MSI previously reported that the South Carolina Supreme Court’s unanimous decision found Hill’s misconduct had denied Murdaugh a fair trial. The court said her actions required a new trial.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, marks the latest legal battle stemming from a case that drew national attention after Hill’s conduct was exposed during Murdaugh’s appeal. Attorneys for Murdaugh, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, alleged in the suit that Hill’s comments to jurors before they began deliberating in January 2023 amounted to official misconduct that “poisoned the entire trial process.”
The suit seeks to recover the $600,000 Murdaugh spent mounting his defense, plus additional damages for the violation of his constitutional rights. It also requests attorneys’ fees.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has signaled that prosecutors will seek a retrial. In a statement last week, Wilson said “every legal option is on the table,” including the possibility of pursuing the death penalty against the 57-year-old former personal injury attorney. Murdaugh was originally sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Hill has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. She resigned as clerk of court in September 2023 after a state investigation found she had improperly contacted jurors during the trial and later lied about it under oath. The South Carolina Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling said her conduct “cannot be undone and requires a new trial.”
Murdaugh has maintained his innocence since the bodies of Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found shot to death at the family’s hunting estate in Colleton County on June 7, 2021. He has also pleaded guilty to dozens of federal and state financial crimes charges in a separate sprawling fraud case, admitting to stealing millions of dollars from clients and his law firm over more than a decade.
The civil complaint against Hill adds another dimension to a legal saga that has already included two murder trials, numerous financial-crime proceedings, and the exposure of misconduct by a court official that unraveled the prosecution’s original murder convictions.