Scott Peterson is moved from death row inmate in California: NPR
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP
SACRAMENTO, California — Scott Peterson was transferred to a death sentence more than two years after the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence for killing his pregnant wife two decades ago, corrections officials said on Monday.
Peterson was transferred last week from San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco to Mule Creek State Prison east of Sacramento. A new mug shot taken Friday shows Peterson, 50, with a salt-and-pepper beard compared to his previous clean-shaven look.
Juries handed down the death penalty after convicting Peterson of first-degree murder of 27-year-old Laci Peterson and second-degree murder of their unborn son, whom they intended to name Conner, throwing them down in San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002.
The state’s superior court overturned that conviction in August 2020 after finding that potential jurors had improperly removed for saying that they personally disagree with the death penalty but are willing to follow the law and impose it.
A state judge is now considering whether Peterson deserves a new trial after judges privately said his jury may have been defiled by a biased juror.
Peterson was primarily kept in San Quentin during that month-long hearing in part so he could have better access to his attorneys.