Alex Murdaugh court clerk triggers mistrial claim after being accused of tainting jury

Attorneys for convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh have accused a South Carolina court clerk of tampering with the jury and have demanded a new trial and a federal investigation.

Defense attorneys filed a 65-page motion accusing Colleton County clerk of court Rebecca Hill of telling jurors “not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other evidence presented by the defense [and] pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict," reported The Daily Beast.

"[Hill] even misrepresented critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense," the filling added.

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The jury needed just three hours of deliberations to convict Murdaugh of killing his wife Maggie and son Paul at the family's hunting estate in July 202 and he was sentenced to two life terms in prison. He also faces 100 separate charges of fraud and drug trafficking.

The appeal accused Hill of speaking with jurors about Murdaugh's guilt or innocence and inventing a story about a Facebook post in an effort to remove a juror. The filing alleges that she intervened to make money off the trial.

"Ms. Hill did these things to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial," Murdaugh's attorneys claims. "Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame.”

The defense motion claims that several jurors spoke with them about Hill's conduct, saying that at least one of them said they believed her comments mean that Murdaugh was guilty, but the clerk of court flatly denied the allegations of wrongdoing.

“It’s totally not true,” Hill said. “This is crazy.”