Post by Graveyardbride on Aug 24, 2020 20:26:47 GMT -5
Scott Peterson’s Death Sentence Overturned by California Supreme Court
Today, Monday, August 24, the Supreme Court of California overturned the 2005 death sentence of Scott Peterson, the man convicted of killing his wife, Laci Peterson, who was 8½ months pregnant, and their unborn son, in December 2002.
Mrs. Peterson was reported missing the day before Christmas and in April 2003, her remains and those of her son, Conner, were discovered along the shore of San Francisco Bay. Peterson had been “fishing” in San Francisco Bay the day his wife vanished.
Shortly after Laci Peterson disappeared, it was discovered her husband had been living a double life. In November 2002, he met and began dating Amber Frey, a 27-year-old single mother, who worked as a massage therapist in Fresno. Initially, he led Frey to believe he was single, then claimed he had “lost” his wife the previous year. It wasn’t until she saw her boyfriend on the news that she realized she had been deceived and contacted the police.
Peterson, who has spent 15 years on death row, contends his trial was flawed for several reasons, including the pretrial publicity surrounding the case. Nonetheless, the court rejected his claims that his trial was unfair as to guilt and affirmed his first degree murder convictions.
However, the court found the trial judge in the case “made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection that undermined the Defendant’s right to an impartial jury in the penalty phase.” The court also agreed potential jurors who said they opposed the death penalty were improperly eliminated from the jury pool.
What this means is that Scott Peterson’s death sentence has been commuted to life in prison, but prosecutors are free to set a new penalty phase trial and attempt to condemn him to death a second time.
Sources: Barnini Chakraborty and Laura Ingle, Fox News, August 24, 2020; KPIX, August 24, 2020; CNN, November 13, 2003; and Matt Lauer, Dateline, January 1, 2005.
