Danielle Bess is weighing in after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Alex Murdaugh’s double murder conviction, ordering a new trial in one of America’s most closely watched criminal cases.
In a viral Instagram video, Bess explained the court’s unanimous 5-0 ruling, focusing heavily on allegations that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill improperly influenced jurors during the 2023 murder trial.
“South Carolina Supreme Court said Becky Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice,” Bess said. “And called her behavior breathtaking and disgusting.”
Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh, at the family’s hunting estate in South Carolina. He was sentenced to two life terms in prison after prosecutors argued he killed them amid mounting financial and legal pressures.
But according to the state Supreme Court, serious concerns about jury tampering compromised Murdaugh’s constitutional right to a fair trial.
Bess explained that Hill, whose official role was administrative and intended to remain neutral, allegedly inserted herself into the deliberation process by making comments to jurors about Murdaugh’s behavior during trial.
“She was telling them things like, ‘Watch his body language,’” Bess said. “She was suggesting that he was guilty.”
The attorney also noted revelations that Hill was allegedly working on a book about the nationally televised case while the trial was unfolding, a detail critics say raised questions about potential personal motives and media interests surrounding the proceedings.
“The Sixth Amendment guarantees everyone an impartial jury,” Bess explained. “When you have a Clerk of Court who has her thumb on the scale of justice and she’s whispering, ‘Watch his body language,’ you no longer have an impartial jury. You have people who have been tampered with.”
The Supreme Court additionally criticized aspects of the original trial itself, saying prosecutors were allowed to spend excessive time discussing Murdaugh’s extensive financial crimes, including allegations he stole millions from clients and associates.
According to Bess, the justices believed the financial crime evidence may have unfairly prejudiced jurors by portraying Murdaugh as generally dishonest and morally corrupt beyond the murder allegations.
“This was a murder trial,” she said, “but we heard a lot of testimony about the financial crimes.”
Despite overturning the conviction, the court did not declare Murdaugh innocent. Prosecutors have already announced plans to retry the former attorney on the murder charges.
“Even if the jurors got it right,” Bess said, “because of these errors, because of Becky Hill’s interference, because the judge got some parts of it wrong, Alex Murdaugh is entitled to a new trial.”
Though the murder conviction has been vacated, Murdaugh will remain behind bars for now. He is still serving lengthy federal and state prison sentences tied to dozens of financial crime convictions.
The ruling has reignited national debate over courtroom ethics, media influence, and whether high-profile criminal defendants can truly receive impartial trials when cases become public spectacles.
