Murdaugh defense team files lawsuit against Hill, calls out AG Wilson on death penalty

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Attorneys on Alex Murdaugh’s defense team are announcing they’ll be filing a $600,000 lawsuit against former Colleton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill.

Outside of the Harpootlian Law Firm on Laurel Street, Attorneys Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin, and Phillip Barber say the lawsuit filed on Murdaugh’s behalf against Hill will fall under the federal civil rights statute — which addresses Constitutional deprivation of rights.

The first trial had “more holes than Swiss cheese,” says Harpootlian. The team reiterated that Hill deprived Murdaugh of a fair trial and his right to an untampered jury.

“Now let me be clear, Alex Murdaugh owes a lot of people a lot of money. None of this money that is recovered will go to him personally,” says Griffin, adding that rather the purpose of the lawsuit is to hold Hill accountable. “And two, is to investigate exactly what she did,” says Griffin.

Harpootlian began Monday’s press conference by calling out Attorney General Alan Wilson after Wilson says the death penalty will be back on the table in Murdaugh’s retrial.

“And here’s the question, what does he know today that he didn’t know five years ago?” Harpootlian asks, adding, “So we’re a little sick and tired — where Alan Wilson plays politics as opposed to playing prosecutor.”

In a Fox News interview Monday afternoon, Wilson accused Harpootlian of playing politics, calling him a hardcore Democratic leader in SC politics, and in a statement, Wilson again responding saying, “This case is being treated exactly as it should be, as a brand-new trial. Every legal option is on the table, and those discussions are happening as they should happen, with the dedicated prosecutors and staff within the attorney general’s office, not as part of some campaign apparatus. In 2022, the legal and practical realities surrounding the death penalty were very different. South Carolina had not carried out an execution in more than a decade. That has changed, and it is one of several factors that must now be considered as we move forward. Mr. Harpootlian himself acknowledged that the Becky Hill matter was previously referred to and reviewed by an independent prosecutor. Those issues were already evaluated outside of our office. What is disappointing is watching Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin spend their time trashing SLED and attacking South Carolina law enforcement instead of treating this matter with the seriousness it deserves. At the end of the day, our responsibility is simple: follow the law, protect the integrity of the process, and ensure justice is pursued fairly and professionally.”

Griffin says he spoke with Murdaugh Monday morning, with the two recently discussing the SC Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Murdaugh’s murder convictions against his wife Maggie and son Paul. Griffin says Murdaugh became emotional when he learned about the decision.

“He told me very early that he deserves to be in jail for the financial crimes he committed. But being in jail for something you didn’t do is a hard thing to swallow,” adding, “But, he says, what I was convicted of is so heinous and to be wrongly convicted of that is almost unbearable.”

Griffin added that Alex’s son, Buster, still supports his father and does not believe he killed his mother and brother.

The defense team added that the retrial’s location and date is still unknown, saying realistically it could begin up to a year from now.