Alex Murdaugh’s lawyer says the state Supreme Court should overturn the sentence
Alex Murdaugh’s attorney argued Wednesday that the South Carolina Supreme Court should overturn his conviction in the June 2021 murder of his wife, Maggie, and young son, Paul.
Dick Harpootlian, representing Murdaugh along with attorney Jim Griffin, said former clerk of court Rebecca “Becky” Hill’s alleged juror manipulation may prove to be the reason the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the decision.
“Before the defendant’s lawyers presented their case, Miss Hill told the judges that the accused will do their part, they will say things that will try to confuse you, don’t let them confuse you or convince you or discredit you,” said Harpootlian on Wednesday. Harpootlian also noted that jurors said Hills’ comments about “observing” Murdaugh’s actions and movements influenced their perception of the defendant.
In addition, Harpootlian accused Hill of being “attracted by the celebrity cry,” noting that Barnwell County Clerk of Court Rhonda McElveen said Hill said she wanted to write the book and that a guilty plea would help get more copies off the shelves. Harpootlian alleges that Hill said this to McElveen, who was assisting in the Murdaugh case, in December 2022, and jury selection in the case did not take place until January 2023.
Harpootlian previously told Fox News Digital that Murdaugh’s defense team was “highly optimistic” that the South Carolina Supreme Court would grant them a new trial.
While Creighton Waters, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Hill’s comments to jurors were innocent, he agreed when South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge said the comments could be seen as “mistakes.”
“The circumstances of this matter are not lost on us. In court, we have a top-notch attorney with a highly trained and talented prosecution team, including you, Mr. Waters. On the defense side, we have extremely talented, top-notch attorneys. We have an excellent trial court judge. And in the hallway, we have a very friendly clerk if we accept the court’s version as fiction. Even you agree that it wasn’t appropriate, it wasn’t appropriate to the point of adjournment, but maybe you agree that it wasn’t appropriate,” said Kittredge.
Waters replied, “absolutely,” and later elaborated, saying, “I think what you just said highlights and proves my point. When you go through all the players in this test and Miss Becky’s relative insignificance.”
“And like I said before, with everything that’s going on some judges are really like, ‘Oh, well, you know, Miss Becky said watch her body language,’ that’s going to make a difference. The last thing you say in everything that goes on is why, not the condensed version. And I understand your point about that, but what the record shows and what justice says, what’s found is what really happened.
“I don’t mean to say that they were innocent. What I mean to say was that they were neutral on their face, inappropriate, but neutral on their face and not ashamed,” added Waters.
Hill pleaded guilty in Colleton County District Court to four counts of obstruction of justice and perjury by showing closed courtroom footage to a reporter and then lying about it – and two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting his public office in a book he wrote about the case.
Judge Heath Taylor sentenced Hill to a year of probation. He told the Hill that his sentence would have been much harsher if prosecutors had found that he had interfered with the Murdaugh jury. Harpootlian said Hill’s guilty plea bolsters the defense’s argument that his credibility has been irreparably damaged.
“He [pleaded] he is guilty of self-deception, lying during the trial of this case.” “I think that goes a long way in showing the appeals court that anything he says is not to be believed.”
During the evidentiary hearing, many witnesses testified that Hill made comments to the jury about Murdaugh’s behavior and testimony, including statements against defense attorneys crossing the line from management to influence.
Hill denied that he was trying to sway the jury, but Judge Jean Toal last year ruled that the defense failed to prove that the comments influenced the verdict. Harpootlian said the defense does not meet that standard.
“The United States Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit have held that we don’t have to show that there was actually some effect,” he said. “We just need to show that he said things that could have influenced the judge.”
In March 2023, Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife and young son at a rural hunting lodge in South Carolina’s Low Country. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
