Judge rules Murdaugh’s retrial will be moved out of 14th Circuit

LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) — A judge on Friday made several rulings in the retrial of Alex Murdaugh, including where the trial won’t be held.

Murdaugh appeared in a Lexington County courtroom Friday morning for a pretrial hearing ahead of his new murder trial in the deaths of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

The South Carolina Supreme Court granted a new trial after ruling that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill influenced the outcome of the original case.

The judge allowed Murdaugh to appear in court unshackled and without his prison uniform.

Friday morning, he was seen wearing a suit and a tie.

In the hearing, Judge Deborah McCaslin ruled that the new trial location may not be anywhere within the 14th Judicial Circuit because of the presence of intense bias and, as such, juror disqualification.

Murdaugh’s defense team is pushing to have the trial moved to Charleston.

McCaslin also ruled that the defense can do its additional DNA testing on evidence found underneath Maggie Murdaugh’s left-hand fingernail at the scene of the crime.

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