US: Scott Peterson appeals death sentence

Scott Peterson

SAN FRANCISCO — Eight years after he was sentenced to death for the murders of his wife and unborn son, Scott Peterson has filed an automatic appeal to the California Supreme Court.

Death penalty lawyer Cliff Gardner filed the 423-page document Thursday.

A San Mateo County jury found the former fertilizer salesman guilty of suffocating Laci and dumping her in the San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002.

Peterson has always maintained his innocence and his appeal to the Supreme Court is no different. Gardner claims that the overwhelming publicity Peterson’s trial received, incorrect evidentiary rulings and other mistakes deprived him of a fair trial. Peterson was convicted in 2004 after a trial that his attorney argues surpassed the O.J. Simpson murder trial in terms of publicity.

Peterson claims that Laci was killed sometime after he left their Modesto home the morning of Dec. 24, 2002 to go fishing in the San Francisco Bay. Gardner notes that Peterson was convicted and sentenced to death even though investigators never directly proving “how, where or when” the murder occurred.

Prosecutors told the jury that Laci was killed sometime between the night of Dec. 23, 2002 and the morning of Dec. 24, 2002. They believed Laci was suffocated in her home, but Gardner argues that there was little direct evidence collected at the house to support that theory.

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Sources: AP, New York daily News, July 6, 2012

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