L.A. Innocence Project is looking into case of convicted murderer Scott Peterson
The Los Angeles Innocence Project is now representing Scott Peterson, who was convicted almost two decades ago of murdering his wife and unborn child in a highly publicized trial that transfixed the nation.
“We are very excited that the incredibly talented attorneys at the L.A. Innocence Project are lending their considerable expertise to helping prove that Scott Peterson is innocent,” Peterson’s attorney, Pat Harris, said Thursday in a statement to The Times.
Harris said his firm would not be granting interviews “at this time.”
The Los Angeles Innocence Project at Cal State L.A. works to free individuals believed to have been wrongly convicted and incarcerated, with an emphasis on using forensic and scientific data.
In a statement, the organization confirmed its representation of Peterson — saying it “is investigating his claim of actual innocence” — but declined additional comment.
Neither the Innocence Project nor Peterson’s attorney immediately responded when asked to elaborate further on the case.
Maurice Hastings was convicted in the murder of an Inglewood woman in 1988. New evidence set him free.
Attorneys with the Innocence Project were recently instrumental in securing the release of Maurice Hastings, who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1988, and had been in prison for nearly 40 years.
The project’s involvement is the latest development in the Peterson case, which caused a media firestorm in the early 2000s.
Laci Peterson, 27, vanished from the couple’s Modesto home on Christmas Eve in 2002. She was pregnant at the time.
Her body washed up on the shores of San Francisco Bay the following spring.
Prosecutors said Scott Peterson killed his wife and dumped her body into the bay afterward. He was convicted in 2004 and initially sentenced to death.
The California Supreme Court overturned Peterson’s death sentence for killing his wife and unborn son. The penalty portion of his case may be retried.
But in 2020, the California Supreme Court overturned the death sentence for Peterson because prospective jurors who opposed capital punishment but were willing to impose it were removed from consideration.
Peterson was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2021. He was moved off death row the following year.
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