Could Alex Murdaugh get a new murder trial? SC lawyers react after state's highest court issues appeal

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – There's another twist in the complicated Alex Murdaugh saga as the South Carolina Supreme Court considers the convicted murderer's appeal of jury tampering.

The question of whether Murdaugh deserves a new murder trial goes directly to the state's highest court, bypassing the usual appeals process.

RELATED: Murdaugh's defense attorneys are confident that an appeal will be made after a motion for retrial is denied

The five judges will decide in a lengthy trial last year whether comments made by former Colleton County District Court Clerk Becky Hill led to his conviction for killing his wife and son.

Three prominent Palmetto State attorneys unconnected with the case spoke to WIS on Wednesday about the risks and what lies ahead.

They expressed differing opinions about what would happen next, but one point stood out: that this case is probably far from over.

There is great public interest in the case, but also a determination to get things right, they said.

READ MORE: -Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life imprisonment, lawyers plan to appeal

-Alex Murdaugh's legal team is demanding a new trial for alleged jury tampering

“The wheels of justice always grind faster in Murdaugh-related hearings, so I cannot apply the logic I would apply to any other case to what is likely to happen in the Murdaugh case,” said attorney Mandy Powers Norrell.

Veteran Columbia-based criminal defense attorney Jack Swirling said the decision could mean Murdaugh is one step closer to a retrial, but he declined to make that prediction definitively.

“It could go both ways, in both cases, in terms of possible errors in the procedure, but also in terms of jury tampering,” he said.

Powers Norrell said she believes Murdaugh has little chance of success on this particular appeal.

“It's not as low as buying a lottery ticket,” she said. “I think the probability is maybe 20 percent just looking at the facts of this case, and there are enough questions.”

The more likely scenario, Powers Norrell said, is that the state Supreme Court will remand the case for a fact-finding hearing.

Local attorney John Mobley said it is very likely that the panel will grant the disgraced Lowcountry attorney a retrial.

“I would say there's a 75 percent chance he'll get a new trial,” he said. “I think that will give him a significant advantage because in the first trial there were a lot of unknowns, a lot of variables that the defense couldn't account for.”

In January, former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal ruled that although Hill made inappropriate comments to the jury, they had no impact on the outcome of the trial.

RELATED: Judge rejects convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh's request for retrial

The state’s highest court is now reconsidering this ruling.

“Since it's Murdaugh, I think the legal community wants to get this done, the justice system in South Carolina wants to get this done,” Powers Norell said. “They want to get this done in a way that does justice and fairness and shows that we treat everyone equally under the law.”

Toal based her decision in this case on a precedent in a federal case called South Carolina v. Green, in which the burden of proof was on the defense.

Murdaugh's lawyers, however, argue that the burden of proof that Hill's comments were harmless to the jury's deliberations should be on the state.

This is based on a federal standard established in Remmer v. United States.

“As a lawyer and advocate, I support the federal standard,” Swerling said. “If there is jury tampering, if there is undue influence on the jury, then I assume there was bias. But I'm just a lawyer. I just argue, the judges decide.”

Swerling praised Toal's legal acumen, calling her a “brilliant chief justice” and saying the Supreme Court would likely show her some deference because of her previous position.

Mobley said Toal was mistaken, pointing to testimony from a juror at the January hearing who said Hill's statements influenced her verdict.

Juror Z, as the person was called, told Toal that Hill “seems like [Murdaugh] was already guilty.”

“The only way to establish bias when you're trying to determine whether or not the communication influenced the jury's verdict is to get the jurors to testify,” Mobley said. “They're either going to say they did or they didn't. That's your evidence. That's the only way a defendant or defense attorney can establish bias. And if a juror says, 'Yes, that comment influenced my decision,' that's their evidence of bias. So I don't think that lower standard is even necessary because they met the higher standard.”

Regardless of the outcome of the murder trial, Murdaugh faces numerous convictions in federal and state courts in connection with a range of financial crimes.

He is currently appealing a 40-year prison sentence in federal court for a decade-long scheme to embezzle millions of dollars from his law firm and clients.

Hill has since resigned from her position as clerk of the court and is the subject of an investigation by the state Ethics Commission into whether she abused her elected office for personal gain.

READ MORE: Becky Hill, court clerk in Colleton, announces her resignation amid state investigation

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