In this July 29, 2004, photo, Scott Peterson listens to judge Alfred A. Delucchi in a Redwood City, California, courtroom. (Al Golub / The Modesto Bee via AP)
Innocence Project Takes Scott Peterson Case After 'New Evidence' Emerges
Convicted murdered Scott Peterson may have a chance to breathe free air again if a Los Angeles legal organization has its way.
The Los Angeles Innocent Project is now representing Peterson, who is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after being convicted in 2004 of murdering his wife and unborn son.
Peterson was found guilty after his wife’s body turned up in San Francisco Bay in April of 2003, four months after she disappeared the previous Christmas Eve. Laci Peterson, then 27, was eight months pregnant with a son they had already named Conner when she vanished.
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Scott Peterson had previously been given the death penalty, but that sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court in 2020.
According to court filings first reported on by ABC News on Thursday, the LA Innocence Project believes that “new evidence” may indicate that Peterson, who has always denied killing his wife, may be innocent.
“New evidence now supports Mr. Peterson’s longstanding claim of innocence and raises many questions into who abducted and killed Laci and Conner Peterson,” the filings said.
The group also believes that Scott Peterson’s “state and federal constitutional rights were violated,” the outlet reported.
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HuffPost reported that the LA Innocence Project — which is not affiliated with the national Innocence Project organization — found that some evidence in the case had not been shared with Scott Peterson’s defense team prior to his trial.
“Peterson’s attorneys contend that a burglary across the street from the couple’s home at the time of his wife’s disappearance may be linked to her murder, and the filing also seeks information about whether a burned-out van found near the Modesto airport was connected to the burglary,” HuffPost reported.
Should Scott Peterson remain in jail?
Yes: 76% (214 Votes)
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“In a separate motion, the LAIP requested that DNA testing be performed on bloodstains found on a mattress in the van,” the outlet said.
Paula Mitchell, the director of the LA Innocence Project, said in a declaration included with the court filings that she had found “deficiencies” in the case against Scott Peterson and was trying to locate a number of items that had gone missing since his conviction.
In a statement to ABC, Pat Harris, Scott Peterson’s previous counsel, claimed he was “thrilled to have the incredibly skilled attorneys at the LA Innocence project and their expertise becoming involved in the efforts to prove Scott’s innocence.”
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The LA Innocence Project also issued a statement, saying not that Scott Peterson was innocent but that the group was “investigating his claim of actual innocence.”
Investigators have never been able to determine where Laci Peterson was killed. Family members said that fact alone should have caused Scott Peterson to be found not guilty.
“There is no forensic evidence, there is no timeline to this crime,” his sister-in-law Janey Peterson said in 2021, according to People.
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“Scott Peterson is innocent,” she added, “and we are now trying to reverse that.”
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of "WJ Live," powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English as well as a Master's in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
