(NewsNation) — Alex Murdaugh, who was found guilty in 2023 of murdering his wife and son, was denied a request for a retrial Monday after a hearing over claims the jury was influenced by a court clerk.
Murdaugh and his defense team were in a South Carolina courtroom Monday to push for a new trial as his team alleged Colleton County Clerk Rebecca “Becky” Hill instructed the jury to watch Murdaugh’s body language during his testimony and made other inappropriate comments while the jury was present during his 2023 murder trial.
An alternate juror, who was dismissed before deliberation, made the allegation.
While Judge Jean Toal said Hill — who took the stand Monday — was not a credible witness and likely “attracted by siren call of celebrity,” she ruled any comments Hill made during the trial did not influence the jury.
“One juror was ambivalent in her testimony; she was then examined on her previous affidavit, in which she said the effect, if any, that she had was pressure she felt from other jurors,” Toal said from the bench reading her ruling.
Pressure from jurors is not grounds for a retrial, Toal ruled, citing previous case law.
Prior to her ruling, Toal called a recess Monday after she received news that jurors, who were there to testify one at a time, were streaming the hearing on their cellphones in the back of the room. Not only was filming prohibited inside the courtroom, the jurors were not supposed to hear what each other were saying or the arguments that were being made by the lawyers.
Shockwaves were also sent over the courtroom when one of the jurors testifying Monday said her verdict was influenced by Hill. The 11 other jurors who testified, however, said they based their own guilty verdicts on the testimony given at the trial.
Hill herself gave testimony, during which she denied ever speaking about the case, or Murdaugh himself, with jurors.
“I never talked to any jurors about anything like that,” Hill said.
However, Toal questioned Hill’s truthfulness after she admitted using “literary license” for some things she wrote about in her book on the trial. Last year, Hill admitted to plagiarizing parts of that book, and she is no longer working with the co-author on it.
“I did have a certain way I felt,” Hill said in court.
When asked about why she reportedly told people before the jury received the case that she expected short deliberations, Hill said this was because of a gut feeling because of her years of experience in the courtroom.
Barnwell County Clerk Rhonda McElveen, who helped Hill during the trial, said Hill had suggested they write a book about the Murdaugh case together because “she wanted a lake house, and I wanted to retire.”
During cross-examination, McElveen said she didn’t tell this to the trial judge, as she didn’t think Hill’s comments rose to the level of misconduct.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.