The judge in Scott Peterson’s case has ordered an evidentiary hearing to determine if juror misconduct occurred during his 2004 trial, saying “material facts are in dispute.”
The order by Anne-Christine Massullo, filed Friday, refers to claims by appeal attorneys that juror Richelle Nice lied about being the victim of a crime in order to serve on Peterson’s jury and punish him.
Peterson was convicted of killing his wife Laci in 2002 when she was eight months pregnant with their son Conner.
In its 2015 writ of habeas corpus filed with the California Supreme Court, Peterson’s attorneys said Nice falsely answered questions during the jury selection process about being the victim of a crime and subject of a restraining order.
Four years before the trial, Nice was 4 1/2 months pregnant when she obtained a restraining order against her then-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend for stalking and threatening them.
Prosecutors said the questionnaire asked if she’d ever been the subject of a lawsuit and she didn’t understand that a restraining order was a type of lawsuit.
Still, the California Supreme Court sent the case back to San Mateo Superior Court, where the trial had been transferred from Stanislaus County due to the pretrial publicity.
Since returning to San Mateo last year, another incident in Nice’s past came to light. It was first discovered by the prosecution and detailed in their motion filed in December.
In 2001, Nice’s ex-boyfriend was arrested on charges that included domestic violence in an incident that named her as a victim. She was pregnant with a different child at the time.
He pleaded no contest to battery and was ordered to take a domestic violence batterers’ treatment program.
In a declaration submitted with the prosecution’s response, Nice said she did not contact police and did not consider herself a victim.
But the defense said it’s another example of Nice lying on the jury questionnaire. She’d answered ‘no’ to a question that asked if she or a family member or close friends had ever been the victim or witness to any crime.
“It is apparent from her conduct before, during, and after the trial that during (jury selection) she failed to disclose numerous incidents that posed threats of harm to her unborn children,” Peterson’s lawyers said. “This enabled her to sit in judgment of Mr. Peterson for the crime of harming his unborn child.”
Nice’s attorney Geoffrey Carr said in an email Monday that “Ms. Nice will testify or be available to testify if subpoenaed, like any other witness. She has not yet been subpoenaed.”
In her order, Judge Massullo said she expects to set a date for the evidentiary hearing during the next status conference hearing on Aug. 25.
If there is a finding of juror misconduct, Peterson’s murder conviction could be overturned.
Source: modbee.com, Erin Tracy, July 12, 2021
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