Attorneys for convicted defendant Alex Murdaugh on Tuesday filed an appeal against the verdict, saying improper testimony and allegations of jury misconduct by Court Clerk Becky Hill “created an unfair trial.” I filed a complaint.
Murdaugh, 56, is serving a life sentence for fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, on the family's hunting property in Colleton County, South Carolina, in June 2021.
Prosecutors argued that their murders were an attempt to distract from Murdaugh's growing financial crimes, which were then beginning to become apparent.
In April of this year, the disgraced legal scion was sentenced to two life sentences plus two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, five counts of wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud conspiracy, and 14 counts of wire fraud. He was sentenced to an additional 480 months in prison. money laundering.
Prosecutors said Murdaugh used his power and family influence in the Lowcountry to take on clients' cases, amassing “significant sums of money” and keeping a significant portion of the proceeds for himself. claims.
But in a 132-page appeal filed Tuesday, Murdaugh's lawyers argue that their client's financial crimes should not have been included in his previous murder trial, saying they were irrelevant and that the jury He said Murdaugh may have been portrayed in a negative light that negatively affected members of the public.
The appeal also alleges that former Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill, who resigned amid allegations of jury misconduct in Murdaugh's case, swayed jurors to convict Murdaugh. .
Of the 12 jurors who convicted Murdaugh of murder in March 2023, 11 said Hill had no influence on the verdict. One person said he heard the clerk make a comment about seeing Murdaugh's body language, but that her words did not influence his verdict.
Judge Jean Toal ruled in January that the charges against Hill were not sufficient to grant him a new trial in the murder case.
Murdaugh's lawyers challenged the ruling on appeal.
Hill was charged with 76 ethics violations and was scheduled to appear before the state Ethics Commission on Dec. 19.
However, that hearing has been put on hold in view of the pending criminal investigation by the attorney general's office, the state newspaper reported.
The appeal also said prosecutors introduced multiple guns into evidence, but there was no evidence linking them to the murder, and no evidence linked bullet residue on a raincoat shown in court to his client. They claim that they are not connected.
