RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — In less than 12 hours, Alex Murdaugh will return to court for his evidentiary hearing. It's a multi-day process to determine if he'll get a new murder trial, but the proceedings are starting a little earlier than planned.
No cameras will be allowed in the courtroom on Friday, but we'll see what the next few days will hold as one juror gets questioned.
This hearing comes as Murdaugh's defense team claims Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill tampered with the jury. The goal of this hearing is to find out if that's true and, if so, determine if Murdaugh will get a new trial. Justice Jean Toal scheduled the hearing for three days: Jan 29 through Jan 31. At a status conference, Toal decided that all 12 jurors who deliberated on the verdict would be questioned along with Hill.
"This is a very focused inquiry about this jury and its ability to render the verdict it rendered in an impartial manner," Justice Toal said during a status conference, where she laid the ground rules for the hearing.
On Tuesday, News19 discovered things will start a little early. One of the Murdaugh trial jurors can't come to court in Richland County next week due to a "schedule conflict," said Press Liaison Jay Bender. Because of that, the single juror will be questioned at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.
"I think it's very important to understand that no one, not myself or anyone else, is going to be asking the jurors about the specifics of their deliberation and the rule is quite clear about that," Toal said in the status conference.
No cameras will be allowed in the proceedings until the hearing kicks off next week, so there won't be any video or audio of what happens on Friday.
Toal said she'll ask the jurors what Hill said to them, how she said it, and if it impacted their verdict.
News19 will be in the courtroom to provide continued coverage of the hearing.