COLUMBIA, S.C. – Alex Murdaugh was convicted of double murder and sentenced in March to two life terms to run consecutively for gunning down his wife Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and his son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, in June 2021. Now attorneys for the disgraced former lawyer have filed a motion requesting a new trial by alleging jury tampering.
Murdaugh’s attorneys — Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin — are seeking a new trial after filing an explosive motion Tuesday in Columbia, South Carolina. In the legal filing, they claim the court clerk tampered with jurors so she could secure a book deal, the New York Post reported.
Colleton County Court Clerk Rebecca Hill authored the memoir “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.” It hit bookstores Aug. 1. Murdaugh’s lawyers claim Hill pressured jurors to “reach a quick verdict” and had “frequent private conversations with the jury foreperson.”
Harpootlian and Griffin claim in the motion that the panel was swayed toward guilt as a result of their dialogue with Hill, according to Fox News.
“Ms. Hill did these things to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial,” the filing says. “Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame.”
