A South Carolina judge said the court clerk was “drawn to the siren song of celebrity” surrounding Alex Murdaugh's murder trial last year.
Judge Jean Toal on Monday denied Murdaugh's motion for a new trial.
Murdaugh and his attorneys alleged that Colleton County Court Clerk Rebecca “Becky” Hill was inappropriately discussing the case with jurors and pressuring them to conclude deliberations quickly.
Toal said he found that Hill was “not completely credible as a witness” and that the court clerk wanted to write a book about the Murdaugh trial in November 2022, before the proceedings began.
The judge said Hill told others that he wanted a guilty verdict because it would sell more books.
“The clerk of court allowed the public attention of the moment to overtake her duty,” Toal said.
Toal said Hill made comments to “one, maybe more” jurors, although he ultimately found that the comments did not sway the jury.
“I simply do not believe that the authority of our South Carolina Supreme Court requires a new trial in a trial as long as this one, based on a few fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-influenced court clerk,” Toal said.
