MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We're going to get some legal analysis now with Elliot Williams, who also plays that role on CNN. He's a former federal prosecutor. Elliot, good morning to you.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS: Morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So how common is it for a state Supreme Court to throw out a high-profile murder conviction like this?
WILLIAMS: It's not common to throw out a high-profile murder or any murder conviction, only because appeals courts tend to defer what happened down below. Now, Michel, there are really two surefire ways to ensure that a case gets thrown out. As Victoria had said, No. 1 - tampering with a jury. And No. 2 - as this court hinted at, prejudicing the defendant by putting in too much evidence about his past crimes. So there were really two trip wires here that the court found.
MARTIN: And what does it say to you that this was a unanimous decision?
WILLIAMS: Oh, it's striking here. I mean, you know, something that the court did touch on was Becky Hill, this court clerk's position in the court. She's an authority figure. And any comments she made, even ones that weren't heard by most of the jurors, they regarded as particularly troubling. So there's a presumption that the trial has been undermined or prejudiced when there is a - you know, comments like this or statements made to juries. So in general, it - courts just don't like when juries are messed with, and that's really what happened here. So it is striking.
MARTIN: How challenging do you think it will be to get an impartial jury for a new trial?
WILLIAMS: It'll be tough, given that this is one of the smallest counties in South Carolina. Everybody - certainly, the fact that you and I are talking about this on national public radio is itself indicative of how much this case has penetrated the public consciousness, right? And they have to draw that jury from that local pool. Now, look. They can just try to find a bigger pool and get more people.
MARTIN: Here - let me just stop you here. Who says they have to? I mean, why couldn't they move the venue? Why does it have to come from that same community?
WILLIAMS: Oh, they could move the venue. The presumption is that someone is tried by a jury of their peers in the jurisdiction in which the trial happened. That - that's really out of the United States Constitution. Now, if that's not possible, they certainly can move it, but the first place they're going to look is in that community. I would think the defense would actually petition to get it moved to somewhere else just for that reason. But again, it's a small community, and everybody - you know, as Victoria talked about, the - you know, this was a prominent member of the community. The law firm was very important in the community. And a lot of people are going to know the judge, jury, defendant, all else. So it'll be tricky.
MARTIN: But you know what? This actually raises another question for me. Yes, this is a very high-profile individual. His defense team is also very well-known. Everybody knows everybody. If that's the kind of conduct that this clerk was exhibiting with a jury, it does make me wonder about whether similar conduct was seen in cases that weren't so high-profile. And is anybody going to look into that?
WILLIAMS: It - you know, it's - the problem is that you have to have evidence of it or you have to have some - it has to have been established in some way, and it's hard to find. I would note that the misconduct here by Becky Hill wasn't even discovered until, I believe, a year after the trial had even happened in the first place. It's just hard to find instances in which an individual says under their breath to jurors as they're walking in, watch his body language, don't be fooled by him, and so on. And so it can be very, very tricky. But I don't doubt that certainly there are improprieties in cases all across the country. You just have to find them.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, state records show the first trial cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. Is cost an issue here or a factor in deciding whether to retry something?
WILLIAMS: I don't think cost'll be a factor here, but trials cost a lot of money. And I would assume this - the next one will as well.
MARTIN: That is former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Elliot Williams. He's also a legal analyst for CNN. Elliot, thank you.
WILLIAMS: Thanks a lot, Michel. Take care.
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