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Alex Murdaugh is back in court on Monday for the first time since the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his double murder conviction over “shocking jury interference.”
Newly assigned Judge Debra McCaslin is set to hold a status conference to determine a schedule for a new trial as well as resolve some evidentiary issues.
The status conference comes more than three years after a South Carolina jury found Murdaugh guilty of murdering his son and wife in a gruesome crime that captured global headlines.
The South Carolina Supreme Court threw out that conviction last month after concluding that a court clerk tainted the jury’s verdict by making comments to the jurors that “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense.”
“Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter. However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the ruling said.
Murdaugh has remained in prison since the ruling, as he is also serving out concurrent sentences for state and federal financial crimes, to which he pleaded guilty. While Murdaugh has acknowledged he lied and stole from his former clients, he has consistently maintained his innocence related to the 2021 double murder.
“Alex has said from day one that he did not kill his wife and son. We look forward to a new trial conducted consistent with the Constitution and the guidance this Court has provided,” Murdaugh’s lawyers said after the May ruling. His lawyers recently filed a civil lawsuit against Hill for allegedly violating his right to a fair trial.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson — who recently won the Republican primary for governor — has vowed to “aggressively” retry the murder case “as soon as possible.” Monday’s conference is likely to provide the first indications of how quickly the case might be retried.
Ahead of the conference, Murdaugh’s lawyers filed a series of motions to change the venue of the trial and access evidence in the case. They have argued that Murdaugh cannot have a fair trial in the countries where his family name has been “synonymous with the local legal system for nearly a century.”
“The basis for this motion is that this is among the most heavily publicized criminal prosecutions in the history of this State. For years Defendant, his family, and the law firm with which his family was associated for generations have been the subject of saturating, sensational, and continuous media coverage,” the motion said.
Murdaugh’s lawyers also filed motions to request access to DNA evidence in the case for independent lab testing, as well as enable Murdaugh to access a computer to review evidence from prison.
Prosecutors have not yet filed their response to those motions.
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