Juror Richelle Nice’s past put under microscope in Scott Peterson’s bid for new trial
Richelle Nice answered questions for three and a half hours in court on Friday about incidents in her past that Scott Peterson’s attorneys say don’t align with answers she gave on a jury questionnaire.
In his bid for a new trial, Peterson’s attorneys claim that Nice knowingly gave false answers on the questionnaire in order to sit in judgment of him. They allege she was prejudiced against Peterson before she and 11 others voted to convict him of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son Conner on Christmas Eve 2002.
Nice answered ‘no’ when asked if she’d ever been the victim or witness of a crime or involved in a lawsuit.
Peterson’s attorney Pat Harris questioned her about a 2001 altercation in which her then-boyfriend Eddie Whiteside was arrested for domestic violence and an incident the previous year in which she obtained a restraining order — a type of lawsuit — against Whiteside’s ex-girlfriend.
Nice testified that Whiteside never hit her in the 2001 altercation but rather she punched him and he was the one who called the police.
When police arrived Nice had a cut on her lip. She said she can’t remember how she got it but assumes it was from braces she had at the time.
Nice testified that she yelled profanities at the police, told them to leave and refused to talk to them.
She said she wasn’t privy to the conversation her boyfriend had with police but, “I know he went to jail; it backfired on him calling the police on me.”
According to court documents, Whiteside was arrested on charges including domestic violence. He later pleaded no contest to battery and was ordered to take a domestic violence batterers’ treatment program.
Nice appeared frustrated as Harris repeatedly asked her about her knowledge of the case and whether Whiteside, who continued to live with her after the incident, discussed it with her. Harris also questioned why, if Nice was the aggressor, she didn’t attempt to set the record straight.
“Did you let him plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit?” Harris asked Nice.
Nice said she and Whiteside never discussed the case and didn’t know what he was charged with or ultimately convicted of.
The year before, Nice was pregnant with her third son when Whiteside’s ex-girlfriend Marcella Kinsey showed up at their home, slashed the tires on his vehicle and kicked in their front door.
Nice testified that Kinsey also challenged her to come out and fight.
For several months following the incident Kinsey exhibited “stalkerish” behavior so Nice filed to obtain a restraining order and cited the incident at her home.
In an application for the restraining order Nice wrote that she “really fears for her unborn child.”
In the request she asked the order to protect her and her unborn child. Asked by Harris why, she said, “I was being spiteful.”
Testifying Friday, Nice said she didn’t think Kinsey wanted to hurt her unborn child.
“I was in fear if we fought and rolled abound like some dummies on the ground then I ... would lose my child doing something stupid like that,” she said.
Addressing fighting in general Nice said, “I have been in many fights and I don’t consider myself a victim.”
Harris questioned Nice about other answers she gave on the jury questionnaire including whether she had an opinion about people involved in extramarital affairs. She had answered no to the question.
Peterson was having an affair with a massage therapist from Fresno during the weeks leading up to Laci and Conner’s murders. She became a key witness at his trial.
In her testimony about Whiteside Nice said, “Eddie had a relationship with many people. You know that song ‘Papa was a Rollin’ Stone?’ That was after him.”
Harris asked if Whiteside was cheating on her, which the prosecution objected to and the judge sustained.
“One of the major pieces of evidence was that the defendant was having an affair,” Harris argued. “It goes directly to her bias as to how she felt about him.”
He later rephrased the question asking, “Were you upset with Mr. Whiteside for having the ‘Papa was a Rollin’ Stone’ lifestyle.”
She said, “It didn’t make me happy” but that it never crossed her mind when she filled out the questionnaire.
Nice is set to return to court Monday to continue testifying.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 3:58 PM.
