'Damning' allegations behind Murdaugh team's push for a new trial a 'gut punch' to prosecution: Lexie Rigden
Criminal defense attorney Lexie Rigden discusses the Alex Murdaugh defense team's allegations that the court clerk tampered with the jury and what might happen if the allegations are true.
Criminal defense attorney Lexi Rigden said Wednesday that bombshell allegations dropped against court clerk Rebecca Hill could be "very damning" for the prosecution in Alex Murdaugh's request for a new trial.
"It's a gut punch to the prosecution if these [allegations] are true," she told Fox News on Wednesday, adding in part, "These allegations are substantive. They are very damning, and they are a problem for the prosecution."
Attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin pushed for the new trial Tuesday after alleging Hill tampered with jurors in the high-profile case to secure a book deal.
ALEX MURDAUGH SEEKS NEW TRIAL, ALLEGES JURY TAMPERING IN BOMBSHELL MOTION
Alex Murdaugh listens to defense attorney Jim Griffin give his closing arguments in Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on March 1, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
Her memoir, "Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders," hit store shelves Aug. 1
Harpootlian and Griffin cited "newly discovered evidence" obtained during conversations with two jurors, alleging that Hill urged the panel to "reach a quick verdict" and that she had "frequent private conversations with the jury foreperson" to sway them toward a guilty verdict.
"I can only assume that Creighton Waters, who is the lead prosecutor on the case, is not happy today because the prosecution… they did nothing wrong," Rigden resumed. "The accusation is that this elected public official was leaning on the jury very heavily during the trial at the time that Murdoch was testifying during the jury view of the Moselle Property and even during the deliberation."
Rebecca Hill arrives at the "Today Show" studio in New York City on March 6, 2023. (Jennifer Mitchell for Fox News Digital)
Hill is also accused of telling jurors who smoked that they couldn't take a smoking break until deliberations ended and even worked to get a juror she viewed as sympathetic to Murdaugh's team dismissed from the case.
"I have never seen anything like it. I would venture to guess that the prosecutors in this case probably have never seen anything like it," Rigden said. "And the process matters. What I expect the prosecution is going to do… [is] they're going to try to uphold this verdict. They have no desire to try this case again, but the process matters. The process itself has to be fair. So, no matter how overwhelming people believe that the evidence against Murdoch was, no matter how overwhelming the judge said the evidence was against him, the process to get there has to be fair."
WATCH: ALEX MURDAUGH'S SURVIVING SON SPEAKS OUT IN FOX NATION EXCLUSIVE
From left: Alex Murdaugh and defense attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin listen to prosecutor John Meadors give his rebuttal during the murder trial of Murdaugh at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on March 2, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
Murdaugh's defense team additionally sent a letter to the U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina, requesting a federal probe into Hill's alleged misconduct.
Earlier this year, former South Carolina attorney Murdaugh was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting him on all counts.
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For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media. Sign up today on Fox Nation to stream ‘The Fall of the House of Murdaugh,’ during which Fox News' Martha MacCallum sits down for exclusive interviews with key players in the case — including Rebecca Hill — as well as Alex's son, Buster.
Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
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