Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has filed a civil suit against a court clerk after a panel of judges last week overturned his murder convictions because they said the clerk unfairly biased the jury against him.
Murdaugh may get a new trial in that criminal case after being convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul.
In his civil suit, Murdaugh alleges the Colleton County Clerk, Rebecca Hill, “secretly and deliberately inserted herself into the jury’s deliberative process for personal financial gain”.
Murdaugh is seeking compensation for damages he suffered, including $600,000 (£446,000) he says he paid his legal team for his defence.
Prosecutors have said they plan to retry Murdaugh, but no new court dates have been set.
Once a powerful lawyer, the 56-year-old and his legal troubles captivated a global audience and inspired documentaries, podcasts and book deals. The six-week trial itself over the June 2021 killings was televised and drew crowds of true crime sleuths.
But in a 5-0 ruling last week, the South Carolina Supreme Court said Murdaugh deserved a new trial because Hill, the clerk, had denied Murdaugh “his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury”.
They cited several remarks jurors said Hill made to them, including that they should “not to be fooled” by the evidence presented by the defence team.
A few months after Murdaugh’s trial, Hill published a tell-all book about the court proceedings.
In the civil suit, Murdaugh’s lawyers reference several of these remarks from Hill that the Supreme Court included in their ruling.
Murdaugh’s attorneys claim Hill biased the jury for her own financial gain.
“She wanted to write a book about the most high-profile trial in South Carolina history so she could buy a lake house. And, as the South Carolina Supreme Court found, she believed a guilty verdict ‘would be the best way to sell books,'” the attorneys wrote.
Last December, Hill pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct in office, obstruction of justice and perjury over accusations that she misused public funds as a clerk and shared sealed court information with a reporter, among other claims.
Murdaugh has consistently denied he killed his wife and child. During his trial, the jury heard accusations that for years, he had been stealing from his law partners and clients to feed an addiction to painkillers and an extravagant lifestyle.
They argued that he killed his wife and son in an attempt to conceal years of financial corruption.
He is serving two additional 27- and 40-year sentences for state and federal financial crimes.
By BBC News
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