For a retrial, Alex Murdaugh must prove Rebecca Hill had sway over jurors opinion in guilty verdict

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A status hearing took place Tuesday in a Richland County courtroom as Alex Murdaugh and his defense team pled their case for a retrial in the murders of the once-prominent attorney’s wife and son.

Former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal is now the presiding judge for matters related to the murder trial. She was appointed after Judge Clifton Newman requested to be released from the case late last year.

The purpose of Tuesday’s hearing was to make decisions and shape what Murdaugh’s January 29th hearing to request a new murder trial will look like.

Murdaugh is requesting a new trial over allegations that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill tampered with the jury during his double murder trial where he was convicted of murdering his wife and son last year. 

His attorney, Jim Griffin, talked with Judge Toal about sworn testimony from three jurors in the case.

“All three statements are consistent in that they heard Mrs. Hill, the clerk of court, before the deliberations, and frankly, before the defense put on their case, Mrs. Hill instructed “Do not be fooled by the defense.” That’s what the sworn statements have said,” said Griffin.

The defense believes the jury getting those instructions from the Clerk of Court is cause for a new trial.

“And so then the question becomes, factually, did those contacts happen? And then we will proceed from there as to what the burden of proof is after that,” he added.

“The case law in South Carolina – both from our State Supreme Court as well as our state court of appeals — it’s clear, it’s in sync, it’s uniform that it’s the defendants’ burden to show prejudice and that’s of course, only after there’s a determination, that any sort of extraneous influence occurred,” said State Prosecutor Creighton Waters.  

In other words, the state believes the defense must prove not only that Hill tried to sway the jury with statements, but also that jurors believe their verdict may have been swayed due to that influence. 

Judge Toal made it very clear that she wants a very narrow focus at this hearing. She wants to know what Hill said to jurors, and she wants to ask all 12 about that, and whether those statements impacted their guilty verdict.

News 2 heard from Eric Bland, the attorney who represents four of the jurors, after Tuesday’s hearing.

“They’re gonna tell the truth and I fully expect they’re going to say they rendered a verdict of their conscience. Remember, they heard over 70 witnesses testify, and received 400 pieces of evidence and they rendered their decision and I think what you’re going to hear is they were not impacted by anything that they may have heard or anything that Mrs. Becky may have allegedly said.”

Judge Toal said the upcoming hearing will happen in open court, with care taken to protect the juror’s identities. That hearing is scheduled to take place January 29th through the 31st at the Richland County courthouse.