Alex Murdaugh’s lawsuit against former court clerk is dismissed by a federal judge

By Dianne Gallagher, CNN

(CNN) — A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Alex Murdaugh’s lawsuit against the former clerk of court whose interaction with the jury in his 2023 trial led to his murder convictions being overturned earlier this year.

While former Colleton County, South Carolina, Clerk of Court Becky Hill’s improper interactions may have caused Murdaugh to receive a new trial, US District Court Judge Richard Gergel ruled her actions were not the reason the disbarred attorney spent $600,000 in legal fees during his initial prosecution.

Murdaugh sued Hill in May under a federal civil rights statute that allows someone to sue a government official accused of violating their civil rights while acting under the color of state law.

“Plaintiff’s claim contains a fatal flaw — the lack of a causal connection between the funds he expended for his defense in the first trial and Defendant’s misconduct. Defendant had no role in the initiation of criminal charges against Plaintiff,” Gergel wrote in his order.

“Plaintiff liquidated his retirement account to fund his defense, which was necessary without regard to the misconduct of Defendant,” the judge added. “Simply stated, Defendant’s misconduct was not a proximate cause of Plaintiff’s need to fund his defense costs, and there is no credible allegation that ‘but for’ Defendant’s actions Plaintiff would not have found it necessary to fund his defense costs in the first trial.”

The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, leaving the door open for potential future claims by Murdaugh. Murdaugh’s legal team has filed a notice of appeal and declined further comment Thursday.

Attorneys for Hill praised the ruling, saying they were “very pleased.”

“However, since the case is not formally concluded, we cannot comment further at this time,” Hill’s attorney, Chuck Turner, said in a statement.

Hill has never been charged with jury tampering. However, in December 2025, she pleaded guilty to perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct. The charges said she made sealed evidence available to the media, lied under oath about doing so, and used her court position to promote her book about the trial. She was sentenced to three years of probation.

The South Carolina Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, vacated Murdaugh’s murder convictions and ordered a new trial in the killings of his wife and son in June 2021, saying Hill’s “improper” influence marred the previous proceeding.

Murdaugh, a once-prominent attorney from a South Carolina Lowcountry legal dynasty, was convicted by a jury of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, in March 2023. The case riveted the public and spawned true crime documentaries, podcasts and books.

Murdaugh’s next hearing in his retrial for the murders is scheduled for next week. A judge has set a retrial date in April.

He remains in prison, serving concurrent state and federal sentences of 27 and 40 years after separately pleading guilty to dozens of financial crimes.

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CNN’s Devon Sayers contributed to this report.