SC attorney general names Solicitor Rick Hubbard of Lexington to help with Becky Hill probe

Eleventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard and one of his top deputies will assist the S.C. Attorney General and his office in any prosecutions of former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill.

In a letter sent Thursday to Hubbard, Wilson indicated he had talked to Hubbard about designating him and his deputy solicitor, Suzanne Mayes, to assist in ongoing South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigations regarding Hill.

Hubbard has agreed.

Both Hubbard and Mayes are experienced trial lawyers and veterans of numerous successful high-profile criminal prosecutions. The 11th Judicial Circuit comprises Lexington, Edgefield, Saluda and McCormick counties.

Hubbard, who is on vacation, declined comment.

Hill has not been charged with any crime. But in late May the S.C. Ethics Commission found probable cause she had repeatedly misused her position to enrich herself and promote a book she wrote on the Alex Murdaugh murder trial, a high-profile 2023 proceeding broadcast nationwide on Court TV and followed by millions around the nation and world.

Those ethics allegations will be aired publicly at a Dec. 19 hearing at the State Ethics Commission in Columbia. Commission hearings are like mini trials, with opening and closing statements and the introduction of evidence and witnesses.

Wilson’s letter identified the SLED investigations that Hubbard and Mayes will help with as 31-23-0092, 32-24-0010, 32-23-0126 and 59-24-0024, but gave no other details.

In March, Hill resigned her $101,256-a-year job following allegations she had improperly tried to influence Murdaugh murder trial jurors in hopes to getting them to agree on a quick guilty verdict. Her goal was to get a verdict that would hype the sales of her book, “Behind the Doors of Justice,” Murdaugh’s lawyers charged in court filings.

A year earlier, in March 2023, a Colleton County jury took about one hour to convict Murdaugh, 56, of two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. He is now serving two consecutive life sentences.

In January, after a hearing in which jury tampering allegations against Hill were aired, Circuit Judge Jean Toal ruled that although Hill may have made improper comments to jurors, there was not enough evidence to show that her comments had brought about the guilty verdict.

During the Murdaugh murder trial, Hill was a popular public official. As clerk of court, she was in charge of jury movements and meals. She also helped many members of the news media and the public, as well as Attorney General Wilson and his prosecution team. Wilson liked Hill so much he called her “Becky Boo,” and she was more widely known as “Miss Becky.”

In his letter to Hubbard, Wilson gave no reason for incorporating Hubbard and Mayes into the Hill probe.

But Wilson’s letter made clear that his office will still be in charge, saying Assistant Attorney General Ben Aplin “has been assigned to assist you, and, of course, Chief Deputy Attorney General Jeff Young and Criminal Division Deputy Attorney General Don Zelenka will remain involved in any decisions.”

Also, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General S. Creighton Waters “has met with you (Hubbard) on multiple occasions to ensure you have all the relevant information gathered to date, and he will remain a procedural resource to you,” the letter said.

Appointing Hubbard and Mayes appears to strike a middle ground for Wilson, whose close working relationship with Hill at the Murdaugh murder trial, might pose a potential conflict of interest since Hill is now an investigative target of his office.

The appointment allows Wilson to avoid naming a special prosecutor, who would have been completely independent from Wilson.

“If Rick Hubbard is involved, I trust him,” said David Pascoe, 1st Circuit Judicial Circuit solicitor, who served as Wilson’s independent special prosecutor for several years in a wide-ranging probe of S.C. General Assembly corruption that involved several of Wilson’s political friends and allies. “Hubbard is the kind of person that if he thinks the Attorney General’s office is doing something wrong, he will be all over that.”

Wilson’s letter also left no doubt who is the boss in the Hill investigation.

“This limited designation may be revoked by me at any time,” Wilson wrote.

The letter was reported first by FITSNews.