REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (CN) — Scott Peterson, the California man convicted of murdering his wife and unborn son two decades ago, wants prosecutors to turn over hundreds of documents from the murder investigation in his bid to get his conviction overturned.
Peterson wants a judge to order the release of hundreds of post-conviction discovery materials he says Stanislaus County — where he and his wife Laci lived — possesses. He and his attorneys claim that the jury which convicted Peterson of a double murder in 2004 did not have enough information to determine that he murdered Laci and their unborn son Conner Peterson.
Peterson on Monday remotely joined a court hearing from Mule Creek State Prison, following several hearings focused on retesting pieces of evidence to appeal his conviction. Last week, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hill ordered Peterson’s legal team to share whether they’ve already retested DNA evidence from the case — and if so, what the results of the DNA tests were.
Although Peterson was initially sentenced to death, the California Supreme Court in 2020 overturned his death sentence citing “significant errors in jury selection,” but left the murder convictions undisturbed. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, had issued a moratorium on executions in the state the previous year, Peterson is currently serving a life sentence without parole.
In the hearing Monday, Los Angeles Innocence Project attorney and director Paula Mitchell represented Peterson again. She maintained Peterson’s longtime claim that some of the murder investigation was not properly recorded and that some pieces of the state’s evidence were never turned over to his defense.
Mitchell said Stanislaus County officials have refused for eight months to provide materials for file reconstruction and evidence related to searches of the San Francisco Bay, where Laci and Conner were eventually found. She said those materials include investigations into a burglary which took place around the time Laci disappeared, saying that it should not have been ruled out as unrelated to her murder.
“They (county officials) repeatedly refuse to comply with their obligations,” Mitchell said. “They have made it clear that they will not comply until the court orders them to do so.”
Judge Hill noted the state already provided some requested documents. But Mitchell said Peterson still needs more than 600 files, such as interview recordings with certain witnesses connected to the burglary.
In response, the government said the murder investigation was extensively documented with many hearings to review evidence and the methods used to obtain it. Officials said Peterson, who has a second petition for habeas corpus pending in appeals court, has kept the case alive for more than two decades and want Hill to dismiss Peterson’s motion, if the defense is not exploring new theories using post-conviction materials.
Former Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager also read a statement from Laci Peterson’s mother Sharon Rocha, who chose to exercise her right under Marsy’s Law to issue a victim impact statement.
“Since his conviction in 2004, he has been in court numerous times trying to get his conviction overturned,” Rocha wrote of Peterson. “Each attempt he makes for freedom feels like ripping the scab from the wound. I believe this is not about justice, but about his relentless pursuit of freedom from prison. This is not justice for Laci and Conner. When will this end?”
Judge Hill extended the hearing to Tuesday although she said she will issue a written order on the matter within 90 days. She also asked both parties to submit a stipulated proposal for a laboratory deemed suitable to test evidence — a piece of duct tape, the only evidence out of 14 items she ruled could be retested following Peterson’s request last spring. The 15.5-inch length of duct tape recovered from Laci Peterson’s pants at the time of her autopsy requires a neutral lab for proper testing, Hill said last week.
The hearings began in San Mateo County this spring after the LA Innocence Project, a California-based criminal justice nonprofit focused on wrongful convictions, picked up Peterson’s case.
Prosecutors maintain that after killing his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son on Christmas Even in 2002, Peterson transported Laci’s body to a public boat dock and dumped her body in the San Francisco Bay using concrete anchors. Peterson had reportedly admitted to an affair, and prosecutors argued the evidence indicated the killing was premeditated.
In April 2003, Conner’s remains washed ashore a few miles north of the Berkeley Marina. Laci’s badly decomposed body was found nearby the following day.