Overview
- San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hill declined Monday to review newly presented materials in Scott Peterson’s case, denying his latest habeas petition.
- The judge said the submissions were not truly new, repeated theories raised at trial, and were procedurally barred, and she ruled proposed witness accounts tied to a nearby burglary inadmissible.
- The Los Angeles Innocence Project said it will appeal to a higher court, and Deputy Director Hannah Brown called the decision a misapplication of habeas law.
- Peterson’s team offered scientific studies they say shift the estimated time of Laci Peterson’s death by up to 12 days and challenge where her remains were found in San Francisco Bay.
- Peterson remains in prison for life without parole after his death sentence was overturned in 2020, and a separate juror-misconduct challenge is pending before the California Supreme Court.