Scott Peterson’s appeal for new trial to be heard by California Supreme Court
More than 15 years after he was found guilty in the murder of his wife and their unborn son — in a case that brought international notoriety to Modesto — Scott Peterson’s attorneys will get to make the case that his conviction and-or death penalty should be reversed and he should get a new trial.
Peterson’s legal team will argue on his behalf Tuesday before the California Supreme Court. The state attorney general’s office will counter those arguments.
The oral arguments will be conducted by video conference because of the new coronavirus pandemic, though some of the justices may be in the courtroom. The argument can be viewed at www.courts.ca.gov/35333.htm. The oral arguments are scheduled for the afternoon session, which starts at 1:30 p.m.
Peterson, 47, who is at San Quentin State Prison, will not attend, which is standard in these appeals of a death sentence. Peterson is represented by noted appellate attorney Cliff Gardner and his law firm.
Peterson’s legal team argues in a brief filed in 2012 that his conviction and death sentence should be overturned because he did not receive a fair trial.
Those reasons, according to the brief, include the judge’s failure to move the trial a second time despite massive pretrial publicity that portrayed Peterson as guilty, the judge dismissing potential jurors opposed to the death penalty without determining whether they could put that aside and follow the law, and allowing the prosecution to present questionable and suspect evidence.
That includes allowing a dog handler to testify about the results of her dog’s tracking the scent of Peterson’s wife, Laci, despite a lack of scientific basis for that evidence and the dog’s abysmal record.
A letter filed with the court from the attorney general’s office states it expects the focus of Tuesday’s hearing to be on the trial judge’s decisions to dismiss potential jurors from the trial and not to move the trial a second time. The trial was moved about 90 miles from Modesto to Redwood City because of the overwhelming pretrial publicity here. But defense attorneys argued that was not sufficient.
Nearly all of the prospective jurors in San Mateo County knew about the case and nearly half already had decided Peterson was guilty based on questionnaires they filled out, according to court records filed by his legal team, and the judge refused to move the trial to Los Angeles County, which among California’s counties had the lowest rate of people who had already prejudged the case.
Laci’s and Conner’s remains found along bay
Laci Peterson was about 8 months pregnant with the Petersons’ son, Conner, when she disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002. Peterson said he had gone fishing that day in the San Francisco Bay and returned to an empty home. The remains of Laci and Conner eventually were found less than a mile apart along the shore of the San Francisco Bay, less than two miles from where Peterson said he fished.
The Peterson case, already attracting national attention, gained more intrigue when Amber Frey came forward. Frey was having a relationship with Peterson, who she said had told her he was not married. She worked with police to record hours of phone conversations and served as a star witness for the prosecution. The saga has generated made-for-TV movies, books and countless headlines and hours upon hours of cable commentary.
A jury convicted Peterson of murder in November 2004 and then sentenced him to death the next month.
Besides this automatic appeal of his death sentence, Peterson has what is called a petition for habeas corpus pending with the court. Unlike the automatic appeal, which focuses on alleged errors made by the trial judge, the petition can introduce new evidence to show the conviction or sentence was wrong.
Peterson also has remedies he can pursue through the federal courts.
Peterson’s appeal comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom put in place a moratorium on the death penalty in March 2019, suspending all executions while he is governor. But California’s last execution was in 2006, and only the state’s voters can abolish the death penalty.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
