Alex Murdaugh pushes for new trial after getting life sentence for murders of wife Maggie and son Paul

SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES: As a result of a state judge's decision on Tuesday, January 16, to restrict witness questioning and place a heavy burden of proof on allegations that the court clerk tampered with the jury during the highly-publicized proceedings from the previous year, Alex Murdaugh will have a difficult time pursuing a new murder trial.

In addition to proving that Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill misled juries and coerced them into reaching a guilty verdict, Murdaugh's attorneys must show that this action made the jurors biased against him. Justice Jean Toal of the South Carolina Supreme Court gave the ruling.

Investigation centered on Becky Hill's interactions with jurors

Toal added that she would not inquire about the many other serious charges of misconduct leveled against Hill, such as the claims that the public servant embezzled money and copied passages from her recently-released book about the Alex Murdaugh case.

Following the recusal of Clifton Newman, the trial's judge, late last year, Toal took over the request for a new trial.

Hill has admitted under oath that she did not inquire of the jury about Murdaugh's guilt or make any suggestion that he was the murderer, The Associated Press reported.

Although they have not brought any criminal charges against Hill, state police are looking into claims that she tampered with the jurors' verdict and misused her position.

Nonetheless, in December 2023, her lawyers acknowledged that she had given her co-author a BBC reporter's work "as if it were her own words".

Hill and the jury that is deliberating will be the subject of evidentiary hearings starting on January 29. Newman's testimony will not be called upon by the judge. She also said she wasn't sure if she would accept thousands of emails from Hill as proof.

“I’m very, very reluctant to turn this hearing about juror contact into a wholesale exploration about every piece of conduct by the clerk alleged to have been improper on its own, indicative of her characteristics or personality, or anything of that nature," Toal said.

Later on, she clarified, "This is not the trial of Ms. Hill," highlighting the fact that the investigation is centered on the court clerk's interactions with jurors and the jury's capacity for impartial decision-making."

Alex Murdaugh convicted of killing his wife Maggie and son

Murdaugh was convicted by a jury in March last year of killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul in June 2021.

He is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. In addition, he faces an extra 27 years in prison after admitting in November to stealing millions of dollars.

During the Tuesday hearing, which set the parameters for the three-day evidentiary hearing later this month, Toal's strict guidelines were more stringent than those that Murdaugh's attorneys had requested, Fox News stated.

Jim Griffin, an attorney, contended that bias ought to be presumed. Griffin stated that the onus is on the state to demonstrate that "unauthorized third-party communication," like the alleged exchange with Hill, was "harmless".

Toal took the state's side, pointing out that the court has an affidavit from a single juror who is in the deliberation phase and swears to have had outside contact. She stated that she would like to hear concrete proof regarding the juror's interpretation of Hill's purported remarks.

By obstructing inquiries regarding the potential impact of the purported jury tampering by Murdaugh's attorneys on the jury's deliberations, Toal delivered a further blow to the defense.

She won't inquire about the jurors' decision-making process; instead, she will only ask about any potential effects on their verdict. “No one — not myself or anyone else — is going to be asking a juror about the specifics of their deliberation,” Toal said.

Toal was asked by state prosecutor Creighton Waters to stop a "far-ranging fishing expedition" into Hill's plagiarism and wiretapping charges against her son that were discovered after the trial.

Conversations with jurors and clerk staff, according to Waters, show that nothing "unprofessional or untoward" affected the verdict.

Hill's new book, which is presently unpublished "for the foreseeable future," according to her legal team, is relevant because it establishes a motive, according to defense attorney Dick Harpootlian.

He claimed that Hill mentioned to a trial assistant that a guilty decision would help her sell more books.

Judge to take measures to protect jurors' privacy

Toal chastised the veteran attorney for his persistent insinuation that Hill wished to enrich herself by persuading jurors to give guilty verdict.

“I hope that’s the last time you’re gonna repeat that until I ask for that again,” Toal said at one point. “Let’s move on from that.”

The evidentiary hearings will take place in public and on the record. The testifying jurors will be identified by their number rather than by name, and court television cameras are permitted, but they cannot be directed toward them.

Toal also stated that she would allow other measures, like hiding the jurors' faces while they testified, to protect their privacy. In an effort to spare his clients from "litigative stress," the attorney for two jurors requested that Toal forbid media from entering the courtroom.

Attorney Joe McCulloch recommended that Toal let journalists watch the examinations elsewhere via livestream in order to avoid the "distraction and the imposition" of the media.

He unsuccessfully claimed that "no damage would be done to the right of the public to know and participate in the proceedings".