COLUMBIA, S.C. - A South Carolina Supreme Court ruling has opened the door for a retrial in a high-profile murder case, and a legal expert says the decision hinged on whether a court clerk improperly influenced jurors.

Attorney Jonah Pine said the court focused on testimony from three jurors who described interactions with Becky Hill, the clerk of Colleton County Court. The court examined whether jurors heard extraneous statements that were not presented at trial and whether those comments made a difference in their deliberations.

“The court is trying to figure out, well, you heard these things, but did they influence you? And that’s part of what the court needs to determine,” Pine said. “First, it wants to know, was there a statement that was extraneous? Did a jury hear something that wasn’t presented at trial? Then they wanted to figure out, well, did that comment make a difference? And the answer was absolutely.”

Pine said he is not licensed in South Carolina and was not connected to the case. He said the case law is based on federal standards that also apply in Georgia.

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One juror enough for mistrial

The court addressed whether a single comment would be sufficient to warrant a new trial. Pine said the ruling was clear on that point.

“They say, you’re entitled to an impartial jury in a decision from 12 impartial jurors, not 11, not 10, not nine. One would have been enough,” Pine said.

The court distinguished between jurors who may have been exposed to media coverage and the clerk’s alleged interference. Pine said jurors who seek out media coverage make that choice themselves, but the clerk inserted her own agenda.

“The clerk was inserting their agenda and going out of their way to make sure that the jurors heard it,” Pine said. “And the court said the clerk wanted to do that because she thought it was going to help her sell more books and get herself a lake house.”

Clerk’s role should be neutral

Pine said the neutrality of a clerk should not even be in question. He said a clerk’s role is to ensure court proceedings function efficiently.

“Their presence shouldn’t be felt at all,” Pine said. “They serve such an important role, but it has nothing to do with having an agenda to push a jury in one direction or another.”

Retrial challenges ahead

Pine said the state faces challenges in retrying a case that has been nationally televised and covered in documentaries. He said jury selection will require careful screening.

“You would have to live in a cave to not already be familiar with some of the details and the information,” Pine said. “They’re going to have to go person by person, figure out what they know, what may have influenced them.”

The court also provided guidance on how the state should handle evidence of financial crimes in a retrial. Pine said the court concluded that evidence is relevant and helps establish motive, but suggested limiting its scope.

READ THE DECISION:

“It proves something. It helps the state establish a motive that maybe if everybody’s paying attention to my dead wife and child, they’re not going to be paying attention to all of my financial crimes,” Pine said. “So the court said, you can get into that, but maybe not so much the next time.”

State likely to retry case

Pine said he believes the state will almost certainly retry the case. He put the likelihood at 99%.

“This case is going back to trial,” Pine said.

He said a retrial may be easier for the defense because all evidence has already been presented once. The case will return to the lower court, where the state will decide whether to proceed and schedule a new trial.

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