California judge denies new murder trial for Scott Peterson
A California judge on Tuesday rejected a new murder trial for Scott Peterson, nearly 20 years after he was charged with dumping the bodies of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the unborn child they planned to name Conner into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002.
Peterson alleged the resulting trial that gripped the world was tainted by a rogue juror who lied about her own history of abuse to get on the panel that initially sent him to death row.
Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo found there was not evidence to support the defense claim that juror Richelle Nice committed misconduct during jury selection.
Nice did not intentionally conceal information about her life on the jury questionnaire or misrepresent her financial situation to stay on the jury and did not appear vengeful toward Peterson in letters she later wrote him in prison, Massullo wrote.
Peterson, now 50, can appeal her decision.
It was undisputed that Nice failed to disclose as she was being selected for Peterson바카라 게임 웹사이트s jury in 2004 that she had sought a restraining order while she was pregnant four years earlier. Nice said then that she 바카라 게임 웹사이트really fears for her unborn child바카라 게임 웹사이트 because of threats from her boyfriend바카라 게임 웹사이트s ex-girlfriend.
The California Supreme Court in 2020 found that Nice바카라 게임 웹사이트s actions required a hearing to determine if they denied Peterson a fair trial, and assigned Judge Massullo to the case. The high court separately threw out Peterson바카라 게임 웹사이트s death sentence in 2020 and Stanislaus County prosecutors decided against again seeking his execution even as they argued he received a fair trial. He was resentenced to life in prison in December.
Peterson argued that Nice fought to join the jury despite her financial hardship and that she entered deliberations determined to enact revenge for Peterson바카라 게임 웹사이트s nearly full-term unborn child, the young victim she nicknamed 바카라 게임 웹사이트Little Man.바카라 게임 웹사이트
But Nice testified that she had no bias against Peterson until she heard the evidence against him.
Nice said in a sworn declaration in 2020 that it did not occur to her to include the threat to her own unborn child on her juror form because she did not 바카라 게임 웹사이트feel 바카라 게임 웹사이트victimized바카라 게임 웹사이트 the way the law might define that term.바카라 게임 웹사이트 She later testified that she answered truthfully based on her understanding of the questions.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t write it on the questionnaire because it never crossed my mind, ever. It wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트t done intentionally,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she swore during two days of testimony in February.
She also disputed any financial motive to serving on the jury, swearing that she and other jurors never discussed jointly writing their book, 바카라 게임 웹사이트We, the Jury,바카라 게임 웹사이트 until after the trial and verdict.
And it was Peterson바카라 게임 웹사이트s celebrity attorney, Mark Geragos, who wanted her on the jury, prosecutors said. Geragos called Nice back as she prepared to leave after the trial judge dismissed her for financial hardship, though Geragos said he never would have done so had she properly disclosed her personal history.
Nice also denied being biased even though she said her boyfriend at the time was serially unfaithful and denied that he ever assaulted her despite his arrest for domestic violence.
Peterson was arrested in April 2003 only after his mistress came forward to say he told her his 27-year-old wife was gone a month before her actual disappearance.
His attorneys provided Massullo with what they called a 바카라 게임 웹사이트Credibility Chart바카라 게임 웹사이트 purporting to show Nice바카라 게임 웹사이트s conflicting statements.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Ms. Nice simply forgot,바카라 게임 웹사이트 prosecutors responded in court filings, arguing that any mistakes she made did not demonstrate bias.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Her testimony and her demeanor ... clearly showed she was not a vengeful, scorned woman who sought to punish (Peterson),바카라 게임 웹사이트 they argued.
Among other issues Massullo had to decide which side had the burden of proof.
Prosecutors said Peterson바카라 게임 웹사이트s attorneys failed to prove Nice committed juror misconduct. Inadvertent or unintentional mistakes don바카라 게임 웹사이트t count, they argued.
Peterson바카라 게임 웹사이트s attorneys said Nice clearly concealed facts during jury selection, even unknowingly, which they said shifts the burden to prosecutors to prove that she wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트t prejudiced.