Murdaugh’s lawyers say a ‘fair jury’ will find him not guilty
Murdaugh’s lawyers, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, have maintained their client is innocent and expressed confidence they would prevail in a retrial.
“We know this jury was lobbied by the court to convict, so I think a retrial with a fair jury gives him a chance for acquittal,” Harpootlian told the Today Show.
The state’s supreme court found the clerk, Rebecca Hill, had “placed her fingers on the scales of justice” with her interactions with the jury. A few months after Murdaugh’s trial, Hill published a tell-all book about the court proceedings.
Both of Murdaugh’s lawyers say Murdaugh would not consider a plea deal to avoid another trial because he would never plead guilty to killing his wife and son.
Speaking to Fox News, they said their client is “grateful” and “surprised” by the decision.
“I can tell you he is very relieved that he has gotten the label of ‘convicted murderer of his wife and son’ off of him,” Griffin said. “And we plan to keep it off of him.”
What would be different about this trial?
The state supreme court’s ruling “made clear that the retrial must look very different from the first,” the two attorneys said in a joint statement.
We will hear less about Murdaugh’s financial crimes in the new trial, after the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled prosecutors had gone too far in discussing them as a possible motive for the alleged murders.
The next trial court must “carefully and thoughtfully” apply the law in bringing in his financial crimes and must avoid “inflammatory details” that do not bolster prosecutor’s arguments, according to the ruling.
During the trial, Murdaugh admitted to the financial crimes, and later pleaded guilty to both state and federal charges that included money laundering, tax evasion, conspiracy, and fraud.
A new trial will require a new jury, and it will be hard to find impartial individuals in the relatively small community to consider the famous case. Colleton County residents – who would be in the jury pool – followed the trial especially closely.
Ultimately, the retrial could happen in another part of the state.
“They may have to hold the next trial on the moon if they really want to try to find a jury that is unbiased and uninformed and a clean slate, because this case has generated publicity all over the world,” said Joe McCulloch, an attorney who represented two of the jurors during Murdaugh’s appeal.
He added he was confident Murdaugh’s lawyers will request a change in venue.
Murdaugh also notably testified during his trial, but may not return to the stand in a retrial.
Asked if he would testify, Harpootlian told the Today Show: “The guy that can answer that question isn’t here this morning.”
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