South Carolina Supreme Court tosses Alex Murdaugh’s double murder conviction, orders new trial

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned attorney Alex Murdaugh’s double murder conviction. In a unanimous opinion, the court ruled that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill tampered with the jury during Murdaugh’s 2023 trial, which prejudiced the jurors toward a guilty verdict before they began deliberating, WTOC reported. 
Hill, who was an elected official tasked with managing the trial and overseeing the jury, made comments to the jurors that the justices deemed inappropriate. These comments included stating that the jurors shouldn’t “be fooled” by evidence Murdaugh’s attorneys presented, to watch Murdaugh’s actions and movements closely before he took the stand, and that the deliberations shouldn’t take long. 
The ruling called Hill’s comments “breathtaking and disgraceful,” as they “essentially implored the jurors to find him guilty.” As an official who voters elected into the position, Hill’s comments were especially damaging, the justices ruled. 
Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family’s Colleton County property in June 2021. The jury took approximately 45 minutes to reach a guilty verdict after a six-week trial, and he was sentenced to life. 
Since that conviction, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 federal charges, including bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, for which he received a 40-year sentence. 
No date has been set for a new trial on the murder charges. 

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