A juror in Alex Murdaugh’s double-homicide trial was removed on Thursday for “improper conversations” about the case with several people outside court.
Judge Clifton Newman said she was bounced after a lengthy investigation by two agents, one of whom was a witness for the prosecution in the trial—a circumstance that made the defense throw a fit.
The juror’s dismissal was announced at a hearing just before Murdaugh’s defense team was set to present closing arguments in the hopes of convincing the jury that Murdaugh did not shoot his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul, at the family hunting estate in June 2021.
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“The juror has had contact or discussions concerning the case with at least three individuals, though it does not appear the discussion was that extensive,” Newman said, adding that he also interviewed the two people who were in contact with the juror.
“Both of those individuals waffled on the nature and the extent of the contact.”
Defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian immediately expressed outrage over the investigation into the juror, noting that one of the law enforcement agents had testified during the trial and another had once worked on the murder probe.
“[South Carolina Law Enforcement Division] has made another bad judgment in this case,” Harpootlian added. “This is just a continuum of a calamity of errors.”
Newman brought out the juror on Thursday to inform her that while she has been “attentive to the case and performed well” throughout the murder trial, she would have to be removed. The juror will now be replaced with an alternate.
“With all the time you’ve invested in the case, you probably hate not to continue, or maybe you want to go,” Newman said to laughter. “I’m not suggesting you intentionally did anything wrong.”
Before leaving, Newman asked the juror if there was anything she needed to retrieve from the Colleton County courthouse. She said she would like to get her purse and a dozen eggs.
Jill Huntley Taylor, an expert trial consultant who is not connected to the case, told The Daily Beast that the dismissal might affect the other jurors, who could start deliberating as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
“As for the jurors, after 6 weeks, they have no doubt bonded in certain ways,” Taylor said, adding that the sign that a dozen eggs were in the jury room could suggest “they get along and got along with this juror.”
Taylor added that while jurors are “not supposed to discuss” the ongoing case, the group likely has a “sense of where each other stands.” She expects that the juror may have shared her opinions with the jury and that her absence will be noticed.
Following the juror debacle, defense attorney Jim Griffin spent several hours arguing to the court that his client is innocent and the victim of a botched murder investigation. Griffin also spent time addressing Murdaugh’s stunning revelation that he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts the night of the murders—echoing Murdaugh’s explanation that it was the result of a two-decade addiction to opioids.
“That’s what addicts do,” Griffin said. “And why did he lie? That is certainly a fair question. And, frankly, I probably wouldn’t be sitting over there right now if he had not lied.”
Griffin, however, stressed to the jury that Murdaugh’s various missteps, along with the separate charges he faces for financial crimes and drug trafficking, does not mean he murdered his wife and son, who multiple people stressed were his top priority.
“On behalf of Alex, on behalf of Buster, on behalf of Maggie, and on behalf of my friend Paul,” Griffin said, his voice breaking. “I respectfully request that you do not compound a family tragedy with another.”
