CHARLESTON, S.C. (Court TV) — Alex Murdaugh’s quest to force a county court clerk to pay his legal fees from his first murder trial has come to a screeching halt.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Murdaugh, 58, against the former clerk of court at his criminal trial, Rebecca “Becky” Hill, after the South Carolina Supreme Court found that Hill’s inappropriate comments had tainted the jury.
The judge left the door open for Murdaugh to refile at a later date.
Murdaugh was sentenced to two life terms after that jury found him guilty of murder in the killings of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh, who were shot to death on the family’s property. At his trial, Murdaugh admitted to a drug addiction that led him to steal millions of dollars from his own clients, but denied having any role in his family’s deaths.
During Murdaugh’s 2023 murder trial, Hill made several comments to the jurors, including warning them “not to be fooled” by evidence presented by his defense. She also suggested the panel “watch him closely” and “look at his actions” when Murdaugh testified in his own defense. After the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the comments were enough to have influenced the jury, Murdaugh filed a lawsuit against Hill seeking $600,000 — the amount he paid for his legal defense at the first trial.
U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel found that the lawsuit contained a “fatal flaw”: There was no connection between the money that Murdaugh paid for his defense and Hill’s actions. “[Hill] did not cause the murder charges to be brought against [Alex Murdaugh],” Gergel wrote in his order dismissing the suit. “Namely, if [Hill] had not engaged in her communications with jurors and had performed her clerk of court duties properly, [Alex Murdaugh] would have still needed to expend the funds necessary to pay for his defense.”
Gergel dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, with a footnote noting the possibility of future litigation. “Plaintiff carefully avoided seeking damages for expenses related to his upcoming retrial, plainly recognizing that such a claim is not ripe,” Gergel wrote. “Nothing in this order should be construed to express an opinion regarding the possible merit or lack of merit of a claim based upon any damages Plaintiff may allege from the retrial of his murder case.”
A judge tentatively set Murdaugh’s retrial date for April 2027.
