Judge Agrees to Allow DNA Testing of Evidence in Effort to Hold New Trial for Convicted Murderer Scott Peterson

Peterson was convicted in 2004 of murdering his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner in 2002

Convicted murderer Scott Peterson won a legal victory in his bid to clear his name in the 2002 killings of his wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son, Conner.

During a hearing on Wednesday, May 29, a judge ruled that DNA testing can be performed on only one piece of evidence from the initial investigation that Peterson's new lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project claim would help prove his innocence. The judge determined that a piece of duct tape found on Laci's pants could be re-tested, according to NBC News, CBS News and ABC News.

"There is absolutely no forensic evidence implicating Peterson," his lawyers argued in court, Brian Entin of News Nation reported on X (formerly known as Twitter) from the hearing at San Mateo County Superior in Redwood City.

David Harris, a Stanislaus County deputy district attorney, said there is no need for a new trial. “The people know the truth,” he said, The Mercury News reports. “They know he’s guilty of murdering his wife and unborn son.”

Peterson, 51, appeared via livestream video from Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., where he is serving a life sentence for killing Laci, 27, and Conner.

During the hearing, his lawyers argued for the testing of DNA found on items from the investigation that were never tested.

One such item is a bloody mattress found inside a burned-out van near the couple’s Modesto home.

The van was set on fire on Dec. 25, 2002, the day after Laci vanished. Peterson's lawyers claim Laci was killed in that van by two men she witnessed robbing a house on her street on the morning she disappeared.

Inside the van was a mattress with what appeared to be blood stains. The Los Angeles Innocence Project claims it has new evidence showing that the van didn't have a mattress inside it before it was stolen prior to Laci's killing, KRON4 reports.

Peterson's lawyers also wanted to test a tarp and plastic bag found near Laci's body that was recovered from San Francisco Bay, as well as duct tape and twine found on Conner's body, KTVU reports.

Related: Scott Peterson Back in Court After L.A. Innocence Project Claims Evidence Suggests He Didn't Kill Wife Laci

Prosecutors said the case ended long ago and will not turn over any evidence unless the court orders them to do so, KRON reports.

Scott said he was fishing in San Francisco Bay when his wife vanished.

Related: Where Is Scott Peterson Now? Inside His Life in Prison Amid L.A. Innocence Project Case

Scott became a person of interest when massage therapist Amber Frey came forward in Jan. 2003 saying she had been romantically involved with him for a month before Laci vanished. Frey said Scott told her he was a widower.

He was arrested on April 18, 2003, four days after Laci and Conner's remains turned up in San Francisco Bay. He pleaded not guilty when charged with their murders.

Related: Relative Is Angry After L.A. Innocence Project Takes Scott Peterson's Case: We'd Like to 'Take Him on a 1-Way Fishing Trip'

On Nov. 12, 2004, a jury found Scott guilty of two counts of murder.

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In 2005, he was sentenced to death. But in 2020, that sentence was overturned and the following year he was resentenced to life in prison without parole.

Related: Why Scott Peterson’s Former Defense Attorney Thinks He Could Be Exonerated

In the summer of 2023, Scott reached out to the nonprofit Los Angeles Innocence Project, asking the organization to take on his case.

In a letter to the court in November 2023, he wrote, "I have discovered that critical exculpatory evidence was ignored, overlooked, or never investigated at all, and in other instances was suppressed at the time of my trial," KRON4 reports.

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