Being a crime junky is not a legal defense

It's one thing to be a crime junky and another thing committing a crime. But it seems like there's a new rule in the world of crime fandom: You can watch as many murder trials as you want, but eventually someone may remind you that the courthouse is not a reality TV set.

Meet Dawn Light, yeah, that's her real name--it isn't a new, improved dishwashing detergent. Light is a retired nurse and self-described “crime junkie” who has allegedly discovered this the hard way after being busted for jury intimidation during the Lindsay Clancy trial.

The charge is aggravated intimidation of a juror, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years. Apparently, binge-watching murder trials comes with fewer legal protections than Netflix would have you believe.

The “crime junkie” arrested for allegedly filming jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s case was all smiles after she was released Wednesday following a hearing where prosecutors alleged she risked the “sanctity” of the killer mom’s trial.

Light, 56, pleaded not guilty to the charge of aggravated intimidation of a juror in the same courthouse where Clancy’s high-profile triple murder trial has been underway for the past six weeks.

Light, a retired nurse, allegedly pulled her blue Toyota into a “restricted area” of the court premises and filmed and took photos from inside the car as jurors were leaving court Tuesday afternoon, prosecutor Nicole Piacentini claimed.

The prosecutor asked the judge to hold Light on $50,000 bail, keep her away from the court and bar her from posting any video or photos she may have uploaded to the cloud.

Light is a “crime junkie” and supporter of Clancy, an admitted murderer of her three children. Light also attended other high-profile murder trials, including for Alex Murdaugh and Karen Read, she revealed in an interview with CT Insider Wednesday.

Because apparently attending one murder trial is not enough. You need a frequent-flyer program.

When cops approached Light “she was adamant” she wasn’t filming jurors but rather “waiting to see if Lindsay Clancy would come out of the building,” the prosecutor claimed.

Unfortunately, her smartphone apparently had other plans.

But when the cops looked inside her phone, they found a video of jurors walking out in her deleted folder, Piacentini alleged.

Nothing says “I definitely wasn't filming the jurors” quite like allegedly having a video of the jurors sitting in your deleted folder.

Light is a “crime junkie.” Well, congratulations, sweetie. That's a perfectly respectable hobby right up until your hobby apparently turns into a felony.

At that point, you are no longer merely watching the true-crime documentary. You have become part of it.

And this is the problem with turning criminal trials into spectator sports. Some people apparently become so invested in the drama that they forget there are actual laws governing what you can do outside the courtroom.

The jury is supposed to decide the case, the spectators are supposed to spectate, with or without spectacles.

And the person sitting in the blue Toyota is apparently supposed to avoid turning the courthouse parking lot into her own personal episode of Dateline.

How stupid do you have to be to allegedly film jurors during a murder trial, get caught, and then have the evidence sitting in the deleted folder on your phone?

That's not exactly criminal mastermind territory.

That's less Law & Order and more Law & Disorder: Suburban Edition.

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Former SC court clerk in Murdaugh murder trial arrested on severa felonies

He killed his son and his wife; she tried to make a killing with a book

Folks, let me tell you, down in South Carolina, they’ve gone and charged Becky Hill, the former Colleton County court clerk who ran the show during Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, with a whole mess of felonies. Now, this ain’t like spilling sweet tea at a church picnic; this is serious business.

Last year, the State Ethics Commission pointed their finger at Ms. Hill, 57, saying she was using her fancy title as clerk to fatten her wallet, pushing a book about the Murdaugh case. She even owned up to lifting some words for that book and said, “My bad.” 

But the Colleton County website’s whispering she’s also got a “hold for South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.” Sounds like she’s in hotter water than a crawfish in a Low-country boil.

Now, we don’t know the exact charges yet, but Dick Harpootlian, Murdaugh’s lawyer, ain’t shocked. He told Fox News Digital, “We are aware of the charges filed against Becky Hill, and while these developments are serious, they are not surprising. We have long raised our concerns about her conduct during and after the trial and this arrest further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the judicial process. Every defendant is entitled to a fair and impartial trial and we look forward to Alex Murdaugh finally getting that fair treatment.” That’s lawyer talk for, “We been sayin’ she was up to no good, and now everybody’s seeing it.”

Word is, Hill was playin’ fast and loose with federal money, sending herself nigh on $10,000 in bonuses disguised as child support. She was handing out Easter goodies, Mother’s and Father’s Day gifts, Valentine’s trinkets, paint supplies, flowers, fancy meals, office furniture, and—get this—dog food, bones, and a dog bed. Sounds like she was running the clerk’s office like her personal piggy bank.

Back in January 2024, Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal said Murdaugh, who got nailed for killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in June 2021, didn’t need a new trial. Murdaugh’s team was hollering about jury tampering by Hill, but Toal wasn’t buying it. Outta 12 jurors who said Murdaugh was guilty in 2023, 11 swore Hill didn’t sway ‘em. One fella said he heard her talking about Murdaugh’s body language, but it didn’t change his mind.

Now, The State newspaper’s sayin’ Hill’s facing a perjury indictment. 

Eric Bland, a South Carolina lawyer who stood up for folks Murdaugh swindled, posted on X Wednesday, “I used to think that there was very little chance that our South Carolina Supreme Court would reverse former Chief Justice Jean Toal’s decision in February 2024 when she denied Alex Murdaugh a new trial on his double murder conviction because of Becky Hill alleged jury interference. I thought that if he was to get any relief, it would come after he exhausted his state court appeals and it would be on the federal level. According to the State Paper, the perjury charge arises out of her testimony that she gave in the February 2024 hearing in front of Justice Toal. I think this further complicates the situation and increases the chances that he will get a reversal and a new trial. 

It still will come down to whether the federal standard for alleged jury tampering should have been applied by Justice Toal or she was correct in applying the state standard.” 

That’s a mouthful, but he’s saying Hill’s fibbing might just give Murdaugh a shot at a do-over.

Hill, who was clerk for about four years, stepped down in March after those jury tampering claims but swore it wasn’t because of the trial ruckus. At a news conference, she said, “Another significant impact in our clerk’s office was in 2023, when we had to manage one of the biggest trials in South Carolina history. Our small town came together and made everyone proud. Managing a trial with such importance to the people of South Carolina, as well as to the national and international media interest and public scrutiny, has caused me to reflect upon decisions involving my stay in the office of the clerk of court.” 

She added she was quitting to focus on being a wife, mama, and grandma, and to give other Republicans a fair shake at her job in 2024.

Her old lawyer, Justin Bamberg, who also helped Murdaugh’s victims, said at a March presser that Hill’s exit had nothing to do with any investigations. But, folks, when the law’s circling like buzzards over a roadkill, you gotta wonder if the truth’s been stretched thinner than a politician’s promise.

So, there you have it—Becky Hill’s in a heap of trouble, and it’s shaking up Murdaugh’s case like a hurricane hitting the Carolina coast. Stay tuned, because this story’s got more twists than a backroad in the Palmetto State.

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