COLUMBIA, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh appeared in Richland County court Tuesday to find out how his upcoming evidentiary hearing will work. This will ultimately determine whether or not he will get a new murder trial, after his lawyers claim that the Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill tampered with the jury through improper contact.
Local and national media outlets, members of the legal community and spectators sat in the gallery for the roughly two-hour status conference, although none of Murdaugh’s family was there. The purpose of the conference was to lay the groundwork for how the upcoming evidentiary hearing will work.
“This is a very focused inquiry about this jury and its ability to render the verdict it rendered in an impartial manner,” Justice Jean Toal said in court.
Throughout the morning, Toal made key decisions about the upcoming hearing. Murdaugh's attorneys claim Hill made prejudicial comments to the jury about him as they were preparing to render their verdict. Hill denies the claims.
“The initial position of defense was that only certain jurors should be called,” Toal relayed. “The state said no juror should be called, but if you do, all should be called.”
Ultimately, Toal decided that all the jurors who went into deliberations will be called — in open court in front of media and spectators — to be questioned by her directly.
“I think it’s very important to understand that no one, not myself or anyone else, is going to be asking the jurors about the specifics of their deliberation and the rule is quite clear about that,” Toal clarified. “Everything will be done in open court. The jurors will be referred to by number. The Court TV cameras which are the ones used to film these proceedings will not be allowed to focus on the image of the jurors as witnesses and if there's some need to further obscure the way they are presented, we can talk about that, but there'll be examined right here in the courtroom as other witnesses would be.”
Prosecuting attorney Creighton Waters said that he understood this case started with the jurors and their alleged interaction with Hill.
“I know your Honor has indicated the clerk should testify and we certainly understand that,” Waters said to Toal. “The clerk filed an affidavit denying any of these allegations.”
Toal said she’ll be asking about what the Colleton County Clerk of Court said and if it affected jurors — without going further.
“This is not the trial of Miss Hill. And issues about motive and so forth and the possible commission of crimes are not what this inquiry is about. It is about her contact, if any, with the juror and what she said,” Toal specified. "...this is not a time to explore every mistake or incorrect statement or false statement that ever has been made by this witness.”
Murdaugh’s attorneys pushed for the alternate jurors to be included in the questioning, but Toal disagreed since they didn’t weigh in on the verdict.
“Your Honor, she’s given an affidavit denying making any of these statements,” Dick Harpootlian said about Hill.
“She has,” Toal agreed.
“Okay, so these alternate jurors that have been dismissed, would you allow us to call them to impeach her if that’s what she testifies to?” Harpootlian questioned.
“At the present time, the answer to that is no as indicated,” Toal replied, noting that she was making this decision “in a vacuum,” but would revisit specific matters once the hearing begins. “I think I'm also perfectly capable of evaluating the credibility of Ms. Hill and the jurors for that.”
It’s an outcome that attorney Joe McCulloch, who is representing two jurors, said he’s eager to see.
“Some of these jurors have given affidavits, some have made statements, unsworn statements, and some have not spoken at all, some have spoken on television,” McCulloch shared after court. “I think having a procession of 12 jurors under oath, being asked questions by a skilled interrogator, that will be Judge Toal, I think that will get to the bottom of what happened.”
The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29 - 31 at the Richland County Judicial Center.