Judge To Re-Sentence Scott Peterson In December To Life Term

SAN MATEO (AP) – A California justice said Wednesday that she plans to resentence Scott Peterson to beingness successful situation Dec. 8 portion she separately considers whether helium receives a caller proceedings successful the 2002 murders of his large woman and unborn son.

Peterson was sentenced to decease successful 2005 and has spent much than 15 years connected decease row, but the California Supreme Court tossed retired his condemnation past twelvemonth and prosecutors accidental they won’t again question to person him executed.

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“This is nary longer a decease punishment case,” Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager reiterated during Wednesday’s little hearing. “There is nary mode successful the satellite this is thing different than a beingness without parole case.”

She expects the resentencing proceeding to past nary longer than 2 hours, with little statements from household members of 27-year-old Laci Peterson, who was 8 months large astatine the clip of her killing.

Peterson has been appearing astatine the hearings done a distant nexus from San Quentin State Prison, location to California’s decease row, but volition beryllium contiguous successful idiosyncratic for his resentencing.

The precocious tribunal ruled past twelvemonth that jurors who personally disagreed with the decease punishment but were consenting to enforce it were improperly dismissed.

It separately ordered Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo to determine if Peterson indispensable person an wholly caller proceedings due to the fact that of juror misconduct.

That successful crook has analyzable who should correspond him, and the timing of the retrial decision. Defense attorneys who enactment for the Habeas Corpus attorneys whitethorn nary longer beryllium capable to correspond Peterson due to the fact that by instrumentality they tin lone beryllium progressive successful decease punishment cases.

One of Peterson’s attorneys, Pat Harris, told Massullo that removing those attorneys could mean delaying the retrial determination “for what could beryllium a important magnitude of clip … possibly adjacent a twelvemonth oregon much for caller counsel to get up to date. That evidently causes america a large woody of concern.”

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Harris alternatively projected holding the retrial proceeding successful mid-November, earlier Peterson’s resentencing date.

Massullo plans to see the timing and who should correspond Peterson during a proceeding aboriginal this month.

Peterson’s lawyers contend the pistillate known arsenic Juror 7 falsely answered questions during the enactment process arsenic she sought to articulation the jury. She aboriginal coauthored a publication connected the case.

Supreme Court justices said determination was sizeable circumstantial grounds incriminating Peterson successful the first-degree execution of his woman and the second-degree execution of the lad they planned to sanction Connor.

Prosecutors said Peterson took his wife’s assemblage from their Modesto location connected Christmas Eve 2002 and dumped her successful San Francisco Bay from his sportfishing boat. The bodies washed ashore successful April 2003.

Defense attorneys accidental they person caller grounds that adjacent burglars whitethorn person committed the crime, though investigators accidental they were ruled retired arsenic suspects.

To get the accidental to beryllium it, Peterson’s attorneys indispensable transportation Massullo that the juror was biased due to the fact that she had been a transgression victim, thing she did not disclose during assemblage selection.

It was aboriginal learned that the pistillate had been beaten by a fellow portion she was large successful 2001. She besides didn’t uncover that during different gestation she had obtained a restraining bid against a boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend due to the fact that she was fearful the pistillate would harm her unborn child.

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Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.