Overview
- South Carolina’s Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion Wednesday, threw out the 2023 murder convictions after finding the court clerk improperly urged jurors to doubt Alex Murdaugh’s testimony.
- Attorney General Alan Wilson said his team will retry the case and that all options are under review, including seeking the death penalty.
- The high court faulted the first trial for allowing extensive testimony about Murdaugh’s financial crimes and directed tighter limits to avoid unfair prejudice at the retrial.
- Defense lawyer Jim Griffin said they will press forensic leads they argue were overlooked, including unidentified male DNA reported under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails that was not run through CODIS, the national DNA database.
- Key logistics remain unsettled as the defense prepares a change-of-venue request and the intense publicity and clerk misconduct complicate the search for an impartial jury.