Attorneys for disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh say they’ve now been in contact with a fourth juror from his double murder trial and are confident he’ll receive a new trial after uncovering alleged jury tampering by a court official. Attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin also said they would represent Murdaugh free of charge in a retrial if necessary.
Law&Crime spoke with Harpootlian and Griffin at CrimeCon in Orlando last weekend about a number of topics. The attorneys were featured speakers at the convention along with Creighton Waters, the assistant attorney general who is leading the Murdaugh prosecutions.
“Alex is entitled to a new trial and he will get a new trial,” Griffin said.
However, Griffin realizes the challenge of vacating a jury verdict. He said a new trial could be granted by a trial court judge or possibly a higher court.
“Whether it’s Judge Newman, by the Court of Appeals, by the Supreme Court or by the federal courts, based on the evidence that we have developed, he’s entitled to a new trial,” Griffin said.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court for a scheduling conference on his financial crimes cases Source: pool video
A Colleton County jury deliberated for three hours last March before finding Murdaugh guilty of the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh.
The South Carolina Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on Murdaugh’s request to stay his appeal and remand the case to the trial court. Judge Clifton Newman could order an evidentiary hearing so witnesses, including jurors, can be questioned under oath about what happened during the trial.
Harpootlian and Griffin believe they will be granted a hearing before the end of the year after filing a motion for a new trial, alleging that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill tried to sway the jury to find Murdaugh guilty.
Murdaugh’s lawyers now say they’ve been in contact with four jurors who claimed they felt pressured to find Murdaugh guilty quickly.
One of the jurors, #785, was dismissed during closing arguments. The media dubbed her “egg lady” after she asked to retrieve a dozen eggs from the jury room when Judge Newman excused her.
Juror #785 signed an affidavit in which she said Hill questioned her about a Facebook post purportedly written by her ex-husband in which he claimed she got drunk and talked about her feelings about the case.
However, juror #785 said she hadn’t spoken with her ex-husband in 10 years. The ex-husband also signed an affidavit claiming he never made the post.
A transcript of the hearing quoted Judge Newman as saying, “I’m not too pleased about the clerk interrogating a juror as opposed to coming to me.”
Harpootlian said they have not made a decision about whether they will ask Judge Newman to recuse himself if the case is sent back to the trial court.
“We’re looking at that issue. I think there’s a question about whether or not he’s a witness. He was involved in a number of communications with the court,” Harpootlian said.
Prosecutors with South Carolina’s Attorney General’s Office have said SLED is still investigating the allegations of jury tampering. In a response to the court, prosecutors conceded a hearing may be necessary. However, they wrote that agents have already found “significant factual disputes.”
Attorney Joe McCulloch, a longtime friend and colleague of Dick Harpootlian who is representing juror #785 and a second juror, said there’s “obviously a consistency that’s troubling.”
“It’s going to be incumbent on the system to figure out what happened and whether anything of consequence happened,” McCulloch said.
McCulloch has been living with the Murdaugh case for years. He also represented Connor Cook and Miley Altman in a civil suit against Murdaugh. Cook and Altman were on the boat driven by Paul Murdaugh in February 2019 when it crashed, killing their friend, Mallory Beach. Cook and Altman suffered minor injuries. That case was settled earlier this summer.
“This case will steal your life if it doesn’t take it,” McCulloch said of the seemingly never-ending saga.
The kennel video
A juror told Law&Crime after the trial that the kennel video was the piece of evidence that convinced him that Murdaugh was guilty. Paul Murdaugh recorded that video minutes before prosecutors said he and his mother died. Three voices are heard on it: Paul Murdaugh, Maggie Murdaugh and Alex Murdaugh.
From left to right: Maggie, Paul and Alex Murdaugh.
Murdaugh had told SLED agents and everyone he knew that he had not been at the kennels that night. Agents discovered the video nine months after the murders when the Secret Service opened Paul Murdaugh’s phone.
Griffin said he was surprised when the video came to light.
“He explained the paranoia he was going through. He did have a bag full of pills in his pocket,” Griffin said. “That’s one of the reasons we put him on the stand so he can explain why he lied. I’ve accepted that reason.”
Murdaugh said at his trial that whoever killed Paul Murdaugh had hatred for him and blamed vigilantes from the boat crash. Griffin and Harpootlian believe Murdaugh’s involvement in drugs led to Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders.
Legal fees and newfound celebrity
Harpootlian and Griffin were featured speakers at CrimeCon in Orlando over the weekend. The pair were stopped in the hallways of the convention center as trial watchers asked them to pose for photos.
“It’s its own microcosm. And in this microcosm, as ridiculous as it sounds, we’re celebrities,” Harpootlian said. “We can get on a plane tomorrow and go back to Columbia. We won’t be celebrities anymore.”
Attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian pose for a photo with a fan at CrimeCon in Orlando on September 23, 2023
Harpootlian and Griffin told a packed ballroom that they would represent Murdaugh in a retrial without being paid if they had to.
Griffin, when asked, said the pair had been paid a handsome fee to represent Paul Murdaugh in his criminal case so there was a large credit from that. They also received some payment from Alex Murdaugh’s share of a family trust and his 401(k).
But money is not the main concern, according to Harpootlian, who is 74. He said he’s made plenty of money throughout his long career. He added that he and Griffin both have robust civil practices.
“I’ve got the money,” Harpootlian said. “What else am I going to do? Play golf?”
Griffin and attorney Sara Azari also spoke to a standing-room-only crowd about the Bryan Kohberger case. The two co-host a podcast, The Presumption.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty in federal court last week to a long list of federal charges related to financial crimes. He has admitted to stealing millions of dollars from clients and his law firm.
He will be sentenced at a later date. His trial on one of the state financial crimes cases is scheduled to begin on Nov. 27.
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