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As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

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President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.
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California | Scott Peterson appears in court seeking retrial in murders of his wife and unborn son

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A judge granted Scott Peterson's attorneys 60 days for discovery for a potential retrial of the death penalty phase of his 2004 conviction for killing his wife and unborn son.

Seventeen years after Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his wife, Laci, and unborn son, a judge has allowed his attorneys more time for discovery relating to issues connected to a possible retrial of the death penalty phase of his sentence.

Peterson, 48, appeared on a Zoom call from San Quentin State Prison in California on Tuesday for a pair of hearings tied to his 2004 conviction.

A judge granted his lawyers 60 days to provide a discovery request to the San Mateo District Attorney, according to NBC affiliate KCRA.

His attorneys have until June 28 to get a waiver for a retrial for the death penalty phase or a new jury, which comes after the California Supreme Court overturned Peterson's death sentence last year, citing problems with jury selection during his trial.

The California Supreme Court upheld both of his murder convictions, but overturned the death penalty. 

Prosecutors disclosed in October that they would again seek the death penalty for Peterson in an expected retrial of his penalty phase.

Peterson's defense is pushing for a full retrial of the case, alleging juror misconduct. 

He has served more than 16 years at San Quentin after being convicted of killing his wife, Laci, 27, who was eight months pregnant with their unborn child, Conner. Laci Peterson vanished around Christmas Eve in 2002.

Their remains eventually washed ashore just a few miles from where Peterson claimed he was fishing at the time of their disappearance.

Peterson's then-girlfriend, Amber Frey, testified in a lurid trial that made national headlines that they had been dating for a month before Laci went missing and that she had no idea Peterson was married. 

Her attorney said Frey is prepared to testify again if there is a retrial.

Source: today.com, Staff, Scott Stump, April 28, 2021


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: California, USA
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