Judge Weighs New Trial For Scott Peterson

SACRAMENTO (AP/CBS13) — A California justice said Wednesday that she anticipates a two-week proceeding aboriginal adjacent twelvemonth earlier she decides if Scott Peterson deserves a caller proceedings successful the 2002 decease of his large wife.

That’s much than a twelvemonth aft the California Supreme Court ordered Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo to see if juror misconduct was truthful important that it denied him a just trial.

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Massullo is expected to perceive grounds from juror Richelle Nice, who is astatine the halfway of the quality and has denied that she was influenced by her ain inheritance of home abuse. Nice is identified successful tribunal papers arsenic Juror 7. But she co-authored a publication astir the lawsuit with six different jurors.

That proceeding would get to “the nutrient and potatoes of what the juror’s accusation is,” Deputy Stanislaus County District Attorney Dave Harris said.

Laci Peterson, 27, was 8 months large with their unborn son, Connor, erstwhile she was killed.

Massullo indispensable determine if Nice committed “prejudicial misconduct” by failing to disclose that she had sought a restraining bid successful 2000 for fearfulness that her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend could harm Nice’s ain unborn child.

Peterson’s attorneys revealed successful a June tribunal filing that Nice besides failed to disclose that her fellow bushed her successful 2001 portion she was large with different child.

As a prospective juror, Nice had answered “no” erstwhile she was asked if she had ever been progressive successful a suit oregon been a transgression victim.

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Nice said successful a tribunal filing that she didn’t deliberation the restraining bid was a lawsuit, nor did she “feel ‘victimized’ the mode the instrumentality mightiness specify that term.”

Massullo said she had wanted to docket the evidentiary proceeding for October, and she mightiness inactive effort to bash it successful aboriginal November. But she said delays successful gathering grounds and sworn witnesser testimony, partially due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic, marque it much apt she volition docket the proceeding for 2 weeks successful precocious January oregon aboriginal February, aft the wintertime holidays.

She expects to acceptable the dates during a Sept. 22 proceeding aft considering respective ineligible filings successful the meantime.

Peterson, 48, participated successful Wednesday’s proceeding done a telephone nexus from San Quentin State Prison, location of California’s decease row. The authorities Supreme Court separately overturned Peterson’s decease condemnation past twelvemonth implicit unrelated faulty juror selection, and prosecutors said they won’t again question to person him executed.

If Peterson gets a caller trial, his lawyer has said helium volition contiguous caller grounds bolstering the defence mentation that Laci Peterson was killed erstwhile she stumbled upon a adjacent burglary.

Investigators said that connected Christmas Eve 2002, Peterson dumped the bodies from his sportfishing vessel into San Francisco Bay, wherever they surfaced months later.

The state’s precocious tribunal past twelvemonth said that determination was sizeable circumstantial grounds incriminating Peterson successful the slayings.

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