Scott Peterson, convicted murderer, returns to court over two decades after case first began

it was the murder trial that gripped the nation nearly two decades ago and is once again in the spotlight as convicted killer Scott Peterson returns to court seeking a retrial the Los Angeles Innocence Project reignited media interest in the case on Tuesday placing the spotlight back on Peterson's 20-year-old murder conviction Peterson received a life sentence after being found guilty of the murder of his 27-year-old wife Lacy Peterson and their unborn child whom they intended to name Connor Peterson's death sentence was overturned in 2020 yet he continues to serve a life sentence despite this he maintains his innocence seeking a new trial in the hopes of clearing his name the Los Angeles Innocence Project took up Peterson's case in January filing a motion for DNA testing to possibly clear Peterson there are three motions pending including one for postconviction DNA testing specifically surrounding a van that was near the Peterson's home that was involved in a burglary at or near the time of Lacy's disappearance Peterson's attorney Paula cany believes Lacy's DNA was found on a mattress inside that van that had been set on fire Peterson appeared via Zoom for today's hearing no judgment has been made what if he's not guilty okay what if he had an affair and he was a crappy husband but what if he didn't kill her did you think this would be happening in 2024 I did I thought it was going to be happening in 2021 I sort of thought it would happen in 2015 I thought it would happen in 2010 I thought it would happen in 2003 I I thought it would happen at some point Scott Peterson has always said he was innocent his family has always said he was innocent there was always this is knew that their theory was that Lacy had been abducted by these methhead robbers in that neighborhood and so the LA Innocence Project taking this case up corroborates as pretty good evidence that that organization which only represents people who the project believes is innocent and can be exonerated by DNA evidence has taken this up and so there's two things that they want the court to order that they be allowed to DNA test a van that's got a mattress in it that looks like it was Blood Stained that looks like the uh van that was near the Peterson home that committed a burglary at or near the time of Lacy's disappearance and a hammer that was found at a burglary scene uh and that's what they want DNA testing on how significant is it that the LA Innocence Project has taken this up is representing Scott Peterson 20 years after the fact super significant but that's what we know about wrongful conviction it takes a while for the evidence to sort of sort itself out I mean I remember standing uh out in front of this Courthouse 20 plus years ago I Mike bellam misseri was one of the jurors in the Peterson murder trial he's curious about why the LA Innocence Project would take up Peterson's case my reaction when I was first told was wow that's interesting the LA Innocence Project is not revealing what if any new evidence they may have but it may have something to do with this burned out van in a new court filing by the Innocence Project a former Modesto fire investigator told them at the time of LA's disappearance he was called to a suspicious vanfire detectives were looking for information regarding ing a van associated with a burglary across the street from the Peterson home blood evidence was found inside the van that fire investigator said this about the blood I recall that once the presumptive test indicated positive for blood the face of the evidence technician conducting the test went white and everyone present at the evidence Locker went ballistic the people observing the test started getting onto their phones to report what they had found I have been deeply troubled about what I viewed to be an insufficient investigation into the possibility of this vehicle fire being related in some way to The Disappearance of lacy Peterson good afternoon I'm Elizabeth Cook in for Ryan today today's hearing comes just weeks after the Los Angeles Innocence Project took up his case Peterson is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the murders of his pregnant wife Lacy and their unborn son Max Darrow is live outside the Sano County Courthouse with the very latest developments in all this Max Liz more than 20 years later this case continues to unfold the court proceedings today were relatively brief about 45 minutes or so the judge really just set the stage for what will be a lengthy process as Peterson fights to overturn this conviction and prove his innocence the judge set several dates for the prosecution and defense and also three hearing dates that we will be watching closely one in April one in May and one in July let's take you into the courtroom right now from the proceedings this morning Peterson appeared via Zoom for today's hearing he didn't really speak much outside of the formalities saying things like yes your honor he did appear pretty confident and collected however he's represented now by the LA Innocence Project there are three big motions pending the big one at play here is a postconviction DNA testing request specifically surrounding a van that was near the Peterson's home that was involved in a burglary either at or or near the time of Lacy's disappearance a legal expert spoke with uh we spoke with after the proceedings wrapped up today says it's actually very significant that the LA Innocence Project took his case what if he's not guilty okay what if he had an affair and he was a crappy husband but what if he didn't kill her that like I said she's just not very good at filling out forms Peterson's case has stretched on since the early 2000s in 2004 he was convicted of murdering Lac 8 months pregnant with their unborn son Connor in 2005 he was sentenced to death but then in 2020 the California Supreme Court overturned Peterson's death sentence after an issue with jury screening from that original trial in 2021 he was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and then in 2022 he was moved off death row at San Quenton we were back in court after that happened as he and his defense team then pushed for a new trial based upon an allegation of Juror Miss conduct but after a series of hearings in 2022 a judge ultimately denied him relief and did not Grant him a new trial fast forward almost two years later now in 2024 we are back in a courtroom as he now makes this bid to try and prove his innocence Janie Peterson his sister-in-law was present at the hearing today she's been a fierce Advocate saying that her brother-in-law is innocent and has maintained that since the very beginning of this case almost 20 years ago or about 20 years ago uh she did not speak to me media however but Liz this will be a lengthy process and we'll be here as it unfolds yeah I mean remember 20 years ago Max I don't think there's a person around the country or here in the Bay Area especially that doesn't remember the Scott Peters in case you think about the documentaries the podcast the books that have been written about it no doubt it's going to continue to capture a lot of attention I know you're going to stay on top of it

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Length: 8min 4sec (484 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 13 2024