The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office in California submitted a response this week, to a motion for additional DNA testing in Scott Peterson’s case, potentially leading to a new trial.
The document, spanning over 500 pages, was a rebuttal to the L.A. Innocence Project’s request. Earlier this year, the organization pushed for further DNA testing on 14 items gathered during the investigation of Laci Peterson’s 2002 murder.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the nonprofit organization argued that Peterson’s rights were violated during his 2004 murder trial, claiming crucial evidence proving was withheld.
Among the items under scrutiny by the L.A. Innocence Project are five pieces from a charred van, three items from a Target shopping bag recovered near the vicinity where Laci’s body was found, including duct tape, along with a black tarp, a work glove, and a hammer.
According to The Modesto Bee, most of the defense’s requests stem from a theory that Laci was kidnapped and killed by someone other than Peterson. The L.A. Innocence Project highlighted a burned van, which was located within proximity of Petersons’ Modesto residence and around the time of Laci’s disappearance.
The “orange van theory” claims that someone forced Laci into a van while she was walking her dog at La Loma Park. According to the defense’s DNA petition, they argue that the van she was allegedly abducted in corresponds to the same stolen vehicle later discovered burned by the Modesto Police Department.
“This item was tested and a male profile was developed. There is no legitimate DNA test that will turn the male profile into a match for Laci. This item was taken from a stolen orange van which was never connected to the Peterson case and the prior DNA testing has eliminated any possibility of any connection, but testing is still requested,” the DA responded, in part. “This demonstrates a fishing expedition in search of a boat.”
“In light of the overwhelming evidence that supports the defendant’s conviction, his failure to establish a chain of custody for several of these items — let alone actual evidence that the items even exist — and the prior fruitless DNA testing that has already been done, the People ask this Court to deny defendant’s motion forthwith.”
Laci, 27, vanished on Christmas Eve 2002 — a month before she was due to give birth. Prosecutors said Scott Peterson strangled or suffocated his pregnant wife before wrapping her in a tarp, fastening her to anchors, and dropping her in the San Francisco Bay.
Scott Peterson — who claimed he was fishing in Berkeley when his pregnant wife vanished — was ultimately arrested in San Diego County with $15,000 in cash in his possession.
Scott Peterson stood trial in 2004 and was sentenced to death the following year. However, the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence in 2020 after jurors who disagreed with the death penalty but were willing to impose it were found to be unfairly dismissed from the case.
There were also issues surrounding prejudicial misconduct after a domestic violence victim was put on the jury.
In 2021, Scott Peterson was re-sentenced to life in prison without parole for the slayings. Later that year, a judge denied his bid for a new trial.
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[Featured image: FILE – Photographs of Laci Peterson are placed at a memorial outside the home of Scott and Laci Peterson, Sunday, April 20, 2003 in Modesto, Calif. A California judge has rejected a new murder trial for Scott Peterson. The decision Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, comes nearly 20 years after Peterson was charged with dumping the bodies of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the unborn child they planned to name Conner into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)]
