He said that he also sent a request to the South Carolina Attorney’s office calling for a federal investigation to be opened into what he said was the violation of Murdaugh’s civil rights.
Speaking at a press conference outside the appeals court on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Harpootlian said that they had filed the petition based on “newly-discovered evidence” with the South Carolina Court of Appeals to grant a stay on Murdaugh’s appeal while the motion is heard for a new trial.
The Independent has reached out to Ms Hill for comment. In conclusion, they claim that the court clerk’s actions violated “Murdaugh’s constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury” and that the judge must grant a new trial. Then, just hours after the jurors returned a guilty verdict, Ms Hill allegedly flew with some of the panel to New York to appear on NBC’s Today show. The motion goes on to claim that, during deliberations, Ms Hill refused to let jurors take a smoke break until they reached a verdict. Sworn statements and information has also been provided by jurors 630, 741 and 326. The motion from Murdaugh’s attorneys includes affidavits from juror 785 and her former husband Tim Stone, who has denied ever making the posts. Outside of the Facebook post and her ex-husband, the court was contacted by a co-worker of the juror’s tenant who said that the tenant said her landlord was a juror and had expressed an opinion when delivering a fridge to the property. The juror said that around 10 minutes later, she was dismissed from the jury.ĭuring her dismissal, she was accused of having spoken to at least three people about the case. When the juror said she thought prosecutor Creighton Waters’ closing statement was good but that she had questions because the murder weapons have never been found, Ms Hill allegedly told her “that everything Mr Murdaugh has said has been lies and that I should forget about the guns, they will never be seen again”. (THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In the Court of Appeals)
#WHITE PAGES PREMIUM TRIAL 1 DOWNLOAD#
Murdaugh’s attorneys claim that the original post was “fictitous” and that a download of Mr Stone’s Facebook shows he did not make either post.Īfter the prosecution’s closing argument on the morning of 1 March, juror 785 said that the court clerk asked her again about what her verdict would be.
She then allegedly asked juror 785 whether she was inclined to vote guilty or not guilty – to which she said she had not made up her mind. Ms Hill allegedly told the juror that SLED and Colleton County Sheriff’s Office personnel had gone to Mr Stone’s house and that he had confirmed he made the post. When Ms Hill confronted the juror about the posts, the juror said she hadn’t seen her ex-husband in 10 years, the motion states. The post purportedly claimed that the juror was drinking with her ex-husband and, when she became drunk, she expressed her views on whether Murdaugh was innocent or guilty.Ī follow-up post from an account called Timothy Stone apologised for the post saying that he was driven by “Satan”. The woman then prompted some light-hearted – and widely-reported – relief when she asked to pick up her “dozen eggs” from the jury room before she left.Īccording to the motion, Ms Hill had gone to Judge Newman on 27 February – the day after Murdaugh testified – claiming that she had seen a post in local Facebook group “Walterboro Word of Mouth” from juror 785’s former husband Tim Stone. Judge Clifton Newman removed the female juror from the panel for allegedly discussing the case with at least three other people outside of the court. Much of the motion centres around juror number 785 – who became infamous when she was dismissed from the panel just hours before jury deliberations began.
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