Latest news with #BeckyHill
Fox News
5 days ago
- Fox News
Murdaugh lead attorney says jury fix and hidden texts could blow up conviction, force new trial
The defense attorney for convicted killer Alex Murdaugh said newly uncovered evidence of jury tampering may be enough to overturn the disgraced South Carolina lawyer's murder conviction. Dick Harpootlian, a Columbia attorney and former state senator who led Murdaugh's defense, told Fox News Digital that Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill's actions during the 2023 double murder trial tainted the jury and should result in a new trial. "If she had left the jury alone, clearly the worst we would have done was a mistrial," Harpootlian said. "There were two jurors—two—who would not have voted guilty had it not been for Becky Hill's influence." Murdaugh was found guilty of the murders of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul Murdaugh, who were shot to death on June 7, 2021 at the family's hunting estate in Colleton County, South Carolina. He was convicted on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in March 2023. Harpootlian said one juror, dubbed the "egg lady," was vocal in the jury room about her doubts and was dismissed just days before the verdict based on information provided by Hill. A second juror allegedly told the defense she was pressured into voting guilty by Hill and other jurors. The defense alleges that Hill attempted to sway the jury to sell more copies of a book she was writing about the high-profile trial. "She told several of her coworkers that a guilty verdict would be good for book sales," Harpootlian said. "She was working them to influence them to convict." Hill has been charged with misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, and perjury for allegedly influencing the Murdaugh jury, leaking sealed evidence and lying under oath during a 2024 hearing. During a 2024 evidentiary hearing, a retired South Carolina Supreme Court chief justice ruled that Hill was not credible and found she had attempted to influence the jury's deliberations. Murdaugh is currently appealing his conviction before the South Carolina Supreme Court. The state's brief is due Aug. 8, and Harpootlian said a ruling could come by the end of the year or early 2026. "We have an appeal based on judicial errors and jury tampering," Harpootlian said. Many believe we have a substantial chance of getting a new trial. If the appeal fails, the defense plans to pursue a federal habeas petition. "If we don't get a new trial, then there's something called habeas or post-conviction relief. And if you find that police or prosecutors have hidden evidence that would have been made a difference, you can appeal on that basis," Harpootlian said. In addition to the jury-tampering allegations, Harpootlian also pointed to newly uncovered text messages between Murdaugh and Curtis "Eddie" Smith, Murdaugh's alleged drug dealer, that may have changed the trajectory of the defense's strategy if they had been disclosed. The messages, revealed by FITSNews, show Smith and Murdaugh communicating in the days leading up to the June 7, 2021 murders of Murdaugh's wife and son. Harpootlian said his team was unaware of the texts during the trial and might have called Smith as a witness had they known. "Those texts—some from the very week of the murder—give us more of the timeline around those drug distributions," he said. "It might have made the difference in us calling him to the stand or not calling him to the stand." The text messages show that Smith and Murdaugh conversed in the days leading up to Murdaugh's murder of his wife and son on their family's hunting estate in Colleton County, South Carolina. "Hey Brother i need to come get the chech (sic) you got one with you or are you going to be around later," Smith texted to Murdaugh on June 3, four days before the slayings. Murdaugh replied that he would be back that afternoon and that he "had to deal with some bulls--- this morning." "Ok Brother just give me a holler," Smith texted, later adding, "Leaving the house now." The day before the murders, Murdaugh texted Smith, "Call me back." Within a span of two minutes the morning after the murder, Smith texted Murdaugh, "Tell me what I heard is not true," and, "Call me please." Those texts went unreturned, and around 6:30 p.m., and Smith cryptically texted Murdaugh, "At fishing hole." After that message was also met with silence, he texted, "803 *** **13 it will not go through on my phone." Harpootlian also questioned why Smith had not been prosecuted, calling it "perplexing" and "unjust." "Eddie Smith, according to the attorney general, is probably the largest distributor of OxyContin in the state's history—and he has not been prosecuted," he said. "Everybody else who was indicted pleaded guilty—except Eddie Smith." The defense attorney also criticized South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who he claims referred to Hill as "Becky Boo" during the trial. Harpootlian said Wilson's relationship with Hill is a conflict of interest and urged him to recuse himself from any future investigation into her conduct. Fox News Digital has reached out to Wilson's office for comment. "There should be a grand jury investigation into Becky Hill's conduct," he said. "But the AG hasn't opened one. Maybe he's waiting to see what the Supreme Court does." If the court grants a new trial, Harpootlian said it will be "a very different case." Since Murdaugh has already pleaded guilty to financial crimes, the prosecution will no longer be able to present weeks of financial evidence. "All that will be left is the forensic evidence and the facts," he said. "And the forensic evidence, I believe, overwhelmingly proves that Alec Murdaugh did not kill Paul and Maggie."
RTÉ News
20-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Laois County Council gives green light for Electric Picnic 2025
Laois County Council has given the green light for the largest ever Electric Picnic festival to take place. The Council has granted the licence to EP Republic Ltd to stage the festival where 80,000 are to attend each day to see the likes of Hozier, Chappell Roan and Becky Hill perform. Last month, Becky Hill was named as the final headliner and joined Sam Fender, Fatboy Slim, and Kings of Leon on the roster. The 80,000 for the 2025 EP - which is expected to cost between €25m to €30m to stage - is a 5,000 increase on the 75,000 tickets that were sold for the 2024 event. EP Republic lodged its licence application in March and the Council has granted the licence for the multistage live music and arts event at Stradbally Hall, Stradbally Estate, subject to 51 conditions. The Council had received a number of submissions calling on the EP promoters to support local businesses. In one of six submissions made to the Council on EP Republic Ltd's application, David Walsh Kemmis of Ballykilcavan Brewing Company, said: "With a view to supporting small local businesses, I would like to see the Council enforce a planning condition that the festival organisers must provide access to the festival for food and drink suppliers based in Laois, even if their product is in competition with a sponsor of the festival". However, in its 29 page planner's report into the licence application, the Council stated that submissions received relate to a number of issues relating to the event supporting locally produced produce and particularly the nearby Ballykilcavan Brewing Company. The report stated that "this matter is outside of the remit of the Local Authority and therefore cannot be dealt with in the Event Licence. The decision to allow or not the Ballykilcavan Brewing Company or any corporate entity to trade at the event is a commercial decision for the promoter." CEO of Electric Picnic, Melvin Benn, said last month that the cost of staging this year's Electric Picnic will be between €25m to €30m. In an interview, Mr Benn said Electric Picnic provides an enormous economic boost to the local economy. He said that every year, EP has "an awful lot of local businesses and local traders that sell at the festival". Mr Benn gave the example of Laois Taste which is a collection of local producers which sell their produce at the Electric Picnic He said that "we work very closely with local traders and I choose the ones that I work with. It is not up to the local authority to say who we work with. We have the freedom to choose who we work with and we exercise that freedom". Tickets for the 2025 EP event went on sale on August 21st last and sold out within hours without any act confirmed at the time. This year's event returns to the traditional last weekend of August where it will run from Thursday, August 28 to Sunday, August 31. The first Electric Picnic was staged on Saturday, September 4 2004 when around 10,000 people attended.
BreakingNews.ie
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Electric Picnic to cost €25m to €30m to stage
Laois County Council has given the green light for the largest ever Electric Picnic festival to take place. Today, the Council granted the licence to EP Republic Ltd to stage the festival where 80,000 are to attend each day to see the likes of Hozier, Chappell Roan and Becky Hill perform. Advertisement Last month, Becky Hill was named as the final headliner and joined Sam Fender, Fatboy Slim, and Kings of Leon on the roster. The 80,000 for the 2025 EP - which is expected to cost between €25 million to €30 million to stage - is a 5,000 increase on the 75,000 tickets that were sold for the 2024 event. Entertainment for weekend ticket holders will commence on Friday at 2pm and finish at 4am on Monday, September 4th. The Council has granted the licence for the multistage live music and arts event at Stradbally Hall, Stradbally Estate, subject to 51 conditions. Advertisement The Council had received a number of submissions calling on the EP promoters to support local businesses. In one of six submissions made to the Council on EP Republic Ltd's application, David Walsh Kemmis of Ballykilcavan Brewing Company said: 'With a view to supporting small local businesses, I would like to see the Council enforce a planning condition that the festival organisers must provide access to the festival for food and drink suppliers based in Laois, even if their product is in competition with a sponsor of the festival However, in its 29 page planner's report into the licence application, the Council stated that submissions received relate to a number of issues relating to the event supporting locally produced produce and particularly the nearby Ballykilcavan Brewing Company. The report stated that 'this matter is outside of the remit of the Local Authority and therefore cannot be dealt with in the Event Licence. The decision to allow or not the Ballykilcavan Brewing Company or any corporate entity to trade at the event is a commercial decision for the Promoter.' Advertisement Ceo of Electric Picnic, Melvin Benn said last month that the cost of staging this year's Electric Picnic will be between €25m to €30m. In an interview, Mr Benn said Electric Picnic provides an enormous economic boost to the local economy. He said that every year, EP has 'an awful lot of local businesses and local traders that sell at the festival'. Mr Benn gave the example of Laois Taste which is a collection of local producers which sell their produce at the Electric Picnic Ireland EU foreign affairs chief criticised over 'clear la... Read More He said that 'we work very closely with local traders and I choose the ones that I work with. It is not up to the local authority to say who we work with. We have the freedom to choose who we work with and we exercise that freedom'. Tickets for the 2025 EP event went on sale on August 21st last and sold out within hours without any act confirmed at the time. This year's event returns to the traditional last weekend of August where it will run from Thursday, August 28th to Sunday, August 31st. The first Electric Picnic was staged on Saturday, September 4th 2004 when around 10,000 people attended.
Wales Online
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Becky Hill to sing national anthem at 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Becky Hill to sing national anthem at 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone The 31-year-old singer, who is best known for UK number one single Gecko (Overdrive) with Oliver Heldens, will perform God Save The King before the F1 race gets under way on Sunday July 6. Becky Hill, singer (Image: Ian West/PA Wire ) Singer Becky Hill is to perform the national anthem at this year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The 31-year-old singer, who is best known for UK number one single Gecko (Overdrive) with Oliver Heldens, will perform God Save The King before the F1 race gets under way on Sunday July 6. Speaking about being asked to sing at the race, Hill said: "It's an absolute honour to have the chance to perform the national anthem at Silverstone. "As a British artist, it will be such a privilege to stand before the home crowd. "I was here back in 2021 and this year I'm coming back with a lot more F1 knowledge. "I'm so excited, and I feel very proud to be a part of it all." Article continues below She will be joined by DJ Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, who will perform a set before the event starts, with the pair also performing on the main stage alongside Sam Fender and Raye, which will see performances across the weekend. Blossoms will perform at the opening concert on Thursday July 3, before Sam Fender's headline set, while Friday July 4 will see former Little Mix star Jade appear on the main stage before Raye. On Saturday July 5, Swedish-English singer Mabel will perform, before Fatboy Slim returns to headline. Article continues below On the Sunday, actor and musician Idris Elba will take the stage, before Hill will return to close the show on the main stage. Hill has had six UK top 10 singles and two UK top 10 albums and is best known for songs such as Remember with David Guetta, Disconnect with Chase And Status and Crazy What Love Can Do, also with Guetta. The singer has won two Brit Awards for best dance act in 2022 and 2023, after rising to fame on the first series of The Voice UK, where she auditioned with John Legend's Ordinary People and joined Jessie J's team, reaching the semi-final of the competition.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rita Ora showcases sense of style as she joins A-listers at ELLE UK event
Rita Ora amped up the glamour as she arrived at the star-studded ELLE UK's Celebration Of Women In Music event in London on Tuesday. The singer, 34, looked effortlessly chic in a low-cut leather mididress, pairing the look with a bold yellow bag and gem-adorned shoes. Rita accessorized with gold earrings and chunky bracelets as she joined celebs such as Becky Hill and Clara Amfo for the event, organized in partnership with luxury brand Fendi. Star studded: Becky Hill and Clara Amfo dressed to impress as they joined Rita at the event Look who's here! Kelly Rowland turned heads in a peplum blazer and skirt and knee-high boots
