Courtroom Strain: Alex Murdaugh seemed unable to stay composed before the jury as talk turned to the former court clerk

The civil rights lawsuit filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina comes four days after the state’s highest court overturned Murdaugh’s double murder convictions and life sentence, saying he was denied his right to a fair trial because of Hill’s “improper external influences on the jury.”

“Mr. Murdaugh brings this action to hold Ms. Hill accountable for her wrongful conduct under color of state law and to recover compensatory and punitive damages as provided by law,” the lawsuit reads.

In the lawsuit, Murdaugh’s legal team claims he suffered $600,000 in monetary damages as a result of Hill’s actions. The team also said Murdaugh is entitled to recovery of attorney’s fees and costs.

Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh’s attorneys, said Monday that none of the money would go to his client personally.

Hill’s attorney, Will Lewis, was not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.

Murdaugh’s defense team — which includes Griffin, Dick Harpootlian and Phillip Barber — said at a news conference outside their offices in South Carolina on Monday that the main purpose of the civil rights lawsuit is to investigate the scope of Hill’s actions as Murdaugh faces the prospect of a new trial.

“With the South Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling, it has been adjudged as a matter of state law that she deprived Alex of his constitutional rights, deprived him of a right to a fair trial,” Griffin said. “As a result, we’ve got to do it all over again, which nobody wants to do.”

Murdaugh, a former personal injury lawyer, was convicted two years ago in the June 2021 slayings of his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, and their 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh. The trial drew so much national attention that it became a true crime phenomenon, becoming the subject of countless documentaries and podcasts throughout the years.

In the case, prosecutors accused Murdaugh of carrying out the killings to earn pity and distract from financial crimes that threatened to derail his public reputation.

The jury convicted Murdaugh on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He had pleaded not guilty.

The scion of a prominent South Carolina legal dynasty, Murdaugh has denied killing his wife and younger son since their bodies were discovered on their estate.

In the lawsuit filed Sunday, Murdaugh’s legal team claims: “He maintained his innocence then. He maintains his innocence now.”

Griffin said he spoke to Murdaugh from jail after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his convictions. According to Griffin, his client was having “a hard time believing it.”

Murdaugh said he deserves jail time for his financial crimes but not for the murders of his wife and son, Griffin said. It has been “almost unbearable” for him to be convicted of something he didn’t do, Griffin added.

Hill pleaded guilty last year to criminal charges for showing sealed court exhibits to a photographer and lying about it in court. She was sentenced to a year of probation. But she denied improperly influencing the jury.

“There is no excuse for the mistakes I made. I’m ashamed of them,” Hill said in a short statement to the court.

During Murdaugh’s murder trial, Hill was tasked with overseeing the jury. People in that administrative role are typically responsible for bringing jurors to the courtroom and for ferrying notes between the panel and the court during deliberations.

Barber, one of Murdaugh’s lawyers, said the integrity of the jury process “was violated by somebody sworn to uphold it.”

“That’s why we’re here today, and that cannot go unanswered,” Barber said. “That’s what we’re going to do with this lawsuit.”

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has said his office, which prosecuted Murdaugh, was unaware of Hill’s alleged conduct during the trial and described the alleged behavior as inappropriate but ultimately harmless.

Wilson disagreed with the decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court overturning Murdaugh’s convictions and vowed to retry the case by the end of the year.

“In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, we’re back to square one on this case, and that means all our legal options are on the table, including the death penalty,” Wilson told NBC News.

Harpootlian, another lawyer for Murdaugh, blasted Wilson at the news conference, saying: “The law is clear that he cannot seek the death penalty if it is due to vindictive prosecution.”

“Why is he saying he’s going to seek the death penalty? Is there some new piece of evidence?” Harpootlian said. “We’ve seen this process since the beginning of this case, where Alan Wilson plays politics as opposed to playing prosecutor.”

Wilson, who is running for governor of South Carolina, told Fox News following the news conference from Murdaugh’s legal team: “Our reconsideration of the death penalty was made in consultation with our legal team. I haven’t talked to anyone with my campaign team about this.”

Still, Murdaugh remains behind bars on concurrent sentences of 27 years and 40 years for state and federal financial crimes to which he pleaded guilty.

Neil R. Gordon, who co-wrote “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders” with Hill about the case, confirmed to NBC News that the book generated about $100,000 in profits. Gordon said that Hill and her husband received 65% of the book’s profits, while he and his wife received 35%.

Gordon did not provide comment about Murdaugh’s lawsuit against Hill.