Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh‘s legal team has won a victory from South Carolina’s Supreme Court, which will pause his conviction appeal while he seeks a re-trial over jury tampering claims.
In an order on Tuesday, the Palmetto State’s top court granted Murdaugh’s motion to hold his appeal in abeyance until the circuit court addresses his claims of ‘jury tampering’ by the clerk at his murder trial.
‘The recent ruling to stay the appeal and remand the case for a hearing on Alex Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial is welcomed news,’ said Murdaugh’s lawyers, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, in a statement to DailyMail.com.
‘We intend to proceed expeditiously and will seek a full blown evidentiary hearing addressing the serious allegations pertaining to improper jury communications by the Clerk of Court,’ they added.
In court filings, Murdaugh’s defense team sought to have his conviction tossed, alleging Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill counseled jurors to disregard Murdaugh’s testimony and pressured them to reach a quick verdict.
Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers praised a ruling pausing his conviction appeal while he seeks a re-trial, vowing to ‘seek a full blown evidentiary hearing’ over jury tampering claims
Hill, pictured with Judge Clifton Newman, is being accused by Murdaugh’s defense team of influencing the jury as they move for a retrial
Griffin and Harpootlian allege that Hill, 55, was motivated by a desire to secure a book deal and media appearances – neither of which would have been possible if the proceedings had ended in a mistrial over a split jury.
According to their motion last month, ‘Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame.’
Murdaugh, 65, was convicted in March of murdering his wife and one of their sons at the family’s hunting lodge in June 2021, and sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Hill admitted in her recently published memoir that she worried that he would be found innocent, writing: ‘I knew in my heart he was guilty.’
Soon after the trial, Hill released her book, ‘Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,‘ and she is a prominent contributor on season two of Netflix‘s documentary ‘Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal,’ released last month.
Developing story, more to follow.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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