Scott Peterson gets new life sentence in wife's murder after years on death row
Scott Peterson, the man convicted in the 2002 killing of his wife and unborn child, was resentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after spending more than a decade on death row.
Peterson's resentencing came after California's Supreme Court last year overturned his death sentence for the improper screening of jurors for bias and later said a lower court should determine whether he gets a new trial. The court, however, did not overturn his conviction and said considerable circumstantial evidence incriminated Peterson.
Pat Harris, one of Peterson's defense attorneys, said his client had wanted to speak at the hearing Wednesday, but Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo did not allow for an allocution, given that the sentence was preordained, she said.
Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder in his wife Laci Peterson's death and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son, who was to be named Connor.
The high-profile case gripped the nation as prosecutors said Peterson dumped the bodies off a boat on Christmas Eve 2002, and the remains later washed ashore in April 2003 from the San Francisco Bay.
At the sentencing hearing, Laci Peterson's mother and siblings spoke about the grief they had felt without her over the past 19 years and never getting to see Connor born and grow up.
"Your evil, self-centered, unforgiveable, selfish act ended two beautiful souls.
And for what reason? There was no reason other than you just didn't want them anymore," Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, said during the hearing.
Massullo plans to hold a hearing next year to consider whether juror misconduct prejudiced Peterson and if there should be a new trial.
