Alex Murdaugh's Attorneys Formally File Motion for New Trial Following Murder Conviction

After filing the motion on Friday, Murdaugh's attorneys also filed to remove Judge Newman from the case Wednesday

Alex Murdaugh has officially filed a motion for a new trial, eight months after he was found guilty for the 2021 murders of his wife and son.

The motion was filed in Colleton County, South Carolina, on Friday, multiple outlets reported, including Fox Carolina and Greenville News.

The formal filing comes roughly two months after Murdaugh’s legal team appealed the disgraced South Carolina attorney’s convictions. Murdaugh, 55, received two life sentences in March for killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and son, Paul, 22.

Related: Everything to Know About the Murdaugh Family Murders, Including Alex's Conviction

PEOPLE reviewed a motion filed by Murdaugh’s defense attorneys Richard Harpootlian and James Griffin in September, which accuses Rebecca Hill, the Colleton County Clerk of Court, of tampering with the jury and “advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense.”

According to the motion, Hill “pressured the jurors to reach a quick verdict, telling them from the outset of their deliberations that it ‘shouldn’t take them long.”

"Ms. Hill did these things to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial," the motion reads. "Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame."

“The serious allegations in the petition filed today speak for themselves but we believe they explain a number of peculiarities in the six-week trial,” Murdaugh’s attorneys said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. “Alex Murdaugh maintained and still maintains his innocence of the murder of Maggie and Paul and he believes the truth will ultimately prevail."

Hill denied allegations of jury tampering to the Hampton County Guardian in September.

Related: Murdaugh Murders: A Complete Timeline of Alex Murdaugh's Trial

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The Post and Courier reported that Murdaugh’s attorneys filed another motion on Wednesday to remove Judge Clifton Newman from the case before he can rule over the motion for a new trial.

According to the Associated Press, Murdaugh’s attorneys argued that Newman is no longer impartial to the facts of the case because he implied in several interviews after the sentencing that Murdaugh was guilty. They also argued that Newman is a material witness to Hill allegedly tampering with the jury.

“If the factfinder is a judge who has denounced Mr. Murdaugh on national television, the decision on the motion for a new trial will be unreviewable and forever suspect. The bell cannot be un-rung on appeal,” the attorneys claim, per The Post and Courier.

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