Alex Murdaugh’s murder retrial begins with scheduling hearing

(NewsNation) — Alex Murdaugh will return to a South Carolina courtroom Monday for the first time since the state’s highest court threw out his murder convictions.

The hearing in Lexington County is mainly about scheduling. A new judge, Debra McCaslin, will meet with prosecutors and Murdaugh’s defense team to set deadlines for swapping evidence and start mapping out a timeline for the new trial. No major rulings are expected.

Murdaugh, once a prominent South Carolina lawyer, was convicted in 2023 of killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, and sentenced to life in prison. Last month, the state Supreme Court overturned those convictions, ruling that a court clerk overseeing the trial crossed a line by telling jurors not to be fooled by Murdaugh’s testimony and possibly influencing........

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