Juror misconduct hearing in Scott Peterson case likely delayed until 2022. Here’s why
The evidentiary hearing to determine if Scott Peterson should get a new trial, initially estimated to take place this year, could spill into early 2022, the judge on his case said in court Wednesday.
Attorneys for Peterson have requested additional time to conduct discovery prior to the hearing because there are still facts in dispute regarding juror Richelle Nice, who the defense alleges lied when she filled out a juror questionnaire in Peterson’s 2004 trial.
Nice answered that she had never been the victim of a crime or subject of a lawsuit and in general said she had no prior experience with domestic violence, according to court filings.
Peterson’s attorneys want depositions from Nice, her mother and her ex-boyfriend, Eddie Whiteside, who allegedly was arrested for domestic violence against Nice in 2001.
Whiteside pleaded no contest to battery and was ordered to take a treatment program for domestic violence batterers, according to documents filed by the prosecution.
But the defense in its Aug. 20 filing says prosecutors have “refused to admit facts based on documents that ... (the prosecution) itself provided to Mr. Peterson (and the Court) in its Return, even where those documents are publicly available court dockets or were sworn under oath and attached to (prosecutors’) own pleadings.”
“So a number of facts, and the authenticity of numerous documents, simply remain in limbo,” the filing says.
Peterson’s attorneys said Nice, who has retained her own lawyer, refuses to be interviewed and Whiteside has not made himself available. Depositions would “elicit these details” and “streamline the evidentiary hearing, (allowing) both parties to line up potential rebuttal witnesses in advance of the hearing.”
In addition to the 2001 incident with Whiteside, Nice the year before had obtained a restraining order against Whiteside’s ex-girlfriend for stalking and threatening them while Nice was pregnant.
The jury questionnaire asked if she’d ever been involved in a lawsuit. Prosecutors said Nice didn’t know that a restraining order was a type of lawsuit.
In a declaration submitted with the prosecution’s response, Nice said she did not consider herself a victim in either incident and didn’t call police.
During Peterson’s Wednesday hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Dave Harris said he will be objecting to having discovery done prior to the evidentiary hearing.
Judge Anne-Christine Massullo gave Harris until Sept. 8 to file an opposition to the defense’s motion for discovery and gave the defense until Sept. 15 to reply to the opposition. Massullo will rule on the motion during the next hearing Sept. 22.
If the court grants the defense’s motion for discovery, Peterson attorney Cliff Gardner estimated it would take 60 days to get the records they need and subpoena witnesses for depositions.
Massullo said if the matter is not resolved by the beginning of November, the evidentiary hearing likely won’t be held until after the holidays, in January or February.
Peterson was convicted of killing his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner in 2002. He was sentenced to death but the sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court last year.
Based on his conviction, Peterson would be resentenced to life without the possibility of parole. While the District Attorney’s Office has expressed a desire to have him resentenced as soon as possible, Massullo has continued his sentencing while the issue of juror misconduct and the possibility of a new trial remain in the balance.
Peterson’s family, particularly his sister-in-law Janey Peterson, has been promoting new evidence they say clears Peterson of the murder. That evidence, originally reported in The Modesto Bee in 2018, includes a claim a mail carrier didn’t see the Petersons’ dog at their home, lending credibility to the idea Laci Peterson was still alive and walking the dog after Peterson left the house the day prosecutors believe Laci Peterson was killed.
That evidence is not part of any scheduled hearing and will not be brought up in court unless a new trial is granted.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 1:03 PM.
