Alex Murdaugh filed a civil rights lawsuit Sunday against Rebecca "Becky" Hill, the former court clerk accused of interfering with the jury that convicted him in the murders of his wife and son. The filing came four days after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his double murder convictions and life sentence, saying he was denied a fair trial because of Hill's improper external influences on the jury.
The lawsuit seeks to put a dollar figure on the damage Murdaugh says followed that conduct. His legal team said he suffered $600,000 in monetary losses and is entitled to recover attorney's fees and costs. In the complaint, Murdaugh says Hill acted under color of state law and should be held accountable for wrongful conduct. The filing also repeats his position that he did not kill his wife and younger son, saying he maintained his innocence then and maintains his innocence now.
Murdaugh was convicted two years ago in the June 2021 slayings of Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh. A jury found him guilty on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He pleaded not guilty. The latest lawsuit adds a new front to a case that has already moved from criminal verdicts to appellate reversal and now to civil litigation.
Hill's role during the murder trial put her close to the machinery of the case. She was responsible for overseeing the jury, a job that normally includes bringing jurors into the courtroom and carrying notes between the panel and the court during deliberations. The state Supreme Court said that arrangement was tainted by her improper external influences on the jury, enough to deprive Murdaugh of a fair proceeding. Hill later pleaded guilty last year to criminal charges for showing sealed court exhibits to a photographer and lying about it in court, and she was sentenced to a year of probation. She denied improperly influencing the jury.
Hill's attorney, Will Lewis, was not immediately available to comment. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office was unaware of Hill's alleged conduct during the trial, though he called the behavior inappropriate but harmless. Wilson also disagreed with the Supreme Court's ruling and said prosecutors would retry the case by the end of the year. Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin were expected to comment Monday afternoon at a press conference.
