Former SC Chief Justice Jean Toal appointed to oversee all Murdaugh murder appeal issues

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal has been appointed to oversee developments in the complex appeal and aftermath of the double-murder case of Alex Murdaugh.

Toal, 80, will replace trial Judge Clifton Newman, the familiar judicial face of many a Murdaugh hearing and the judge who presided at Murdaugh’s six-week trial in Colleton County earlier this year.

Developments Toal will oversee include handling allegations that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill improperly interfered with jury deliberations at the Murdaugh trial in which he was found guilty of killing his son Paul and wife, Maggie. Hill is also the subject of various complaints before the S.C. Ethics Commission, complaints that may or may not have a bearing on the Murdaugh case.

“I can’t imagine anybody better suited than Toal,” said Jay Bender, a Columbia attorney who is a former law partner, a friend and self-described “fan” of Toal for more than 50 years. ”I think she would recognize and appreciate its significance to the judicial system of South Carolina.”

Toal is a storied judge in South Carolina. She was the first female justice on the State Supreme Court and the high court’s first female chief justice. She is known for her intellect, her mannered courtesy as well as her ability to be blunt at times while cutting to the core of a matter. In 1988, she managed the rare feat of leapfrogging directly from a seat in the House of Representatives to the Supreme Court, avoiding a stint as a trial judge or Court of Appeals judge.

As a judge who made the history books, her career is a match for the high-profile Murdaugh murder case, which has been called South Carolina’s “crime of the century.” Murdaugh’s six-week trial earlier this year was streamed live across the nation and has been the subject of numerous documentaries and crime shows.

Murdaugh, 55, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison by Judge Newman last March for the murders of Maggie and Paul. Murdaugh has contended he is innocent.

In overseeing appeals in the case, Toal will have to manage the egos and courtroom theatrics and wiles of Murdaugh’s two high-powered defense attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, as well as the State Attorney General’s hard-charging prosecution team, led by Creighton Waters.

Toal, who has been hearing cases in a semi-retired capacity, was appointed to the Murdaugh case on Tuesday afternoon by current Chief Justice Donald Beatty.

Judges such as Toal, who are past the mandatory retirement age of 72, are allowed to stay on the bench for limited purposes, but they have to be found “qualified” by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission and be appointed to a case by the chief justice. Toal was found “qualified” in recent months by the commission.

In his one-page order, Beatty gave Toal wide latitude to preside over motions pertaining to Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial, “including motions to appoint and relieve counsel, and shall retain jurisdiction over these cases regardless of where she may be assigned to hold court and may schedule such hearings as may be necessary at any time without regard as to whether there is a term of court scheduled.”

The appointment ends speculation about who would succeed Newman, who is stepping down at the end of his month due to his retirement on reaching mandatory retirement age of 72.