Scott Peterson’s Criminal Sentencing Explained & Where He Is Today

This article contains discussions of murder.

Spoilers for American Murder: Laci Peterson and Face to Face with Scott Peterson are ahead!

Summary

• The jury recommended a death sentence for Scott Peterson because they weren’t moved by the defense’s argument of lingering doubt.
• Face to Face with Scott Peterson offers alternative theories on the case, challenging his guilt.
• Scott Peterson’s appeals have had mixed success, leading to a resentencing and his current incarceration in a California state prison.

Netflix’s true crime docuseries, American Murder: Laci Peterson, and Peacock’s competing docuseries, Face to Face with Scott Peterson, focus heavily on the investigation and trial of Scott Peterson, raising questions about his sentencing and where he is now. The two shows examine the tragic true story of the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn son Conner Peterson. The subsequent investigation – outlined by the investigators in American Murder: Laci Peterson – quickly honed in on her husband, Scott Peterson, due to his strange behavior, his affair, and a mountain of circumstantial evidence.

The documentary is extremely similar to Netflix’s previous one, American Murder: The Family Next Door, in that they both show arguments from both the prosecution and defense. This is a characteristic of the American Murder documentaries. However, Face to Face with Scott Peterson – which comes out on August 20 – doubles down on the husband’s innocence, presenting other theories about what happened. Because of the contrasting perspectives, viewers can make their own judgments about whether they think Scott Peterson killed his wife, his sentencing, and the current events in the case.

Scott Peterson Was Convicted Of Killing Laci & Their Unborn Son

Scott Peterson’s Trial Lasted Six Months

From June 1, 2004, to November 3, 2004, the jury heard all the facts, evidence, and arguments of the case. According to American Murder: Laci Peterson, the prosecution argued that Scott Peterson killed his wife because he didn’t want to worry about a divorce or child support. The defense, on the other hand, argued that Scott Peterson being an adulterer doesn’t make him a murderer. Additionally, they asserted that Laci Peterson was killed after witnessing the burglary of a house across the street – claiming the burglary took place on a different day than what the state said.

The fact that there wasn’t direct evidence of the crime obviously didn’t sway the jury because of the immense amount of circumstantial evidence.

The jury deliberated for 10 days, returning a verdict of guilty of the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson and the second-degree murder of Conner Peterson. After sentencing, the jury foreman said of the conviction, “Collaboratively, when you add it all up, there doesn’t appear to be any other possibility” (via FindLaw). The fact that there wasn’t direct evidence of the crime obviously didn’t sway the jury because of the immense amount of circumstantial evidence.

Scott Peterson’s 2004 Sentencing Explained

Scott Peterson Could Have Been Sentenced To Life In Prison Without The Possibility Of Parole Or The Death Sentence

After the jury found Scott Peterson guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder, they had to decide whether he would be sentenced to death. A description of this process isn’t explained in American Murder: Laci Peterson, leaving many viewers with questions. In order to get the death penalty in California, every juror must agree beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant meets these three criteria:

1. A defendant must be convicted of a death penalty-eligible offense.
2. If the conviction is first-degree murder, the fact finder (either the jury in a jury trial or the judge in a bench trial) must determine beyond a reasonable doubt that a special (aggravating) circumstance is met from the list included in Penal Code 190.2.
3. The aggravating circumstances must outweigh the mitigating factors.

If they didn’t all agree on this, he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the sentencing phase, outlined by FindLaw, the defense was in a complicated position because they couldn’t admit Peterson’s guilt since that would negatively impact their client upon appeal. Additionally, they couldn’t claim Scott Peterson was a good person because the lawyer already called his client a “14-karat a-hole” and a “cad” during the guilt phase.

Consequently, Peterson’s lawyers relied on a mitigating factor called lingering doubt, which is a level between reasonable doubt and zero doubt. The jury wasn’t moved by this argument, though. Thirty-one days after his conviction, the jury came back with their recommended sentence of death. Three months later, on March 16, 2005, the Honorable Judge Alfred Delucchi followed the jury’s recommendation, sentencing Scott Peterson to death by lethal injection.

What Happened After Scott Peterson’s Appeals

Scott Peterson’s Appeals Have Found Mixed Success

Because Scott Peterson was sentenced to death, his appeal skipped over the Court of Appeal, going to the highest court in the state, the Supreme Court of California. Though he was originally sentenced to death, Scott Peterson’s death sentence was overturned in 2020, after two appeals, by this court because jurors were dismissed from the jury due to general opposition to the death penalty. According to United States case law, a juror opposed to the death penalty may still sit on the jury if they follow any jury instructions and abide by their juror’s oath, which includes upholding the law.

The DA announced in 2021 that they would follow the wishes of Laci’s family, who decided not to pursue the death penalty sentencing a second time – though they believed Peterson deserved the punishment…

Britannica explains that the only way a juror can be excluded is if they refuse, under any circumstances, to impose the death penalty – even if the defendant meets all the criteria under the law – or if their opinion about the death penalty would prevent them from impartially determining whether the person on trial was guilty or innocent of the crime for which they’re charged. Since neither of those circumstances were met when it came to the jurors’ dismissal, according to The Supreme Court of California’s judgment in the Scott Peterson case (via CNN), the Supreme Court ruled that their dismissal was erroneous.

The Supreme Court passed the case back to the Stanislaus County Superior Court for resentencing. At this point, the prosecution had two choices. Firstly, they could retry the sentencing again with a new jury, or secondly, they could give him a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ultimately, the DA announced in 2021 that they would follow the wishes of Laci’s family, who decided not to pursue the death penalty sentencing a second time – though they believed Peterson deserved the punishment – because of the pain and emotional toll the retrial would take on them (via CNN).

In addition to ruling that Scott Peterson needed resentencing, the court also stated that the superior court should examine whether he needed a new trial because of stealth juror accusations. Peterson’s lawyers asserted that a juror lied when she said she’d never been involved in a domestic violence case. However, Superior Judge Anne-Christine Massullo determined that the juror’s response wasn’t motivated by bias against Peterson, instead coming from “good faith misunderstanding of the questions and sloppiness in answering” (via NBC Bay Area). As such, she denied him a new trial.

Scott Peterson Is Currently In A California State Prison

Scott Peterson Will Be In Prison For The Rest Of His Life Unless His Conviction Is Overturned

After Scott Peterson’s sentence was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole, he was moved off death row. In October 2022, he was moved from San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California (near San Francisco) to Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California – where he remains at the time of release of Netflix’s Laci Peterson documentary and Peacock’s Scott Peterson follow-up. Mule Creek State Prison is a medium-security prison housing many notable serial killers, rapists, murderers, and kidnappers. Scott Peterson gives his interview in Face to Face with Scott Peterson over a video call from the day room in the prison.

Is Scott Peterson Still Fighting His Double Murder Sentence?

Scott Peterson Is Working With The Los Angeles Innocence Project

As of the release of American Murder: Laci Peterson and Face to Face with Scott Peterson, the convicted murderer maintains his innocence, and he’s still fighting to overturn his conviction. In January 2024, the LA Innocence Project (L.A.I.P.) picked up the case of Scott Peterson, stating that his state and federal constitutional rights were violated. They also assert that new evidence supports the claim that Scott Peterson is innocent of the murders of Laci and Conner Peterson, pointing to an abduction instead (via ABC News). The L.A.I.P. filed multiple motions for their client.

They’ve requested about 600 pieces of possible evidence from the D.A.’s office. The defense team asked for retesting on a mattress in a burned van, which was found a mile from the Peterson home the day after Laci’s disappearance. The L.A.I.P. also introduced jailhouse informants and a correctional lieutenant who say they know who killed Laci (via Oxygen True Crime). The appeal with the help of the justice organization wasn’t mentioned in American Murder: Laci Peterson, but it will be discussed in Face to Face with Scott Peterson.

Sources: FindLaw, Britannica, CNN, CNN, NBC Bay Area, ABC News, and Oxygen True Crime