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The Supreme Court of California ordered a review of Scott Peterson’s conviction for killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, two months after they overturned his death penalty, according to CBS News on Oct. 14, 2020.
His case was sent back to San Mateo Superior Court to determine if he should receive a new trial because a juror in his 2004 trial failed to disclose that she might be prejudiced against Peterson. The court said she committed prejudicial misconduct because she filed a lawsuit in 2000 to obtain a restraining order after her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend harassed her while she was pregnant.
As a potential juror, she was asked if she had ever been a crime victim or involved in a lawsuit; she answered no, which was a lie.
The case received worldwide attention in 2004. He was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife; she was 27-years-old and eight months pregnant at the time. Additionally, he was convicted of second-degree murder of his unborn son, Connor.
On Christmas Eve, 2002, she disappeared. Her husband told the police that he left their home in Modesto to go fishing in Berkeley.
Prosecutors believe that Peterson, then 30, dumped their bodies into the San Francisco Bay because they were found four months later a few miles away from where Peterson said he fished.
Investigators followed nearly 10,000 tips and considered parolees and convicted sex offenders as possible suspects. That was until Amber Frey, a masseuse, told the police that she started dating him before his wife died; he claimed she was missing. However, a month later, he told her that his wife died.
The justices cited significant errors in the jury selected — in August, the Supreme Court overturned his death sentence.
Written by Jessica Letcher
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
CBS News: Scott Peterson’s 2004 murder convictions to be reexamined; Justin Sullivan
The New York Times: Scott Peterson’s Murder Convictions to Be Re-examined, Court Orders; Derrick Bryson Taylor
NBC News: Scott Peterson convictions in murder of pregnant wife, Laci, ordered re-examined; The Associated Press
Featured Image Courtesy of Trophygeek’s Flickr Page- Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Trophygeek’s Flickr Page- Creative Commons License