Live updates: Judge resentences Scott Peterson to life in prison during hearing in California

Scott Peterson appeared in San Mateo Superior Court Wednesday morning for the first time since he was sentenced to death there more than 17 years ago for the murders of his wife Laci and their unborn son, Conner.

Judge Anne-Christine Massullo officially resentenced Peterson to life in prison. He will return to court next year for a separate hearing that could lead to a new trial.

Click here for full coverage of the hearing and remarks outside the courthouse.

11:19 a.m. The court adjourned at 11:16 a.m. Masullo remanded Peterson to the custody of the state prison system, but he will remain in San Mateo County Jail through the court hearing on the juror misconduct issue next spring. Massullo ordered that Peterson will be transferred back to prison within 10 days of the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing on the juror misconduct claim.

11:15 a.m.: The judge has resentenced Peterson to life in prison. He has spoken only twice, to confirm his name and to affirm he understood what the judge said.

Massullo sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole for Laci’s murder and 15 years to life in prison for Conner’s murder. The only mitigating factor is that Peterson had no criminal history at the time of the murders. She noted that he already has paid $10,000 in restitution and a $5,000 fine imposed at the time of the first sentencing. She said he’s already served 6,818 days.

11:10 a.m.: Pat Harris said, “I know that this is not the place to retry the case.... 12 people made a decision and that’s what we’re living by as I stand here today. I would note .. there is a very strong basis for Mr. Peterson to state his innocence.”

“He’s been sitting in a prison cell for 17 years waiting for the opportunity to be heard again,” Harris said.

Harris said Laci’s family has the right to be angry but the defense believes in a different set of facts.

11 a.m.: Pat Harris said that Scott Peterson had no violent history and that most people spoke “glowingly” of him. Friends interviewed after the disappearance said, “He doted on Laci.”

There was testimony that showed he was excited about the pending birth of his son.

“I would also say to the court that there was a lot of talk about he was some sort of spoiled rich kid who came to Modesto... the truth of the matter was .. this was a young man who worked from a very early age.”

Harris acknowledged Peterson lied to people about his extramarital affair. And, he said, after that was made public, the perceptions of Peterson changed.

“When she comes on the scene, it changes. Attitudes changed ... He quickly became the most hated man in America.”

10:50 a.m. Defense attorney Pat Harris said he is quite disturbed that while the defense had no objection to the Rocha family speaking, he also wants to address Peterson’s situation.

Harris pointed out there is another hearing coming up, to focus on the issue of juror misconduct. After that hearing, Scott Peterson may be granted a new trial.

10:45 a.m.: Sharon Rocha talked about having dinner with Laci and Scott, and sitting on a couch with her daughter. Sharon’s hand was on Laci’s belly.

“Scott doesn’t want to do that,” Sharon quoted Laci as saying. “He doesn’t want to feel the baby move. But he’ll come around someday.”

“All the while we were there that evening you were already planning her murder. I never did feel Conner move and that evening was the last time I saw my daughter alive.”

“Laci and Conner will always be dead and you will always be their murderer.”

10:40 a.m.: Sharon Rocha envisions what Conner would look like. He would have dark hair and dark eyes like his mother. He’d be a good person. He would have been 18 years old today. “Think about this, 10 months ago you would have been free of child support if you divorced her.”

Rocha reviewed the actions Scott Peterson took 19 years ago, telling the woman he was seeing that he had “lost” his wife, buying a boat and researching tides on his computer.

10:37 a.m.: Sharon Rocha, Laci’s mother, is speaking to Peterson. “Nineteen years ago today you were in the midst of planning Laci’s murder. You can bat your eyes but that’s the truth.”

“There was no reason other than you just didn’t want them anymore.”

“I think about Laci every single day. She would have been 46 years old but she will always be 27.”

10:33 a.m.: Brent Rocha, Laci’s brother, is talking about Laci Peterson, describing her as outgoing and “the life of the party.” “There are no words to express the pain associated with not being able to share our lives together.”

Rocha said Peterson has “shown absolutely no remorse.”

10:30 a.m.: Amy Rocha, Laci’s sister, is addressing Scott Peterson. “I always think of how unfair it is that I don’t have a sister anymore... you took that away from me. ... I honestly don’t know how you go on living, knowing you have taken two beautiful lives.”

10:15 a.m. The hearing started with Judge Massullo reading into the record the history of Scott Peterson’s case prior to sentencing.

Peterson, wearing a red jumpsuit with an orange under shirt, is sitting with several attorneys.

Deputy District Attorney Dave Harris opened with pointing out that while Peterson claimed to be suffering the loss of his family, his actions during the search for his pregnant wife showed no remorse.

Defense attorney Pat Harris responded that the prosecution is focusing on insinuations, not evidence.

9:30 a.m. An hour before the hearing, about a dozen media had set up outside the courthouse.

The scene is a sharp contrast to Nov. 12, 2004, when hundreds of people gathered outside and cheered and clapped when a jury found Peterson guilty of murdering Laci and Conner.

Original story:

Scott Peterson will appear in San Mateo Superior Court at 10 this morning for the first time since he was sentenced to death there more than 17 years ago for the murders of his wife Laci and their unborn son, Conner.

The California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence last year due to errors the trial judge made in the jury selection process and now he must be resentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

The court upheld his convictions, but in a separate decision sent the case back to San Mateo Superior Court for a judge to decide if one of the jurors on Peterson’s 2004 trial committed misconduct when she provided incorrect answers on a juror questionnaire, as alleged by the defense. The issue could lead to Peterson’s convictions being overturned. The judge is expected to make a decision in spring of 2022.

Peterson first will be resentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The special circumstance the jury found true, that Peterson committed multiple murders, made him eligible for both a death sentence or life without the possibly of parole.

The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office initially said it would again pursue the death penalty against Peterson, but later reversed that decision after speaking to Laci’s family.

“While the family of Laci and Conner have no doubt that defendant is guilty of these crimes and that his conduct warrants the death penalty ... the family has decided this process is too painful to endure once again,” District Attorney Birgit Fladager said in a notice filed with the court.

Laci’s family has not spoken publicly since the Supreme Court’s decisions but will have the opportunity to do so today.

An order signed by Judge Anne-Christine Massullo on Friday prohibits Laci’s friends from speaking at the hearing.

“Balancing the interests of the need for fair trial should there be decision in defendant’s favor on his habeas petition, the Court will only permit members of the Rocha family to speak on behalf of the victims,” she wrote. “This decision is based on the current posture of the criminal and habeas proceedings as well as the publicity the resentencing has generated.”

Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, brother Brent Rocha and sister Amy Rocha provided statements at Peterson’s original sentencing and could do so again today. Her father, Dennis Rocha, and Sharon Rocha’s companion, Ron Grantski, both died in 2018.

Nearly every major cable news network, as well as television and radio stations from the Bay Area and the Sacramento, applied to cover the case from within the courtroom.

Massullo ordered that only Scott Peterson, court staff and attorneys can be photographed and no recording of the proceedings is permitted.

Check throughout the morning for live updates on the hearing.