Alex Murdaugh sues for new trial over alleged jury tampering by clerk of court

Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, seen here as prosecutor Creighton Waters makes closing arguments in the Alex Murdaugh trial, is accused of improperly influencing jurors in the high-profile murder case.

Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool

Alex Murdaugh wants a new trial over the murders of his wife and younger son, filing court papers that accuse the clerk of court in Colleton County, S.C., of tampering with the jury who found him guilty.

Murdaugh, the disbarred attorney and scion of a once-influential family, was sentenced to life without parole in March for the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, after jurors found him guilty in the 2021 slayings. He also faces a raft of charges over alleged financial crimes during his years practicing law.

Defense lawyers for Murdaugh, 55, have already launched an appeal of the murder verdict. Now they’re looking to put that effort on hold so they can pursue a new trial altogether, alleging that Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill violated her oath of office as well as their client’s constitutional right to a fair trial and impartial jury.

Here’s a quick guide to this latest twist in the Murdaugh murder case:

Hill is accused of ‘improper comments and efforts to influence the jurors’ verdict’

Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin accuse Hill, who was elected in 2020, of telling the jury “not to be fooled” by the defense team’s case. They also say that when Murdaugh was about to testify, Hill warned jurors to “watch him closely.”

Hill did not reply to NPR’s request for comment or a response to the new filing.

In another serious charge, the defense attorneys…