Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers want a new trial. They say the court clerk told jurors not to trust him
Associated PressCOLUMBIA, S.C. — Attorneys for convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh want a new trial, accusing the court clerk of improperly influencing the jury and betraying her oath of office for money and fame. The request filed by Murdaugh’s lawyers on Tuesday also accuses Rebecca Hill, Colleton County clerk of court, of giving jury members business cards from reporters during the trial. She also wrote a book after the trial called “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.” Trial court clerks “aren’t someone who should even talk to them about the case. The jurors told Murdaugh’s lawyers that Hill told them “not to be fooled” by the evidence presented by the defense, and to watch Murdaugh closely as he testified and to “look at his actions,” and “look at his movements.” One juror said they understood it to mean Murdaugh was guilty. Murdaugh’s lawyers filed a transcript from a closed door meeting over the juror, where Judge Clifton Newman said “I’m not too pleased about the clerk interrogating a juror as opposed to coming to me and bringing it to me.” As the jury began deliberating late in the afternoon on March 2, Hill said they’d be taken to a hotel if they didn’t reach a verdict by 11 p.m., upsetting jurors who didn’t pack for an overnight stay, the defense motion said.