Scott Peterson is getting a legal win all these years later!
Over two decades after the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn child, people are taking another look at her husband’s side of the story. First with a Peacock documentary special called Face to Face with Scott Peterson, in which he was interviewed from prison — and now in the actual legal system!
To briefly recap…
Scott reported his wife missing just before Christmas in 2002. She was eight months pregnant with their first child at the time. Detectives immediately suspected Scott — and found his demeanor wasn’t quite right for a man whose wife was missing. Soon everyone learned Scott had been cheating on Laci. It didn’t look good — but even worse when she was found.
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Her remains were found in April 2023. Shortly after the news broke confirming she was murdered, Scott was caught apparently fleeing to Mexico, complete with a go-bag of cash, fake ID, and new hair color. He was convicted of the murder despite the lack of direct evidence — the circumstantial evidence was just too much.
In his big interview a few weeks ago, Scott admitted to cheating — calling it “selfish” and “childish” and saying:
“It’s horrible. I was a total a-hole to be having sex outside our marriage.”
However, he stands by his theory of the crime — that Laci witnessed a break-in at a nearby house and went to investigate. The burglars kidnapped a very pregnant woman, then murdered her and weighed down her body in San Francisco Bay. The whole reason he did the special was to offer his own story, one he never told a jury as he didn’t testify in his trial. He explained:
“I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they’re willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing I can accomplish right now — because I didn’t kill my family.”
Scott, his sister-in-law Janey Peterson, and the Los Angeles Innocence Project have been fighting his conviction all these years — but seemingly in abject futility. We mean, would anyone in the state even entertain the idea there was anything wrong with the case?
Well, a judge is actually giving him his first big win in a long time. Judge Elizabeth Hill of the San Mateo County Superior Court granted Scott’s request for a discovery period! In a filing obtained by Fox News, she wrote:
“The Court has considered the filed pleadings submitted by all parties and the oral arguments of counsel, and now orders post-conviction discovery pursuant to Penal Code 1054.9…”
Judge Hill agreed Scott should get a discovery period he apparently never got. Per California Penal Code 1054.9, defendants convicted of serious felonies and sentenced to 15+ years are entitled to discovery. That means Scott will gain access to materials “in possession of the prosecution and law enforcement authorities to which the same defendant would have been entitled at the time of trial.”
What will this actually do for Scott?
Well, it depends on whether he’s right. Scott has said he believes the cops made up their mind about him from the start — and refused to look at evidence of other suspects, like the burglars. So if there really is evidence from over 20 years ago that the jury never saw, that the public never saw, because the police and district attorney had made up their mind? That would be something.
We guess we’ll see! But it’s truly shocking there’s any possibility after all this time.
[Image via Peacock/YouTube.]
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