Judge orders new DNA testing in Laci Peterson case

A California judge has ruled that evidence in the case of Scott Peterson, convicted in the 2002 Christmas Eve killing of his wife and unborn son, should undergo new DNA testing.

Peterson was convicted nearly 20 years ago in the killing of his wife Laci and their son Conner. Now, he's pushing for another trial.

His new attorneys with the Los Angeles Innocence Project wanted 14 pieces of evidence retested for DNA, most notably a mattress found in a burned-out van connected to a burglary near the Petersons' home, a hammer and a glove found near a neighbor's home.

Prosecutors pushed back against the request, saying the items had already been tested. Paterson's team contended that those test results are inconclusive and that technological advances could lead to his exoneration.

The judge ruled that testing methods had not advanced enough to reveal new evidence that would change the conviction on all but one item: a piece of duct tape found on Laci's pants.

Patterson's attorneys said previous testing on the tape revealed the presence of human DNA, but no DNA profile could be obtained. New testing may yield previously unobtainable results, they said.

The next hearing in this case is set for July 1.

Laci went missing from her home in Modesto on Christmas Eve 2002 when she was eight months pregnant. Her body and the baby's, his umbilical cord still attached, washed ashore months later in the San Francisco Bay near a location where Peterson had told investigators he was fishing the day they disappeared. Peterson bought a boat and researched ocean currents, prosecutors said.

A jury found Peterson guilty in 2004 and sentenced him to death. California's highest court overturned the sentence in 2020 after it found that jurors had been improperly screened and dismissed because of their perceived biases against the death penalty. He was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Peterson sought a new trial, arguing that a biased juror may have tainted his original trial, but was denied in 2022.