Murdaugh Murders: court paves way for jury tampering hearing, jeopardizing conviction – National & International News – TUE 17Oct2023

Murdaugh to argue jury tampering, jeopardizing double murder conviction 

Jordan falls short in House Speaker vote; 2nd vote tomorrow.

Fears other countries will jump into Israel conflict.

NATIONAL NEWS

Appeals court grants Murdaugh chance to argue jury tampering, jeopardizing double murder conviction 

The South Carolina Court of Appeals has stayed Alex Murdaugh’s appeal of his murder conviction and granted him the chance to seek an evidentiary hearing on jury tampering allegations raised by his attorneys. Murdaugh’s defense team welcomed the news and said they will seek a hearing immediately. The hearing will examine whether the allegations are sufficient to vacate Murdaugh’s conviction and grant him a new trial.

Last month, Murdaugh defense attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin announced they had been looking into allegations that Colleton County clerk of court Becky Hill had unduly influenced the jurors during the 6-week murder trial earlier this year. The juror ultimately found Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife and son on their hunting property in 2021.

Harpootlian and Griffin produced affidavits from jurors accusing Ms. Hill of telling them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and of having lengthy, private conversations with the jury foreperson as the trial was going on. Murdaugh’s attorneys also accused Hill of lying to Judge Clifton Newman to force out a juror that may have been leaning towards the defense. The affidavits also allege that Hill put pressure on jurors to come to a quick verdict. The jury deliberated for less than 3 hours.

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Jordan falls short in House Speaker vote, another vote will happen tomorrow

After forcing a vote on the House floor today, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) garnered only 200 of the 217 votes needed to make him Speaker of the House. A second vote will happen at 11am ET tomorrow. Some who initially voted against Jordan have since made statements indicating they will support him going forward. However, there are still many holdouts and Jordan can only afford four defections from House Republicans. Following closed-door meetings today, Jordan told reporters he “felt good” about getting the necessary support.

Jordan has the backing of former President Trump, thanks in part to his role in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Mainstream Republicans regard him as far too compromised to represent the party. Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on Republicans skeptical of Jordan to join with Democrats to elect a more moderate Republican House Speaker. It’s not clear if there are any Republicans willing to work with Democrats on this. Some Republicans have also raised the possibility of empowering current Speaker pro tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) to serve as Speaker temporarily. 

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Fears other countries will jump into Israel conflict

In the north of Israel, Hezbollah in Lebanon continues firing rockets into Israel while Israel fires back into Lebanon. Israeli authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order to villages near the border yesterday. Even today as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was issuing a warning to Hezbollah not to “repeat the mistakes of the past” in reference to the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon, Netanyahu and other members of the Knesset had to take cover as another Hezbollah rocket was incoming. Some have downplayed the violence in the north, claiming that it is not in Hezbollah’s interest to seek a wider conflict. However, attacks continue to escalate and rhetoric is sharpening on both sides.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also made some inflammatory statements today, declaring that people living in illegal Jewish settlements are “combatants” and not civilians, essentially greenlighting attacks on them. His comments echoed a statement by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Friday. At a press conference, Herzog said “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible,” referring to the Palestinians in Gaza. “It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true. They could have risen up. They could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’etat”. 

Khamenei also warned against IDF conducting a ground invasion into Gaza “preemptive action is possible if Israel does appear to be launching a ground operation”. Iranian officials have reached out previously to Israel warning they would respond if there was a ground invasion. It’s not clear what form that response would take.

Gaza hospital struck, killing hundreds; Hamas and IDF trade blame

Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza was struck by a missile today, destroying much of the hospital and killing between 200 and 300 people. Hamas was quick to blame Israeli Defense Forces for the attack, while the IDF claims it was a misfired missile from the Islamic Jihad military group that was responsible. The hospital was one of 20 in northern Gaza under an evacuation order imposed by Israel. The hospital remained operational since it was not possible to evacuate many wounded being treated there.