COLUMBIA, S.C. (NEWSnet/AP) — The judge handling fallout from Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions plans to hold an evidentiary hearing in late January 2024.
Murdaugh's lawyers want another trial in the killings of the former lawyer's wife and younger son, citing allegations that the court clerk improperly influenced the jury.
The defense will get to put forth evidence at a three-day hearing expected to begin Jan. 29, according to a tentative schedule shared by a media liaison for former South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal.
Jurors, the clerk and possibly the trial judge might have to testify under oath.
Murdaugh is serving life imprisonment without parole after a jury found him guilty in March of killing his wife and son, in June 2021. He was sentenced in November for stealing $12 million and an additional 27 years under a plea deal for state crimes.
The state's highest court appointed Toal to oversee the matter of a new trial after Judge Clifton Newman recused himself.
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