(NewsNation) — Alex Murdaugh’s attorney was shocked to hear Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill’s claims in the new season of a Netflix series about the case.
“I am reacting in real time to that. Frankly, that’s the first I’ve heard of that. There’s a code of judicial ethics that applies to all court officials that says no judicial officer should give their opinion about someone’s guilt or innocence while the case is pending and pending includes while the case is on appeal,” attorney Jim Griffin told NewsNation senior national correspondent Brian Entin.
“I’m flabbergasted that she is expressing her personal opinion that he murdered his wife and son and had help. I mean this is the first I’ve heard of that, and it’s shocking,” he continued.
During an appearance on “Dan Abrams Live,” Griffin reacted to Hill’s claims in new episodes of Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal” that dropped last week.
In the docuseries, Hill suggests that she thinks Murdaugh may have had help with the murders of his wife and youngest son.
“I do think Alex pulled the trigger, and then I think he had help with cleaning up everything that needed cleaning up,” Hill said in the series. “And what we had left was the crime scene that took us to the trial.”
Griffin appeared to be surprised that an officer of the court would openly share what she thought about the case.
“It’s just one more shocking revelation in a series of things that we’ve learned since the trial,” Griffin said.
Griffin and the rest of Murdaugh’s legal team are appealing the convicted murderer’s conviction based on what they call “unprecedented” actions by Hill. She is accused by Murdaugh’s team of telling jurors to not be “misled” or “fooled” by his testimony.
“The things that she is alleged to have done are crimes. I mean, they are crimes under the South Carolina code of laws. So, if she did what the jurors reported she did, she’s in legal jeopardy as much as Alex Murdaugh is in legal jeopardy,” Griffin said.
An attorney for some of the jurors has disputed claims presented by Murdaugh’s attorneys.
“It is very, very, very likely that the jurors who didn’t hear it can be telling the truth and the jurors that did hear it can be telling the truth,” Griffin said. “What we’ve learned is jurors were housed in two separate rooms in the courthouse and that the information we’ve been provided is that it was not a secret within the jury room as to where people stood all along during the case. If Hill is going to lobby one group of jurors or if she’s going to lobby all of them, but if you’re going to pick a few, she’s going to pick a few who are the fence setters.”
He continued: “And those are the folks who have come forward and given us statements that they were unsure of Alex and they were waiting to hear all evidence.”
In March, Alex Murdaugh, a member of a once-powerful legal dynasty in South Carolina, was found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie and youngest son Paul. He was sentenced to life without parole. The disbarred attorney also pleaded guilty to numerous financial federal charges last week.