Convicted murderer Scott Peterson, labeled a monster by the American public, has been given a new sentence after the California Supreme Court reversed his death sentence in August of 2020.
Scott Peterson has been resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of his wife and unborn child, who was to be named ‘Conner’. Since his death sentence was reversed by the California Supreme Court, he had been in prison limbo for the charges.
Peterson’s case was one of the most high profile murder cases in the country, and one of the most publicized trials in recent memory. His wife, Laci Peterson, was more than seven moths pregnant when she disappeared just before Christmas in 2002.
Prosecutors alleged that Scott killed her in their Modesto home, then dumped her body in the San Francisco Bay from the fishing boat that he had recently purchased. Both Laci’s body and the baby’s body were later found washed ashore, separately, in April of 2003.
Peterson has always maintained his innocence. According to reporting from CTV News, “his appeals have focused on various aspects of the trial, including the publicity surrounding it, the way the jurors were chosen, evidence admitted and not admitted at trial, and on prosecutorial statements.”
Most of the evidence that determined his guilt was circumstantial, including testimony from a woman who claimed to have been dating him at the time of the murder, who said that he had pretended to be single. Peterson also claimed to be fishing in the San Francisco Bay at the time his wife disappeared.
“The People submit to the Court that the only sentence available for this defendant is a sentence of life without the possibility of parole plus 15 years to life for the murders of Laci and Conner,” the prosecutor’s December filing stated.
Peterson’s death sentence was reversed after California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019. The moratorium is only in effect while Newsom is in office.
