Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced lawyer whose double-murder conviction was overturned, has filed a lawsuit alleging his civil rights were violated when court clerk Rebecca "Becky" Hill tampered with the jury at his trial.
The 17-page lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Columbia, alleges Hill improperly influenced jurors in an effort to secure a guilty verdict because she believed it would help sell books she planned to write.
During a news conference Monday, Murdaugh attorney Jim Griffin said the lawsuit is intended to uncover the full extent of Hill’s alleged conduct.
"The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold Becky Hill accountable for what she did," Griffin said. "She has not been held to account at all for her conduct."
Griffin also claimed that investigators failed to properly pursue several leads into other potential suspects before Murdaugh’s initial trial. Chief among those claims is that forensic testing revealed an unknown male's DNA under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails. According to Griffin, the DNA does not match any member of the Murdaugh family.
The lawsuit follows a May 13 ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court vacating Murdaugh’s convictions and ordering a new trial, finding Hill "placed her fingers on the scales of justice" and improperly influenced jurors.
According to the lawsuit, Hill repeatedly told jurors not to be "fooled," "confused," or "misled" by the defense’s case and instructed them to closely watch Murdaugh’s behavior and body language when he testified in his own defense. At least one juror later testified Hill’s comments influenced her guilty verdict, according to the complaint.
The filing also alleges Hill held repeated private conversations with the jury foreperson during the trial, including meetings in secluded areas and the jury room bathroom.
According to testimony cited in the complaint, Hill said before and during trial that a guilty verdict would help book sales because she "needed a lake house."
Hill co-authored a book about the proceedings, "Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders," which the lawsuit says earned roughly $100,000 before being withdrawn amid plagiarism allegations.
According to the prosecutors failed to prove the verdict was unaffected.
"As noted at the outset," the justices wrote, "Hill’s shocking jury interference" forced the court to reverse the conviction and order a new trial.
The unraveling began publicly in October 2023 when Murdaugh’s attorneys filed a motion for a new trial accusing Hill of jury tampering.
By January 2024, jurors were testifying under oath about Hill’s comments and behavior.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Hill's attorney for comment.