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Scott Peterson's defense asks for 600 pieces of evidence in bid for new murder trial

By
Madisen Keavy
Madisen Keavy
Madisen reports weekdays on CBS13.
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Madisen Keavy,
Cecilio Padilla
Digital Producer, CBS Sacramento
Cecilio Padilla is a digital producer for CBS Sacramento and a Sacramento-area native who has been covering Northern California for more than a decade.
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Cecilio Padilla

/ CBS Sacramento

REDWOOD CITY – Convicted murderer Scott Peterson is back in court on Tuesday in a new effort to prove his innocence.

Peterson is serving a life sentence for the 2002 murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son, but a new team of lawyers with the LA Innocence Project took up his push for a new trial earlier in 2024.

The hearing is focused on DNA testing for a piece of duct tape found on Laci's pants when her body washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay. Peterson's defense has asked for more than 600 pieces of evidence from the Modesto Police Department dating back to 2002 and the years after.

The defense and the state are arguing over which lab will do the testing, and who will pay for it.

Peterson is appearing in court via Zoom video conference from Mule Creek State Prison in Ione.

Why is Scott Peterson seeking a new trial?

While Peterson was sentenced to death in March 2005, the California Supreme Court overturned that sentence in 2020 after finding that potential jurors were improperly dismissed. Peterson was then resentenced to life in prison without parole in 2021.

The now 51-year-old Peterson and his defense team have continued to fight for a new trial.

In 2022, after a hearing that focused on former juror Richelle Nice, a San Mateo County Superior Court judge died Peterson's plea for a new trial. Peterson could still appeal the judge's decision, however.

The LA Innocence Project then announced in January 2024 that it would be taking up Peterson's bid for a new trial. 

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