Judge embargoes reporting of first juror’s testimony in Murdaugh hearing. Here’s why

Under secrecy and with much anticipation, the first of twelve jurors who delivered Alex Murdaugh’s guilty verdict in his murder trial last year testified Friday about allegations of jury tampering by Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill.

No details of that juror’s testimony can immediately be made public.

Under rules set by Judge Jean Toal and agreed to by nearly all of the more than 20 reporters in the courtroom, all information about the juror’s testimony, the questions and even the gender of the juror Toal designated as “Juror X” have been embargoed until the full hearing begins at 9:30 Monday morning.

The reason for the partial secrecy, explained Toal before Friday’s hearing began, is so that none of the other 11 jurors expected to testify Monday at the Richland County courthouse will be influenced by public reports of what Friday’s juror said.

“Juror X” testified under oath Friday morning for two brief periods and spent less than five minutes total on the witness stand. The hearing was held on the third floor of the Richland County Courthouse in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.

When the juror entered the courtroom, Toal took pains to assure the person that they were in no trouble.

“Please understand, to begin with, you have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Toal told Juror X. “You have discharged your duties as you were asked to, and I respect that. But I must conduct a hearing to explore the issues that have been raised, and I intend to do that.”

Juror X is one of 12 residents of Colleton County who rendered a guilty verdict in March 2023 against Alex Murdaugh for the double murder of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. A former attorney from a powerful legal and political dynasty based in Hampton County, Murdaugh was found guilty of shooting his wife and son to death at the family’s sprawling estate, Moselle, amid mounting financial and legal pressures.

Six months after the trial ended, Murdaugh’s defense attorneys surfaced allegations that during the trial Hill made improper comments to jurors that implied Murdaugh was guilty and, therefore, deprived Murdaugh of his constitutional right to an impartial jury.

Juror X requested to testify on a different day than other jurors because that juror has an “unavoidable scheduling conflict,” Toal said.

In an announcement from the bench, Toal also requested the media present in the courtroom not post anything about the hearing on social media or text while the hearing was ongoing.

The quasi-open rules for Friday’s hearing represent a compromise between an open court and Toal’s concerns about tainting Monday’s witnesses, said Columbia attorney Jay Bender, who is serving as an intermediary between Toal and the media. Bender often represents The State Media Co.

Bender said Toal, under S.C. law, has the right to close the courtroom entirely when a sensitive witness is testifying and to later release a transcript of what happened.

Murdaugh, his attorneys Jim Griffin, Dick Harpootlian and Phil Barber, along with prosecutors Creighton Waters, Don Zelenka, John Meadors and Attorney General Alan Wilson, were in the courtroom Friday for the examination of the first juror.

But neither defense attorneys nor prosecutors from the South Carolina’s Attorney General’s Office asked Juror X any questions.

Instead, Toal did the questioning. Her examination of the juror, and related talks with opposing lawyers with the juror out of the courtroom, lasted approximately 15 minutes.

Toal also said that although three days have been set aside for a hearing to air the jury tampering allegations, it might be possible to question the remaining 11 jurors Monday morning and start and end Hill’s testimony Monday afternoon.

Toal said that she will allow Hill to be directly examined by the prosecution, followed by cross examination by the defense.

But Toal warned that on Monday she would restrict any questioning involving allegations of wiretapping by Hill’s son, Jeffrey Hill, as well as about the controversies surrounding Hill and the investigations into alleged wrongdoings while she was clerk of court. After the trial, Hill also wrote a book, “Behind the Doors of Justice,” about the Murdaugh trial, which purported to give an insider’s viewpoint of the case. But her book was withdrawn from publication after it was learned she plagiarized major sections of her preface from a story written by a veteran BBC reporter.

Murduagh’s attorneys have argued that these controversies speaks to her credibility, but Toal has said that she does not consider those investigations relevant to jury tampering.

Juror X was accompanied Monday by their attorney, Eric Bland, who represents four other jurors involved in the case.

After testimony from Juror X concluded, Toal and lawyers discussed logistics for the hearing set to begin Monday. The remaining jurors are set to arrive Monday morning and will be taken through a private entrance at the Richland County Courthouse. The jurors will be kept in a secure jury room, Toal said, and will be accompanied by a bailiff.

The jurors will be examined individually and will be referred to by some system of letters, Toal said.

“I think she wants to make sure that these jurors’ lives are not invaded any more than they already have been,” Bland said following the hearing.

The majority of jurors will make their own way to Columbia and meet up at an assembling point, then be driven into the courthouse, said Waters. One requested to be driven to Columbia by law enforcement, he said..

Harpootlian raised concerns with this arrangement, questioning why there was not a “Chinese wall” between the jurors and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the law enforcement agency that had a vested interest in the outcome of the hearing. SLED investigated the Murdaugh murder case, and numerous SLED agents testified during last year’s six-week trial.

“Sometimes law enforcement officers become overzealous to protect the arrests they made,” Harpootlian said.

“We have conducted this investigation with integrity,” Waters said. “SLED agents have been instructed to do nothing other than collect the facts — the good, the bad and ugly”