, 2023
Attorneys for Murdaugh, who was convicted in March of the 2021 murdering his wife and son in 2021, are accusing Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill of intentional misconduct, saying she deliberately violated Murdaugh’s “constitutional right to a fair trial before an impartial jury — to secure financial gain for herself,” according to CBS.
Murdaugh’s attorneys accuse Hill, who published a tell-all book titled “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders” in July, of tampering with the jury, per the outlet. (RELATED: Alex Murdaugh Posts Weird Shirtless Selfies From South Carolina Prison)
The lawyers claim she “instructed jurors not to be ‘misled’ by evidence presented in Mr. Murdaugh’s defense,” according to CBS.
They also accuse her of asking jurors their opinions on Murdaugh’s innocence, pressuring the jury to reach a quick verdict and fabricating a story about a Facebook post “to remove a juror she believed might not vote guilty,” CBS reported.
Murdaugh’s lawyers are requesting an evidentiary hearing they say will give them subpoena power over phone records and emails. They also claim Hill was motivated by her desire for a lucrative book deal.
“Ms. Hill did these things to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial,” said the lawyers, per CBS. “Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame.”
“We were hitting brick walls until her book came out,” Griffin continued, per the outlet. “And then jurors who obviously were not comfortable with how she handled matters were even less comfortable with her going on a book tour, making money off what she did.”