Law & Crime
Disgraced attorney and convicted killer Alex Murdaugh won a significant legal victory in his quest for a new double-murder trial.
On Tuesday, the South Carolina Court of Appeals granted Murdaugh’s request to hold his appeal in abeyance and remand the case to the circuit court. There, Murdaugh’s attorneys will file for a new trial based on newly-discovered evidence under state judicial rules.
The terse order signed by Chief Justice Bruce Williams reads: “After careful consideration, we grant Appellant’s motion.”
“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,” Murdaugh’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin said in a statement provided to Law&Crime. “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.”
In September, the Lowcountry legal scion’s attorneys highlighted several alleged instances of jury tampering by a court official during his double-murder trial. That motion alleges Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca “Becky” Hill “instructed jurors not to be ‘misled’ by evidence presented in Mr. Murdaugh’s defense” and “told jurors not to be ‘fooled by’ Mr. Murdaugh’s testimony in his own defense.”
Murdaugh has yet to directly request a new trial due to procedural niceties. Despite its bulk and argumentation, the September filing was merely a request for the appellate court to put his preexisting appeal in abeyance, or on pause, while the new trial motion is considered by the proper lower court.
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