COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — On Wednesday morning, the South Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments over Alex Murdaugh’s appeal of his double murder conviction. Murdaugh’s legal team including Attorneys Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin, and Phillip Barber, argued before the five justices that Murdaug h deserves a retrial. “Nobody wants to do this again less than we do. But that’s not the issue, it’s not how much trouble it’s gonna be. It’s what is Alex Murdaugh guaranteed to under the Sixth Amendment,” says Harpootlian. In part, the attorneys say, a retrial is needed because of jury tampering by former Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill. “The Clerk of Court tells everybody that’ll listen, I need a guilty verdict, so I can make money, so I can buy a lake house,” says Harpootlian. Hill is also accused of telling jurors to “look at his (Murdaugh’s) actions,” “don’t let the defense confuse you,” and “watch his (Murdaugh’s) body language.” Prosecutor Creighton Waters called the comments Hill made to jurors innocuous, later saying he believed Hill should not have made her comments but that they weren’t egregious. Chief Justice John Kittredge pushed back on the prosecution. “When those seemingly innocuous statements are considered in the aftermath of the originating statement not to be confused and misled by the defense, those initial innocuous statements take on a very nefarious message,” says Kittredge. Defense Attorney Jim Griffin also pointed out lack of physical evidence proving Murdaugh killed either Maggie or Paul, including the close-range nature of Paul’s death. “And there was no brain or blood matter found on Alex’s person, his clothes, inside his suburban, inside his homes, they checked the bathtubs…no where,” says Griffin. Waters however, disagreed, saying,  “It boils down to, basic good ole, how do you determine who did somebody? Motive means opportunity and acts of guilty consciousness, and I think the evidence was very strong with all of that.” Waters also argued that cell phone time stamps place Murdaugh at the crime scene at the time of Paul and Maggie’s deaths. “It showed that not only was he at the crime scene with the victims just moments before they died, but importantly had been lying about that to anyone who would listen,” says Waters. Murdaugh’s legal team addressed media outside of Harpootlian’s Law Firm on Laurel Street — saying Murdaugh maintains he did not kill his wife and son. “And of course he says since I didn’t do it, SLED oughta go find who did. And again one of our problems from the get go from that night, he was the primary suspect, the only suspect and they’ve never really looked at anybody else,” says Harpootlian. There is no deadline for the justices to make a decision. Harpootlian says their ruling could come days, months, or even a year from now. No matter the decision, Murdaugh will remain in prison — also serving 40 years for financial crimes. Categories: Local News, News Tags: Alex Murdaugh, SC Supreme Court ...read more read less