COLUMBIA, S.C. (NEWSnet/AP) — Disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh is returning to a South Carolina courtroom Monday on a hearing to review his appeal of jury tampering.

The unusual hearing Monday comes in response to allegations by Murdaugh's attorneys that a clerk of court tampered with the jury that convicted him of murder last year. The jurors who found him guilty of the shooting deaths of his wife and son will be questioned by a judge.

Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill also is expected to be questioned by lawyers for Murdaugh.

Jury tampering is the basis for Murdaugh's appeal, but Judge Jean Toal’s rulings after a pretrial hearing this month have set a difficult standard for his lawyers to prove.

Toal ruled the defense must prove that potential misconduct including alleged comments by Hill warning jurors not to trust Murdaugh when he testifies directly led jurors to change their minds to guilty.

The defense argued if they prove the jury was tampered with, it shouldn't matter whether a juror openly said their verdict changed, because the influence can be subtle and still keep Murdaugh from getting a fair trial.

Murdaugh, 55, is expected at the hearing in a prison jumpsuit.

Even if he gets a new murder trial he won't walk out free.

He's also serving 27 years after admitting he stole $12 million from his law firm and from settlements he gained for clients on wrongful death and serious injury lawsuits. Murdaugh promised not to appeal that sentence as part of his plea deal.

But Murdaugh has remained adamant that he did not kill his younger son Paul with a shotgun and his wife Maggie with a rifle since the moment he told deputies he found their bodies at their Colleton County home in 2021. He testified in his own defense.

The jurors, their anonymity protected, will enter the Richland County Courthouse through a private entrance. The hearing will be televised, but their faces cannot be shown and they will only be identified by their juror numbers.

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