The Los Angeles Innocence Project says it has evidence that will clear Scott Peterson, who was convicted in 2004 for the killing of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson.
The nonprofit uses forensics to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, and LAIP contends that Peterson is innocent, citing new evidence.
This includes supposed proof that a home across the street from the Peterson home was burglarized the night the victim went missing, instead of two days later. The group also says it has evidence that a witness overheard burglars mentioning that she saw them commit the burglary, and evidence linking the burglars to a van fire shortly after the victim’s disappearance.
Other evidence includes a mattress found in the burnt van that had bloodstains on it, new testimony from an expert showing the prosecution’s timeline for the slaying could be incorrect, and eyewitness reports that Laci Peterson was walking her dog in their neighborhood after Peterson left the house on Dec. 24, 2002, LAIP said in a release.
“Every aspect of the prosecution’s theory as to how the crimes in this case were committed has now been shown to be false,” the group wrote in its petition. “The new evidence … shows that the prosecution’s entire theory of the case was wrong.”
Peterson was initially sentenced to death in 2005, though the California Supreme Court vacated the death penalty in 2020. He was then resentenced to life in prison in 2021 and denied a new trial in 2022.
Peterson’s former defense attorney Mark Geragos told KTLA-TV, “I think he was convicted because of what I used to call the ’he didn’t act right evidence,’ and to me, that’s not evidence at all because there’s no playbook for how you should act when your pregnant wife goes missing.”
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office told KCRA-TV that they had not yet seen the LAIP filing.
