COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has responded to Alex Murdaugh's motion for a new trial, saying his legal team hasn't gone through the proper procedures to make that request.
Wilson filed a response Friday with the South Carolina Court of Appeals to Murdaugh's motion.
Murdaugh was convicted in March of killing his wife, Maggie, and adult son Paul at the family's large estate in Colleton County. The verdict came down after only a few hours of deliberation following a six-week long trial and was sentenced to life in prison. His legal team then appealed.
On September 5, Murdaugh's attorneys filed a motion with the SC Court of Appeals to suspend their appeal and sought to request a new trial. They claim they have evidence of jury tampering by Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill. According to their motion, Hill had private conversations with jurors about the case, asked jurors about their opinions about whether Murdaugh was guilty, instructed jurors not to believe evidence, lied to the judge to remove a juror who Hill believed was going to vote guilty, and pressured the jury to make a decision quickly.
Wilson asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate those claims. According to Wilson, while that probe is going on, that investigation has "revealed significant factual disputes as to claims in Appellant's motion."
In the response to the Murdaugh motion, Wilson said Mudaugh's attorneys haven't met the burden required by law to ask for a new trial. Chiefly, Wilson says Murdaugh hasn't been clear when he learned of the claims around Hill. He pointed to one statement made by Murdaugh's attorney to the media that they may have had questions about Hill during the trial, but another that said they learned of the claims after the trial. If it was during the trial, Wilson said the law required them to bring that up during the trial. Wilson also said Murdaugh must provide an affidavit for his claims.
The attorney general said the court should give the Murdaugh legal team 10 day to correct their motion on when they learned of the allegations. If so, Wilson said they state then have to respond to the claims.
Wilson's response comes a day after Murdaugh made his first appearance in court since his conviction. He was at the Beaufort County Courthouse for a hearing regarding his ongoing charges of financial crimes in state court.