South Carolina’s most notorious modern criminal, a disbarred attorney who has made Palmetto State history with a multi-million dollar financial crime spree capped off by two murders, will now stand before a judge who has her place in state history.

On Dec. 18, the Supreme Court of South Carolina ordered that Jean Hoefer Toal, a retired Chief Justice of the S.C. Supreme Court, will assume jurisdiction over all lower court matters related to Murdaugh’s recent murder convictions and a pending motion for a new trial.

Toal is the first woman and the first Roman Catholic to serve as a Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.

The order, signed by Donald W. Beatty, the current Chief Justice of South Carolina, stated that Toal “be assigned exclusive jurisdiction for the limited purpose of presiding over Defendant’s motion for a new trial in the above matters.”

“Justice Toal shall decide all matters about these cases, including motions to appoint and relieve counsel, and shall retain jurisdiction over these cases regardless of where she may be assigned to hold court and may schedule such hearings as may be necessary at any time without regard as to whether there is a term of court scheduled,” the order continues.

Judge Clifton Newman, the circuit judge who presided over Murdaugh’s six-week double murder trial in Walterboro and handed down consecutive life sentences March 3 after a Colleton County jury deemed Murdaugh guilty, had previously requested to be removed from all post-trial matters related to Murdaugh’s murder cases, states the order.

Murdaugh’s criminal defense team, led by Richard Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, had filed motions demanding a new judge based on what they considered improper statements made by Newman during sentencing, and afterward in public appearances and media interviews.

Newman, who is just weeks away from retirement, voluntarily stepped down without the action of a higher court in those motions.

On March 2, Murdaugh was convicted of the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife, Margaret Kennedy Branstetter Murdaugh, and younger son, Paul Terry Murdaugh,

On Oct. 27, Murdaugh filed a motion for a new trial based on allegations of jury tampering involving Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, who self-published a book with a co-author about the trial and her experiences.

Hill has denied those allegations, but more recently, other allegations involving ethics complaints against Hill have been made public.

A hearing has yet to be scheduled on the matter of a new trial for Murdaugh based on the jury tampering claims, which remain under investigation by state police.

Chief Justice (Ret.) Jean Hoefer Toal’s biography, credentials

The following information is available on the S.C. Judicial Branch biographical webpage at sccourts.org:

Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal began her service as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of South Carolina on March 17, 1988, becoming the first woman to serve as a Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. She was re-elected in February of 1996 and was installed as Chief Justice on March 23, 2000, for the balance of the term of her predecessor, which expired June 30, 2004. She was re-elected as Chief Justice in February of 2004 and again in February of 2014, each time for 10-year terms.

She is the first native Columbian and first Roman Catholic to serve on South Carolina’s highest court.

Born August 11, 1943, in Columbia, South Carolina, she attended parochial school and public school in Columbia and graduated from Dreher High School in 1961 where she was recognized as the state’s top debater.

Chief Justice Toal received her bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 1965 from Agnes Scott College where she served on the Judicial Council, and National Supervisory Board of the U.S. National Student Association and played goalie for the field hockey team. She received her J.D. degree in 1968 from the University of South Carolina School of Law where she served as managing editor, leading articles editor and book review editor of the South Carolina Law Review. She is a member of the Order of the Coif, Mortar Board and Phi Beta Kappa.

Chief Justice Toal practiced law for 20 years before her election to the South Carolina Supreme Court, first as an associate with the Haynsworth Law Firm in Greenville, and then as an associate and partner with Belser, Baker, Barwick, Ravenel, Toal & Bender in Columbia. When she was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1968, women comprised less than one percent of the licensed lawyers in South Carolina. Now almost 20 percent of South Carolina’s lawyers are women.

As a lawyer, she appeared frequently in all levels of trial and appellate courts in South Carolina. She also had considerable experience as a litigator in the United States District Court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and made one appearance as co-counsel before the United States Supreme Court. Her 20 years as a practicing lawyer included a balance of plaintiff and defense work, criminal trial work, and complex constitutional litigation. She wrote many trial and appellate briefs at all court levels. She also had considerable administrative law experience in litigation involving environmental matters, federal and state procurement, hospital certificates of need, employment matters and election matters.

In addition to practicing law, Chief Justice Toal utilized her law degree in public service. Beginning in 1975 she served in the South Carolina House of Representatives representing Richland County for 13 years. She was the first woman in South Carolina to chair a standing committee of the House of Representatives. She served as Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Chairman of the Constitutional Laws Sub-Committee of the House Judiciary Committee. Her legislative service included floor leadership of complex legislation in the fields of constitutional law, utility regulation, criminal law, the structure of local government, budgetary matters, the structure of the judicial system, banking and finance legislation, corporate law, tort claims, workers’ compensation, freedom of information act and environmental law.

During her 27 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Toal has written opinions addressing the full range of issues both criminal and civil which come before her Court. Also, she and two of her law clerks have authored a book entitled Appellate Practice in South Carolina.

In addition to her work on the bench, Chief Justice Toal has become the chief advocate for South Carolina’s Judicial Automation Project. Under her leadership, technology initiatives are being integrated into the eight levels of the South Carolina court system. Some of the technology projects include high-speed network connectivity to all 46 county courthouses and an online, statewide case management system. Because of her efforts in promoting technology as a way to create a more efficient court system, Chief Justice Toal was recognized by Government Technology magazine as one of the 2002 “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers” of technology in government.

She is a member of the Richland County, South Carolina and American Bar Associations, the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association, the National Association of Women Judges, and the John Belton O’Neall Inn of Court. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Inns of Court Foundation, is Past President of the Conference of Chief Justices, and is Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts.

Chief Justice Toal received the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Outstanding Contribution to Justice Award in 1995. She has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by the University of South Carolina, Francis Marion University, The Citadel, Columbia College, College of Charleston, Charleston School of Law and Converse College.

In 2004, Chief Justice Toal received the prestigious Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession. The award, named in honor of the first woman lawyer in the United States, is given annually to five women who have achieved professional excellence in their field and have actively advanced the status of women within the legal community.

In 2011, Chief Justice Toal was named the first recipient of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Sandra Day O’Connor Award for the Advancement of Civics Education. NCSC established the award in 2010 to honor an organization, court, or individual who has promoted, inspired, improved, or led an innovation or accomplishment in the field of civics education. Chief Justice Toal was instrumental in making South Carolina one of the first pilot states for Justice O’Connor’s iCivics web-based interactive civics education program for students, and she has encouraged and supported the use of “Justice Case Files,” a graphic novel series developed by the NCSC that teaches students how the courts work.

Under Chief Justice Toal’s leadership, the South Carolina Judiciary has a long history of supporting civics education. In addition to iCivics and the “Justice Case Files” series, South Carolina has implemented three state civics programs:

• The Class Action Program brings middle- and high-school students to the state Supreme Court to hear oral arguments.
• The Case of the Month Program provides streaming video of a case argued before the state Supreme Court. Students are allowed to review the briefs submitted for the case and watch the proceedings.
• South Carolina Supreme Court Institute, which is held for middle- and high-school social-studies teachers to teach them how to bring law to life for their students.

Chief Justice Toal is a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Columbia where she serves as a lector.

Chief Justice Toal is married to her law school classmate, William T. Toal, of Johnson, Toal & Battiste. Chief Justice Toal and Bill were the only husband-wife team to serve as editor and managing editor of the South Carolina Law Review. They live in Columbia and have two daughters, Jean Toal Eisen, a 1993 Yale graduate who serves on the United States Senate Appropriations Committee Staff at the appointment of Senator Barbara Mikulski; Lilla Patrick Toal Mandsager, a 2003 bachelor of arts, 2005 master of arts graduate of Stanford University; one grandson, Patrick Eisen; and one granddaughter, Ruth Margaret Mandsager. Chief Justice Toal is an avid gardener, golfer and sports fan who maintains a shrine in her den to her beloved Atlanta Braves and Carolina Gamecocks.