SC Supreme Court Overturns Conviction for Alex Murdaugh

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the murder convictions and life sentence of disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh in the shooting deaths of his wife and younger son. In a unanimous ruling, the justices said that conduct by a court clerk "egregiously attacked Murdaugh's credibility" by suggesting to jurors his testimony couldn't be trusted, reports the AP. They went on to call the clerk's interference "shocking," per the New York Times. The justices added that the trial judge also went too far in allowing evidence of Murdaugh's financial crimes into his murder trial, the AP notes. Murdaugh won't be getting out of prison, though: The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence.

Still, the state Supreme Court ruling is a win for Murdaugh, who admits to being a thief, liar, insurance cheat, and bad lawyer but has adamantly denied killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son Paul since he says he found their bodies outside their home in 2021. The justices ruled that Becky Hill, Colleton County's clerk of court who was assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, influenced jurors to find Murdaugh guilty. She hoped to improve sales of a book she was writing about the case; she has since pleaded guilty to lying about what she said and did to a different judge. Murdaugh's lawyers also argued before the high court that the judge at his 2023 trial made rulings that prevented a fair trial, such as allowing evidence of Murdaugh stealing from clients that had nothing to do with the killings but biased jurors against him.

His attorneys detailed the lack of physical evidence—no DNA or blood was found splattered on Murdaugh or any of his clothes, even though the killings were at close range with powerful weapons that were never found. Prosecutors argued that the clerk's comments were fleeting and the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming. His lawyer said that didn't matter because the comments a juror said Hill made—urging jurors to watch Murdaugh's body language and listen to his testimony carefully—removed his presumption of innocence before the jury ever deliberated. The Times notes that the state high court's decision doesn't mean a new trial will happen, though it's anticipated that prosecutors will seek one.