Scott Peterson’s latest attempt to present evidence his legal team claims would prove he didn’t kill his wife and unborn son has been rejected by a Bay Area judge.
In an order handed down Monday, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hill denied the motion from Peterson’s attorneys with the Los Angeles Innocence Project — finding that the supposed evidence was not new, but rather “merely repeats and elaborates upon the same contested theories that existed at the time of trial.”
Peterson, now 53, was convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Laci Peterson, and second-degree murder for the death of her fetus. In their fight for a new trial, Scott Peterson’s attorneys claimed that evidence raises serious questions about the timeline of the killings outlined by prosecutors, that police destroyed evidence and that they failed to investigate a burglary at a neighbor’s home for possible connections to Laci Peterson’s disappearance.
Attorneys with the Los Angeles Innocence Project said they planned to appeal the judge’s ruling.
“The ruling demonstrates a profound misunderstanding and misapplication of the law applied to habeas corpus petitions,” said Hannah Brown, deputy director of the Los Angeles Innocence Project.
The organization, which provides investigations and legal services to people believed to have been wrongfully convicted, began representing Peterson in 2024 — interviewing dozens of people, researching investigatory methods and asserting that new evidence shows Peterson is innocent of killing his pregnant wife.
Peterson was sentenced to death in 2005, but was later resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Peterson has another separate claim in court alleging juror misconduct in his murder trial, arguing that a juror provided false answers in a questionnaire.
“The LAIP is undeterred and will continue to fight for Mr. Peterson’s innocence,” Brown said in the statement.
