Judge orders Murdaugh retrial venue transfer to Sumter County
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Judge Debra McCaslin ordered Tuesday that proceedings in the State of South Carolina vs. Richard Alexander Murdaugh transfer to Sumter County.
The order comes after months of back and forth between prosecutors and Murdaugh’s defense. The defense argued that Colleton County’s jury pool was too compromised by the former lawyer’s original, highly-publicized double murder trial and the myriad offshoot of documentaries, “based on a true story” recreations, and podcasts during and after proceedings. That trial ended with the jury deeming Murdaugh guilty for slaying his wife and son, but the South Carolina Supreme Court ultimately overturned the conviction and granted him a retrial.
Murdaugh’s attorneys had suggested Charleston or Richland County courthouses for the venue transfer, but Judge McCaslin ultimately decided on Sumter. She wrote in the order that Sumter County offers an appropriate venue for a fair trial while still possessing adequate security measures and infrastructure to conduct proceedings.
McCaslin found that Murdaugh demonstrated actual juror prejudice in the motion to transfer. She rested her ruling on the grounds that there was an exceptionally high rate of juror disqualification during the Jan. 2023 selection process, that Colleton County is prejudiced from its small size and long-standing association with Murdaugh and his once-influential family, the South Carolina Supreme Court determining former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly influenced the jury, and the breadth, persistence, and form of the publicity surrounding the prosecution.
