{"id":3726,"date":"2026-08-06T11:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T11:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=3726"},"modified":"2026-08-06T11:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T11:36:08","slug":"federal-judge-wont-make-disgraced-clerk-pay-alex-murdaughs-600000-in-legal-fees-for-1st-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=3726","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge won\u2019t make disgraced clerk pay Alex Murdaugh\u2019s $600,000 in legal fees for 1st trial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

COLUMBIA, S.C \u2014 A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Alex Murdaugh seeking $600,000 in legal fees by the former court clerk whose misconduct led his murder convictions to be overturned on appeal.<\/p>\n

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Murdaugh sued Becky Hill in May saying she violated his right to a fair trial in the deaths of his wife and son.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

A jury found Murdaugh guilty, but the state Supreme Court overturned the convictions and life sentences earlier this year saying Hill\u2019s comments to jurors suggested the once-prominent lawyer was guilty and his testimony in his own defense couldn\u2019t be trusted.<\/p>\n

The problem with Murdaugh\u2019s legal reasoning is he would have had to spend the money anyway because it wasn\u2019t Hill who investigated or pursued justice against him, Judge Richard Gergel wrote in his ruling Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaintiff\u2019s claim contains a fatal flaw \u2014 the lack of a causal connection between the funds he expended for his defense in the first trial and Defendant\u2019s misconduct. Defendant had no role in the initiation of criminal charges against Plaintiff,\u201d Gergel wrote.<\/p>\n

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Murdaugh\u2019s attorneys filed a notice to appeal about two hours later.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Murdaugh said in court papers he spent $600,000 from a retirement account to pay for his lawyers in his first trial and will need more money to pay them for his retrial next year in the case that has become a true crime sensation with a streaming miniseries, bestselling books and dozens of podcasts.<\/p>\n

Even with his murder convictions overturned, Murdaugh remains in prison. He pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and is serving a 40-year federal sentence at the same time as a 27-year state sentence for his financial crimes.<\/p>\n

His retrial on the murder charges has been scheduled for April.<\/p>\n

Investigators said Murdaugh was addicted to opioids and his complex schemes to steal money from clients and his family\u2019s law firm were starting to unravel so he killed his wife and son to divert attention and buy time to find a way out of his problems.<\/p>\n

Read more How scrutiny over Ariana Grande\u2019s weight affects people with eating disorders<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Alex Murdaugh seeking $600,000 in legal fees by the former court clerk whose misconduct led his murder convictions to be overturned on appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFederal judge won\u2019t make disgraced clerk pay Alex Murdaugh\u2019s $600,000 in legal fees for 1st trial - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=3726\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal judge won\u2019t make disgraced clerk pay Alex Murdaugh\u2019s $600,000 in legal fees for 1st trial - 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