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As South Carolina Judge Jean Toal denied disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh’s request for a brand new homicide trial on Monday night, she had some harsh remarks about the county clerk at the middle of the Murdaugh authorized group’s jury tampering allegations.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity,” Toal said in her announcement of the ruling.
“She wanted to write a book about the trial and expressed that as early as November 2022, long before the trial began,” the judge said.
Toal famous Hill has denied this, however the judge discovered Hill had said to a different clerk and others “her desire for a guilty verdict because it would sell books.”
Murdaugh, 55, was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for the 2021 murders of his spouse and son. He and his authorized group have sought to overturn the verdict and request a brand new trial, arguing Hill tampered with the jury by making feedback implying Murdaugh’s guilt to jurors.
“She made comments about Murdaugh’s demeanor as he testified and she made some of those comments before he testified to at least one and maybe more jurors,” Toal said. “Did clerk of court Hill’s comments have any impact on the verdict of the jury? I find that the answer to this question is no.”
While the jurors did their job “without fear or favor,” Hill “allowed public attention of the moment to overcome her duty,” the judge said.
“I simply do not believe that the authority of our South Carolina Supreme Court requires a new trial in a very lengthy trial such as this on the strength of some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-influenced clerk of courts,” the judge, a retired justice on the state’s excessive courtroom, said.
Toal said she had personally interviewed every juror and studied the full transcript of the weeks-long trial to make her ruling. Eleven jurors said that both that they had heard no feedback from Hill or that if that they had, the feedback hadn’t affected their votes. One juror was “ambivalent” in her testimony and said that she solely felt strain from different jurors, in line with Toal.
The jurors “obeyed the instructions of the court, they obeyed their oath,” Toal said. “These good and decent citizens of Colleton County did their duty and rendered their verdict without fear or favor. It was a difficult task.”
The judge described the case as distinctive in her decades-long profession for a number of causes, together with that the jury tampering allegations had been raised months after the verdict, whereas most related allegations are made shortly after.
“I do not find that I abused my discretion when I find the defendant’s motion for a new trial on the factual record before me must be denied,” she said.
The jury tampering case centered on statements allegedly made by Hill to jurors about Murdaugh’s guilt. Hill has denied the allegations, and he or she did so once more whereas testifying at the listening to Monday afternoon.
The first juror questioned Monday, recognized as Juror Z, testified she was influenced by remarks Hill made, telling the judge she heard the clerk say to “watch his actions” and to “watch him closely.” Hill’s feedback, Juror Z said, “made it seem like he was already guilty.”
Juror Z was additionally requested about an affidavit the place she indicated she had questions about Murdaugh’s guilt however voted for a responsible verdict “because I felt pressure by the other jurors.” Asked by the judge if it was “a more accurate statement of how you felt,” the juror said, “Yes, ma’am,” affirming she stood by the affidavit.
Toal described strain from jurors as a standard half of the jury deliberation course of throughout her Monday ruling.
The affidavit additionally said previous to Murdaugh testifying, Hill informed the jurors “not to be fooled” by proof supplied by the protection. The juror wrote she took it as an indication Murdaugh would lie.
The different 11 jurors denied being influenced, although two others said additionally they heard feedback made by the clerk when Murdaugh took the stand to testify.
Hill’s attorneys Justin Bamberg and Will Lewis said they “respect” Toal’s ruling denying the request for a brand new trial.
“We agree with Justice Toal’s finding that the Colleton County jurors selected for this very complicated and lengthy trial were consummate professionals and operated within the instructions of the court,” said her attorneys. “We thank them for their service.”
Hill can be the topic of two open investigations, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed in a press release this month: one “regarding her alleged interactions with” Murdaugh’s jury, and the different “regarding allegations she used her elected position for personal gain.”