Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Judge Says Scott Peterson Will Stay at San Quentin as Retrial Explored
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
November 13, 2020

Share

SACRAMENTO — No one outside of San Quentin State Prison will be seeing Scott Peterson in person any time soon as officials consider if he should be retried in the headline-grabbing slayings of his pregnant wife and unborn child, a judge decided Friday.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo had feared Peterson, 48, would not have ready access to his defense attorneys as she considers whether he should get a new trial because of juror misconduct and as prosecutors once again seek to have him sentenced to death.

San Quentin is home to California’s death row. Peterson, wearing a mask to limit spread of the coronavirus, has been appearing remotely by video or telephone link at his court hearings in Modesto and Redwood City since the state Supreme Court ordered lower courts to reconsider the two findings.

But his defense attorneys said they have had enough access to speak with their client at the prison and don’t need him moved to the San Mateo County Jail.

“I’m able to talk with Mr. Peterson there. He has a typewriter, he is able to write letters there. It is, I think, a better situation than what would occur in San Mateo,” defense attorney Pat Harris said during a hearing Friday.

San Quentin had one of the worst institutional outbreaks of the coronavirus. It sickened more than 2,200 inmates this summer and killed 28 inmates and one employee.

Peterson Was Convicted in San Mateo County in 2004

But the corrections department’s online tracker shows just three current active cases, and Harris said he believes Peterson “is safe” from the virus if he remains at the prison, particularly when balancing the risk if he is moved elsewhere.

Harris is representing Peterson on the death penalty question. He has separate attorneys representing him on the issue of whether he should get a new trial. They agreed in a court filing that he should stay put.

“If it’s not broken, there’s nothing to fix,” Harris told the judge.

Massullo is presiding over the case in San Mateo County Superior Court, south of San Francisco, by special appointment after the state Supreme Court recently ordered that his death penalty be reconsidered and ordered the judge to consider if he needs a new trial.

Peterson was convicted in San Mateo County in 2004 after his trial was moved from Stanislaus County because of the massive pre-trial publicity that followed the Christmas Eve 2002 disappearance of 27-year-old Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant with their unborn son, Connor.

Investigators say Peterson took the bodies from their Modesto home and dumped them from his fishing boat into San Francisco Bay, where they surfaced months later.

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

DON'T MISS

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

DON'T MISS

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

DON'T MISS

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

DON'T MISS

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

DON'T MISS

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

DON'T MISS

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

UP NEXT

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

UP NEXT

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

UP NEXT

No More Calling ‘Shotgun?’ CA Could Ban Teens From Riding in Front Seat

UP NEXT

Diehard Baseball Fans in Sacramento Welcome Athletics and Hope They Stay Awhile

UP NEXT

Flores Homers, Matos and Wade Also Go Deep to Help Giants Cap Sweep of Astros

UP NEXT

California’s Schools Chief Has a $200,000 Salary and a Side Gig

UP NEXT

Trump Proposes Tax Deduction for Auto Loan Interest on US-Made Cars

UP NEXT

Western US Sees Sharp Increase in Extreme Weather Impact

UP NEXT

7-Year-Old Girl Was Killed by a Falling Boulder at a Lake Tahoe Ski Resort

UP NEXT

Xavier Becerra Enters 2026 California Governor’s Race

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

5 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

5 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

5 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

6 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

8 hours ago

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

8 hours ago

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

8 hours ago

Pentagon’s Watchdog to Review Hegseth’s Use of Signal App to Convey Plans for Houthi Strike

8 hours ago

President Trump’s Tariffs Could Be the Political Tipping Point

9 hours ago

Order That Kept Water in the Kern River Reversed by 5th District Court of Appeal

9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

GV Wire’s Edward Smith talks with KMPH Fox 26 “Great Day” anchor Christina Rodriguez about the possibility of CEMEX digging a 600-foot hole ...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
3 hours ago

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

4 hours ago

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

5 hours ago

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

5 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

5 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, seated right, gives a thumbs-up alongside his wife Lisa Oz, seated left, with friends and family after he testified at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)
6 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

8 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend