Convicted murderer Scott Peterson has won a narrow legal victory in his bid to clear his name in the 2002 murders of his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner.
During a hearing on Wednesday, May 29, a judge ruled that DNA testing could only be conducted on one piece of evidence from the initial investigation that Peterson’s new attorneys, the Los Angeles Innocence Project, argued would help prove his innocence. A judge ruled that a piece of duct tape found on Laci’s pants could be retested, according to NBC News, CBS News and ABC News.
“There is absolutely no forensic evidence implicating Peterson,” his attorneys argued in court, News Nation’s Brian Entin reported on X (formerly known as Twitter) from the San Mateo County hearing in Redwood City.
David Harris, Stanislaus County Deputy District Attorney, said there is no need for a new trial. “People know the truth,” he said. Mercury News reports. “They know he is guilty of murdering his wife and unborn son.”
Peterson, 51, appeared via live video from Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., where he is serving a life sentence for the murders of Laci, 27, and Conner.
During the hearing, his lawyers argued for testing DNA found on items from the investigation that were never tested.
Laci Peterson just before Christmas 2002.
ZUMA Press/ZUMAPRESS.com
One such item is a bloody mattress found in a burned van near a Modesto couple’s home.
The van was set on fire on December 25, 2002, the day after Laci disappeared. Peterson’s lawyers claim that Laci was killed in that van by two men she witnessed robbing a house on her street the morning she disappeared.
Inside the van was a mattress with what appeared to be blood stains. The Los Angeles Innocence Project claims it has new evidence that shows there was no mattress in the van before it was stolen prior to Laci’s murder, KRON4 reports.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(536x0:538x2)/scott-peterson-1-031224-de8a7aa5490b4a6f91a5c24baef585b3.jpg)
The van that burned on December 25, 2002.
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR SAN MATEO COUNTY
Peterson’s attorneys also wanted to test a tarp and plastic bag found near Laci’s body that was pulled from San Francisco Bay, as well as duct tape and rope found on Conner’s body, KTVU reports.
Scott Peterson back in court after LA Innocence Project claims evidence suggests he didn’t kill wife Laci
Prosecutors said the case was long over and they would not turn over any evidence unless ordered to do so by the court, KRON reports.
Scott said he was fishing in San Francisco Bay when his wife disappeared.
Where is Scott Peterson now? Inside his life in prison amid the Innocence Project case in LA
Scott became a person of interest when massage therapist Amber Frey came forward in January 2003 saying she had been in a relationship with him for a month before Laci disappeared. Frey said Scott told her he was a widower.
He was arrested on April 18, 2003, four days after Laci and Conner’s remains surfaced in San Francisco Bay. He pleaded not guilty when charged with their murders.
Relative angry after LA Innocence Project takes over Scott Peterson case: We’d like to ‘take him one-way fishing’
On November 12, 2004, a jury found Scott guilty of two murders.
Want to keep up with the latest crime reports? Sign up for PEOPLE’the free True Crime newsletter for the latest crime news, tracking ongoing trials and details on intriguing unsolved cases.
In 2005, he was sentenced to death. But in 2020, that verdict was overturned, and the following year he was again sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
Why Scott Peterson’s former defense attorney thinks he might be acquitted
In the summer of 2023, Scott approached the nonprofit Los Angeles Innocence Project, asking the organization to take on his case.
In a letter to the court in November 2023, he wrote, “I discovered that critical exculpatory evidence was overlooked, overlooked or never investigated at all, and in other cases was suppressed at the time of my trial,” KRON4 reported.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education