Scott Peterson's Sister Supports Decision To Overturn Death Sentence
Scott Peterson's sister, Anne Bird, supports the court's decision to overturn his death sentence for the murder of Laci Peterson, though she says her brother is “exactly where he should be.” On Tuesday, August 25, Bird told Today's Miguel Almaguer that she was against the death penalty but believes her brother should be in prison for the rest of his life for murdering her sister-in-law and unborn nephew, Connor.
Bird spoke to Almaguer a day after a California Supreme Court ordered that Peterson's death sentence be removed. In her decision, Justice Leondra Kruger wrote that the court had “made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection” that had undermined Peterson's right to an impartial jury during sentencing. Kruger added that a juror cannot be simply dismissed because they oppose the death penalty.
At the moment, prosecutors have not stated if they will seek to retry the penalty phase in order to reinstate the death sentence. If they choose not to retry the penalty phase, Peterson will automatically be sentenced to life in prison. In the past, Bird has stated that she is convinced her brother is guilty of murdering Laci, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. In 2005, she told Dateline, "I just know that he did this. It's very hard to comprehend. And it hurts."
Bird also believes that her brother drowned Laci although the cause of death of was never confirmed since only remains were found on a California beach in April 2003, four months after she went missing on Christmas Eve. "It's a silent death. Nobody would hear anything," Bird thought. "And it's hard for me to think that because I picture Laci and that's hard."
The site where Laci’s remains were found was less than two miles from where Peterson, who was having an extramarital affair at the time, had claimed to be fishing on the day his wife went missing. In November 2004, a jury convicted Peterson of one count of first-degree murder for killing his wife and one count of second-degree murder for killing their unborn son.
His legal team attempted to appeal the conviction, arguing that, among other things, the pre-trial publicity hade tainted the proceedings and influenced the jury. Regarding this assertion, Justice Kruger wrote, "We reject Peterson's claim that he received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions of murder."
Source: EOnline
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