COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Attorneys for convicted murder Alex Murdaugh want a new trial, accusing the court clerk of improperly influencing the jury. They're accusing the court clerk at his double murder trial of telling jurors not to trust him when he testified in his own defense. They say she also had private conversations with the jury foreperson, and pressured jurors to come to a quick verdict. The request filed by Murdaugh's lawyers on Tuesday also accuses Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill of giving jury members business cards from reporters. Murdaugh's lawyers said Hill's conduct was so egregious, it tainted the entire trial.

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Persons: Alex Murdaugh, They're, Rebecca Hill, ” “, Hill, ”, Jim Griffin, Dick Harpootlian, Murdaugh, Murdaugh's, Clifton Newman, “ I’m, “, Hill's Organizations: COLUMBIA, South, South Carolina Court of, Associated Press, Division Locations: Colleton, New York City, South Carolina, Hill, Carolina