TRUE CRIME

Alex Murdaugh Asks Supreme Court To Hear His Argument For A New Trial

Motion argues former chief justice erred in refusing to grant convicted killer a new trial …

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Attorneys for convicted killer Alex Murdaugh filed a motion with the South Carolina supreme court on Wednesday (July 10, 2024) asking its justices to weigh in on a controversial decision not to grant him a new trial based on evidence of jury tampering by a public official.

“Common sense says that when an elected state official goes into the jury room during a murder trial to advocate for a guilty verdict because she wants to make money selling books about the guilty verdict, the result should be a mistrial,” they argued in the motion.

The filing (.pdf) requests the supreme court take up former S.C. chief justice Jean Toal‘s denial of Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial – which was issued from the bench five months ago. Assuming the five justices decline to do so – or assuming they grant the motion and ultimately uphold Toal’s ruling – Murdaugh’s broader appeal (i.e. the appeal of his convictions) would proceed before the S.C. court of appeals.

A motion for certification is typically made in cases which involve an issue of significant public interest or a legal principle of major importance. Murdaugh’s case involves both, according to his lawyers.

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Of interest? Murdaugh’s motion was filed just one day after our media outlet exclusively reported on a filing from one of his former jurors. That filing asked the court to unseal records related to her controversial – and decisive – dismissal from the jury just hours before it rendered its verdicts.

The office of attorney general Alan Wilson is not consenting to the unsealing of those files, however, citing unspecified “ongoing matters.”

According to the motion filed by Murdaugh’s counsel, the issue of significant public interest is “whether the verdict returned after Mr. Murdaugh’s internationally televised murder trial should be overturned due to unprecedented jury tampering by a state official, the former Colleton County clerk of court.”

The legal principle of major importance the defense is asking the court to consider?

“Whether it is presumptively prejudicial for a state official to secretly advocate for a guilty verdict through ex parte contacts with jurors during trial, or whether a defendant, having proven the contacts occurred, must also somehow prove the verdict would have been different at a hypothetical trial in which the surreptitious advocacy did not occur.”

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HOW WE GOT HERE…

At the conclusion of a six-week, internationally watched trial, a Colleton County jury unanimously found Murdaugh guilty of the graphic murders of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and younger son – 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh – on the family’s hunting property near Islandton, S.C. on the evening of June 7, 2021.

On September 5, 2023 – six months after the verdicts were announced – Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin filed a motion publicly accusing former Colleton County clerk of court Becky Hill of tampering with the Murdaugh jury. According to Harpootlian and Griffin, this alleged tampering included conspiring to have a juror removed from the panel.

Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial was rejected in January by former S.C. chief justice Jean Toal. However, based on the contorted nature of her ruling, the stage has been set for viable appeals process at both the state and federal levels. In fact, the controversial decision to deny Murdaugh a new trial – despite the threshold for tampering by clerk Hill clearly having been met – has many believing Murdaugh will be granted a new trial.

According to Murdaugh’s lawyers, Toal “denied the motion for a new trial, reasoning that there is no presumption of prejudice from tampering with jurors during a trial about the matter pending before the jury and Mr. Murdaugh failed to prove that Ms. Hill’s comments actually changed the jury’s verdict.”

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RELATED | ALEX MURDAUGH’S BID FOR NEW TRIAL SHOT DOWN

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Toal’s refusal to grant Murdaugh a new trial came under further scrutiny when the juror who said Hill’s alleged tampering impacted her decision submitted a supplemental affidavit following her testimony before the court.

According to the supplemental affidavit (.pdf), Juror 630 stated she “felt influenced to find Mr. Murdaugh guilty by reason of Ms. Hill’s remarks, before I entered the jury room.”

Catch that last line?

“Before I entered the jury room …

Despite this juror’s testimony, Toal ruled Murdaugh failed to prove that Hill’s comments actually changed the jury’s verdict. She also discounted the juror’s testimony, referring to her as “ambivalent.”

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THE ARGUMENT …

According to Murdaugh’s attorneys, Toal erred in denying the motion for a new trial – effectively “ruling that South Carolina courts should disregard binding precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

That precedent? Remmer v. United States. In that decision, the U.S. supreme court unanimously held that in a criminal case, any “tampering … with a juror during a trial about the matter pending before the jury is, for obvious reasons, deemed presumptively prejudicial.” It further stated that “the burden rests heavily upon the government to establish . . . that such contact with the juror was harmless.” Critically for the Murdaugh case, the U.S. fourth circuit court of appeals – which has jurisdiction over South Carolina – has held the Remmer presumption as “clearly established federal law.”

According to Murdaugh’s defense, Toal incorrectly ruled that a South Carolina case – State v. Green – directs its courts to ignore the standard established by Remmer.

If the Remmer presumption of prejudice ever applies, it must apply where, as here, an elected state official advocates for a guilty verdict in the jury room during trial so that she can personally profit from selling books about the trial. That is not an “innocuous intervention.” At the evidentiary hearing, the State failed to meet its heavy burden to overcome the presumption that Ms. Hill’s conduct was prejudicial to Mr. Murdaugh’s right to a fair trial before an impartial jury that considers only the evidence and argument presented in open court. It did not even try to argue any presumption was overcome.

-Excerpt from Murdaugh’s motion filed on July 10, 2024

The motion argued a state splitting from its home federal circuit on a question of federal law is an issue of major legal significance and “should only be done by the state’s highest court after careful consideration.”

“South Carolina courts are powerless to enforce their own opinions on questions of federal constitutional law in criminal cases where those opinions differ from the fourth circuit, and splitting from the fourth circuit in such cases essentially is an act of advocacy,” Murdaugh’s attorneys argued. “If South Carolina believes the fourth circuit is incorrect on a question of criminal defendants’ federal constitutional rights, it is better for South Carolina’s attorney general to convince the U.S. supreme court of that than to place South Carolina judges in the position of advocating against the reasoning of federal judges on questions of federal constitutional law.”

“South Carolina courts should follow what federal courts having jurisdiction over South Carolina have held is ‘clearly established’ federal law and leave advocacy for changing that law to the attorney general and his able deputy,” the filing concluded.

As this motion makes its way through the legal system – and as news surrounding the Murdaugh saga begins to heat back up – count on our news team to keep our audience informed as to any updates in this and any related matters.

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THE MOTION…

(S.C. Judicial Department)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Jenn Wood (Provided)

Jenn Wood is FITSNews’ incomparable research director. She’s also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she’s married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at jenn@fitsnews.com.

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4 comments

Avatar photo
The Colonel Top fan July 11, 2024 at 12:56 pm

Only in the SC Judicial system…

There’s enough stink now to get “OL’Elick” a retrial. Creighton and company took a mediocrely investigated case and delivered the goods against an OG member of the “Good Ol’Boy Gang” in his own neighborhood. Had Judge Newman not been saddled with Becky, this would have been an unassailable “done deal” and “Elick” could have just rotted away in prison. The state now has the blueprint to retry him successfully in about 5 days.

“Murdawk” can’t explain his presence at the kennels, the missing guns, his actions and statements (which are all now part of the official record) so he will be found guilty again. Another million or so down the drain but whatever…

Reply
Squishy123 (the original) July 11, 2024 at 7:07 pm

The good news is we’ll get to hear how Papa’s brain was ejected from his skull again.

Reply
HARP-O July 11, 2024 at 1:47 pm

Lets not forget the claim OL’Elick made that he had the goods on everyone. Well seeing as he was too broke to buy underwear and Harpo don’t work for free, seems logical Tricky Dicky is trying to make sure the goods don’t get spilled on him. He is just as corrupt as any of them

Reply
River Top fan July 11, 2024 at 8:41 pm

Any leads on the “real killers”.

Reply

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