Court to consider overturning Scott Peterson’s convictions in murder of pregnant wife, unborn son
The California Supreme Court has ordered a review of Scott Peterson’s convictions for murdering his pregnant wife and unborn son, potentially reigniting a highly publicized legal battle that garnered worldwide attention nearly two decades ago.
The seven-judge panel agreed on Wednesday to send the case back to the San Mateo County Superior Court, which will determine whether he should get a new trial, court records show. The decision comes just two months after the high court overturned Peterson’s death penalty, citing “clear and significant errors” in the jury selection.
Prosecutors convinced jurors at the time that the man strangled or suffocated his wife until she died, wrapped her body in a blue tarp, placed the corpse in the back of his boat and dropped it in the San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002. Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, washed up on the shore and was found about four months later with her unborn child still attached to the umbilical cord.
The convicted killer told police he had gone fishing in Berkeley the morning his wife disappeared. The 27-year-old woman and the baby were found just a few miles from where he said he went fishing.
Scott Peterson’s defense team argues that widespread media coverage of the case made it impossible to find an impartial jury. One of his attorneys successfully convinced the state Supreme Court in August to overturn the death sentence, arguing that a trial judge willingly dismissed potential jurors opposed to the death penalty.
Justice Leondra Kruger, writing for the court, said “a juror may not be dismissed merely because he or she has expressed opposition to the death penalty as a general matter.”
Peterson, now 47, was convicted of first-degree murder for Laci’s death and second-degree murder for the death of their son, Connor, following the sensational trial in November 2004.
He was sentenced in 2005.
