The South Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments, Wednesday morning, February 10th, to consider Alex Murdaugh’s push for a new murder trial. The prosecution and defense each presented their cases with the justices having an opportunity to question the attorney after each presentation.
Murdaugh’s defense team has requested a new trial under the premise that their client was denied a fair trial because of alleged jury tampering by former Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill. Hill, who resigned her position as Clerk of Court, was accused of improperly telling jurors to watch Alex Murdaugh’s body language and not to be fooled by his testimony, thus, according to the defense, violated Murdaugh’s constitutional right to a fair trial. In addition, the defense stated that Justice Toal did not take into consideration the testimony of one juror who said, Hill’s remarks influenced their assumption of guilt or innocence.
The prosecutions position stated that although Hill’s actions were improper, they were not enough to overcome the evidence against Murdaugh and had no effect the outcome of the multi-week murder trial.
After a break, the second portion of the hearing focused on evidence the defense believes should not have been admitted by trial Judge Clifton Newman. This included the financial information, cell phone evidence that was admitted because of the way it was examined, and a blue raincoat found at Murdaugh’s mother’s house that had gunshot residue on it. The defense said argued that the raincoat had not been tied to Murdaugh.
The defense also claimed that malpractice by the investigators led to critical evidence being damaged or lost. Among the incidents sited was the defenses claim that first responders walked through the crime scene and destroyed evidence that included bloody footprints. In addition, they claim SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) did not fingerprint key areas including the entrance area, feed room doors and doorknobs where the murders took place. Finally, the defense says the tire tracks found in the wet grass did not match Murdaugh’s vehicles.
The state prosecutors told the court that there was no need for a new trial because the jury found that Murdough was “obviously guilty” and not influenced by Becky Hills comments.
The State Supreme Court did not render a decision on Wednesday, and no timeline was given as to when a ruling would be issued. The hearing was broadcast live by SCETV and can be found on the Supreme Courts Website.
