A South Carolina state judge has placed limitations on convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh’s defense that will make it more difficult for him to get a new murder trial.
Former South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal ruled on Tuesday that Murdaugh’s defense attorneys will be limited in what they can ask witnesses and set a high burden of proof regarding Murdaugh’s claims that Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill unduly influenced jurors, the Associated Press reported.
At issue is whether Hill had improper communications with jurors during Murdaugh’s trial last year, and if she did, whether those communications created a bias or prejudice that influenced the outcome of the trial, KATU 2 reported. Toal said this week she would not ask about other accusations against Hill, including claims that she plagiarized parts of her book on the Murdaugh case or misused public funds.
Toal also implied she would not admit many of Hill’s emails as evidence.
“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, according to the AP.
“This is not the trial of Ms. Hill,” she added.
Hill has denied most of the allegations against her, and state police are investigating whether her actions amount to jury tampering and whether she misused her office. She has not been charged with any crimes. Her attorneys have acknowledged that Hill sent reporting from a BBC journalist to her co-author, implying that it was “her own words.”
The original judge in Murdaugh’s trial, Clifton Newman, is not overseeing the appeals process, and Toal said she would not seek testimony from him.
Murdaugh’s attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, filed a pre-trial earlier this month arguing that they don’t have to prove that Hill influenced the jury into finding Murdaugh guilty of killing his wife, Maggie, and youngest son Paul.
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“Mr. Murdaugh does not need to show actual bias on the part of any juror to obtain a new trial.” his attorneys wrote, according to the New York Post. “If Mr. Murdaugh proves his allegation that Ms. Hill communicated with the jury about the evidence presented by the defense during his murder trial, South Carolina and federal law require that Mr. Murdaugh receive a new trial, irrespective of whether the court believes the outcome of the trial would have been the same had Ms. Hill’s jury tampering not occurred.”
However, state prosecutors argued in their pre-trial filing that Murdaugh’s defense attorneys have to prove Hill’s communications swayed the jury.
A jury found Murdaugh guilty of murder on March 2, and he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
Evidentiary hearings regarding Murdaugh’s appeal begin on January 29.
