Lead prosecutor in Murdaugh trial says he is 'disappointed in the court's decision'
The lead prosecutor in the Alex Murdaugh trial, Creighton Waters, said that he is "disappointed in the court's decision" to vacate two murder convictions for Murdaugh, and that he hasn't ruled out an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Speaking to George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" Thursday morning, Waters said "we disagree" with the decision, but that "we respect the court and respect the process and we'll continue on as we always do."
The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Murdaugh's 2023 murder convictions in the deaths of his wife and younger son. The court said the court clerk had "improper external influence" on the jury, denying him a fair trial.
Murdaugh's wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family's hunting estate in 2021.
Murdaugh was convicted of murdering them following a six-week trial, with jurors deliberating for nearly three hours before reaching a guilty verdict.
Waters said that an appeal to the Supreme Court is "still on the table," and that he and his team have 90 days to decide to do that, though he added that "probably our best best is just going to be to tee this thing up again."
"There is some question among the law as to how do you apply these alleged jury tampering issues," Waters said. "I think as we look at what's best long term for this case and what's best for justice, it's to retry this case and do so as soon as we can."
Following Wednesday's decision, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office will "aggressively" seek to retry Murdaugh for the murders "as soon as possible" -- possibly by the end of this year.
Murdaugh was also convicted on several financial crimes following the murder trial and is serving a 27-year sentence on state charges and a 40-year sentence on federal charges related to those crimes.
"Let me be clear -- this decision does not mean Murdaugh will be released," Wilson said in a statement. "He will remain in prison for his financial crimes. No one is above the law and, as always, we will continue to fight for justice."
Murdaugh's lawyers said they "look forward to a new trial conducted consistent with the Constitution."
Murdaugh has continued to maintain his innocence about the deaths of his wife and son. His defense alleged that jury tampering and evidentiary errors -- including the inclusion of his financial crimes -- denied him a fair trial.
Murdaugh's attorneys allege that Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca "Becky" Hill tampered with the jury by "advising it not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other defense evidence, pressuring it to reach a quick guilty verdict, misrepresenting information to the trial court in an attempt to have the court remove a juror she believed to favor the defense."
Hill denied these claims but would later resign from her position and pleaded guilty to two counts of misconduct while in office and one count each of obstruction of justice and perjury.
Waters, however, said he planned on being aggressive and was confident he could win in another trial.
"Assuming that we don't decide to appeal any further, [we] are going to get this thing before a jury as soon as we can," Waters said.
- ABC News' Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
