Judge Allows New DNA Evidence Testing In Scott Peterson Murder Case

A California judge has approved a request for additional DNA testing on duct tape that was found on the body of Laci Peterson, whose husband was infamously convicted of murdering her and their unborn baby decades ago.

Though the San Mateo County judge on Wednesday approved the request by Scott Peterson’s defense team, she rejected similar DNA testing requests for more than a dozen other items.

The Los Angeles Innocence Project, a nonprofit that took up Peterson’s case in January, argued to the court that the tape was found with human DNA on it when it was discovered in 2003 but that the “DNA was not of an acceptable quality to generate a profile” at the time, according to ABC News.

Thanks to more advanced testing available today, LAIP, which works to free wrongfully incarcerated people in California prisons, said it may be able to exonerate Peterson, who has pleaded his innocence in the deaths of his wife and their unborn son, Conner.

“There is no direct evidence implicating Scott Peterson in this case. It was a circumstantial case from the beginning,” attorney and LAIP Director Paula Mitchell told the judge, according to the Courthouse News Service.

The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office had objected to turning over the DNA evidence for new or additional testing, arguing that there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence presented during Peterson’s murder trial that proved his guilt in 2004.

“The people know the truth. We know that Scott Peterson is guilty,” special prosecutor David Harris told the judge.

LAIP argued in a court motion, obtained by local station KRON4, that its own investigation resulted in “important leads to evidence supporting Mr. Peterson’s claim that his wife was alive on December 24, 2002,” which was when he claims to have last seen her.

The remains of Laci Peterson and her baby were found washed ashore in separate locations along the San Francisco Bay in April 2003, ending a four-month search.

Scott Peterson told police that his wife, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, vanished in 2002 on Christmas Eve while he was out on a solo fishing trip near where the bodies would later be discovered.

He was found to be having an extramarital affair with a woman who contacted police to assist with their investigation upon learning about Laci Peterson’s disappearance and of his marital status.

In secret recordings with the woman, Scott Peterson didn’t confess to his wife’s killing but was heard lying about his whereabouts ― claiming that he was in Paris for New Year’s Eve on a night when he in fact attended a vigil for his then-missing wife ― and expressing his hopes that he could be with the woman “for the rest of our lives.”

Scott Peterson was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder for Laci Peterson’s killing and second-degree murder for the killing of Conner. He was initially sentenced to death before that sentence was reduced to life in prison without parole.

Representatives for LAIP and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment Thursday.

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