{"id":6804,"date":"2026-08-05T21:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=6804"},"modified":"2026-08-05T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:00:09","slug":"judge-tosses-alex-murdaughs-600000-suit-against-former-court-clerk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=6804","title":{"rendered":"Judge tosses Alex Murdaugh\u2019s $600,000 suit against former court clerk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"a5e8edab-56da-4bba-af12-2d9a2c2f68a5\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man in a suit inside a courtroom.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/fd6f56292bf15e75875bb30c92449486613e359d\/0_0_1140_760\/master\/1140.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Alex Murdaugh during a break in his murder trial at the Colleton county courthouse in South Carolina on 23 February 2023.<\/span> Photograph: The State\/TNS<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"a5e8edab-56da-4bba-af12-2d9a2c2f68a5\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Alex Murdaugh during a break in his murder trial at the Colleton county courthouse in South Carolina on 23 February 2023.<\/span> Photograph: The State\/TNS<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">Judge tosses Alex Murdaugh\u2019s $600,000 suit against former court clerk<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>Murdaugh, whose murder convictions were overturned due to clerk\u2019s misconduct, will face trial again<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2026\/feb\/17\/sign-up-for-the-breaking-news-us-email-to-get-newsletter-alerts-direct-to-your-inbox?utm_medium=ACQUISITIONS_STANDFIRST&amp;utm_campaign=BN22326&amp;utm_content=signup&amp;utm_term=standfirst&amp;utm_source=GUARDIAN_WEB\" data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A US federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/alex-murdaugh\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Alex Murdaugh<\/a> seeking $600,000 in legal fees from the former court clerk whose misconduct led to his murder convictions being overturned on appeal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Murdaugh sued Becky Hill in May, saying she violated his right to a fair trial over the deaths of his wife and son.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">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 could not be trusted.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"3fe5932c-7a0a-4a7b-937b-e552098d0b18\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-3 | 3\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1rx5ky9\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-uyoh2p\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/alex-murdaugh-retrial-ruling-south-carolina\" class=\"dcr-f35c0u\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-vvxpdt\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6z6e7\">\n<div class=\"dcr-zh9rih\">Alex Murdaugh retrial ruling offers twist in tangled tale of murder in US south<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-oj13vq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ef9nua\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The problem with Murdaugh\u2019s legal reasoning is he would have had to spend the money anyway, because it was not Hill who investigated or pursued justice against him, Judge Richard Gergel wrote in his ruling on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cPlaintiff\u2019s claim contains a fatal flaw \u2013 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<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">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<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Even with his murder convictions overturned, Murdaugh remains in prison. He pleaded guilty to stealing about $12m 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<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">His retrial on the murder charges has been scheduled for April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/south-carolina\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">South Carolina<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/alex-murdaugh\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Alex Murdaugh<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/gun-crime\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Gun crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-crime\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-justice-system\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US justice system<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Judge%20tosses%20Alex%20Murdaugh%E2%80%99s%20$600,000%20suit%20against%20former%20court%20clerk&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/aug\/05\/alex-murdaugh-lawsuit-court-clerk-dismissed?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Faug%2F05%2Falex-murdaugh-lawsuit-court-clerk-dismissed&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/aug\/05\/alex-murdaugh-lawsuit-court-clerk-dismissed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1kq7f60\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Murdaugh during a break in his murder trial at the Colleton county courthouse in South Carolina on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6807,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6804\/revisions\/6807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}