Alex Murdaugh asked for another trial after claiming that the jury was intervening which led him to be guilty of murder earlier this year.
Guilty or Not Guilty: What is the stand?
Alex Murdaugh asked for another trial after several jurors told the defense attorneys that they were pressured by the county’s clerk to reach a guilty verdict with double murder cases. In a report by Alex Murdaugh’s attorney, the jury process was intervened by the elected clerk of court on the attorney’s murder trial.
According to the motion filed on Tuesday at the South Carolina Court of Appeals the Colleton County Clerk of Court, Rebecca Hill, convinced the jurors not to be persuaded or misled by the testimony of Murdaugh.
The motion stated that the clerk urged the jurors to reach a quick verdict during a deliberation and also fabricated to the trial judge to remove a jury which might be an advantage to the defense.
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The motive of Hill for the allegations is to secure a book deal and media appearances.
A commentator states that Hill was swayed by money and fame and disregarded her oath of office. If the facts are proven to be true about the allegations,
the court won’t allow any discretion and will go through another process.
Hill did not answer the comment.
On the other side of the story, Murdaugh, 55, was convicted to two life sentences after the jury found him guilty of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, and Paul, their son in March at their 1,772-acre in Colleton County.
The incident led Maggie, the wife, to die after being shot with a high-powered rifle, and their son was twice blasted with a shotgun. The father saw their bodies on the night of June 7, 2021, near the room kennel.
According to the news reported by Courthouse News Service, The nerve-cracking incident surprised the national spotlight as the Murdaughs were one of the very influential families in Lowcounty. Their name was grace ballots for centuries as the Murduaghses were elected solicitor, or top prosecutor in five countries in the region. Also, they created a lucrative law that influences clients across the state. The people were asking if Murdaugh was guilty or not guilty.
Murdaugh claimed that he visited his sick mother on the night of the incident, July 7, and found his loved ones’ bodies when he returned to the state. However, 50 -a second recorded video to his son’s cellphone before the murder broke her alibi.
Later, with a dozen witnesses who testified that it was his voice on the phone, Murdaugh admitted that he lied on his visit to the kennels but never admitted that it was a cover-up. Murdaugh said that he lied because of the drug called opioids that made him paranoid. The video was supposed to be sent to Paul’s friend.
The jurors discussed the claim carefully for a little less than 3 hours and were found guilty on March 2 of both murders. After which, the attorneys filed for an appeal a week later.
On Tuesday’s motion, it was said that Hill made a big campaign to sway the opinions of the jurors. It was strengthened by the affirmation of four jurors and the statement of Hill’s published book.
According to the jurors Hill persuaded them to be not to hook up and misled by the testimony of Murdaugh. The jurors are so confused about whether he is guilty or not guilty.
On a report by CNN, Hill told one of the jurors to carefully observe his actions whether he was guilty or not guilty and which one of the jurors concluded that Murdaugh was guilty during Murdaugh’s testimony.
Another motion said that Hill is trying to convince the jury’s foreperson on several occasions or in the single-occupancy bathroom. The Foreperson denied informing other jurors what they discussed.
Also, the lawyer of Murdaugh claimed that Hill was the one who pushed one juror to be dismissed on the eve of deliberations. Murdaugh that he may be guilty of not guilty but he wants to have another trial.
Hill confronted Judge Clifton Newman that the juror’s ex-husband posted on a local Facebook group
that she was discussing the case with others. The post was removed and the other staff saw another post that he was apologizing for making the accusation.
However, another motion claims that the ex-husband never posted an apology. An affidavit of the ex-husband’s swore that he’d never posted about the juror again. The post was deleted and not included in the Facebook retention policies. The defense downloaded the ex-husband’s Facebook activity and did not post anything.
On Feb. 28, Hill asked the juror alone in her office if he would vote guilty or not guilty and the juror said she never had its decision.
Judge Newman was discouraged about Hill’s questioning during an in-camera hearing on the issue.
According to a transcript, he was not pleased about the clerk asking the juror to oppose him. He claimed that guilty or not guilty, he never knows but as for him his not guilty.
Hill questioned the jury about her decision prior to her dismissal. Even though the prosecutor’s closing argument was strong one jury strongly expressed that the guns had not been discovered. Is he guilty or not guilty? Then according to the juror Hill convinced this juror not to listen to the lies of Mr. Murdaugh and forget about the lies.
On a motion, Hill said that if the deliberations take past 11 p.m. she would take them to a hotel but none of them were prepared. She gave the six-smoker jury a break and had been permitted during the trial. She also told them that it would make them famous.
Another motion claims that Hill looked for attention herself after the conviction of Murdaugh. A 238-page book was published by Wind River Media on August 1 entitled, “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders” which stands in the spotlight in the Trial of the Century.
On a conference, Hill was accused of violating Murdaugh’s right to a fair trial according to the defense attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian on Tuesday Afternoon.
Griffin, of Griffin and Davis LLC in Columbia said that their client was surprised about what Hill has done. Murdaugh was serving his time in a secret prison where he worked as the ward-keeper assistant.
South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson said in an interview on Tuesday that the prosecutors are looking into the defense motion and will respond through a legal process at the right time.
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