The Murdaugh murders case got yet another jaw-dropping twist this week when Alex Murdaugh’s conviction for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, was overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court due to misconduct by the clerk of court in the case. The cohosts of The View reacted to the news on Friday’s (May 15) show, and Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, had a particularly interesting prediction on the matter.
First, Hostin supported the court’s decision to order a retrial. “I wasn’t shocked. I mean, the Supreme Court decision was 5-0. The integrity of the jury process is extremely important, and lawyers always say cases are won and lost at jury selection. It’s very important that the 12 people that are there, or the six people that are there, are impartial, listen to the evidence, and are not tampered with. That’s your right to a fair trial. It’s a constitutional right.”
However, she expressed her doubts that the second trial will result in a similar conviction for the crimes.
“While I think he could still be convicted because there’s very compelling evidence, there’s video footage that places him at the crime scene. He repeatedly lied about not being there, but now you have the defense that’s super prepared for the best evidence,” she said. “I think it’s really hard to retry cases that have become so popular. Movies have been made about this case; there have been documentaries made about this case; and as time goes by, witnesses’ memories fade. So those people that are still alive, they may not remember it the same way.”
Ana Navarro had a very different takeaway on the matter. After noting that Murdaugh will remain imprisoned thanks to his array of convictions for financial crimes, she said of the decision, “If he was a poor white guy, a Black guy, or a Latino guy, he’d be rotting in jail.”
The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC