Convicted Murderer Scott Peterson's case taken by Project Innocence

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Convicted murderer Scott Peterson's case taken up by Project Innocence in a bid to get his conviction overturned/new trial. They say if Project Innocence takes your case there's something there to contest.

Scott Peterson case taken up by Los Angeles Innocence Project

A case made for and broadcast on tv daily around the turn of the century in Peterson was accused of killing his wife and unborn child. He also was having an affair with another women. Based on new evidence or lost files his attorneys couldn't get access to. Seems to be pointing at the perpetrators of a near by burglary.
 

I don't even know what to say. He had a mistress at the time his wife was about to give birth and went missing. That doesn't make him a murderer, but I've seen the whole story and I can't imagine what new evidence they will come up with. If a jury finds him innocent he will surely make a fortune from his lawsuit. This will be interesting.
 

Yes the innocence project program has reversed many a case that set the "unjustly" convicted free but .... Most of those were reversed / overturned on technicalities of the procedure of the trial, rules / cannons of law. And they never talk about or point out the fallacies of the original evidence. Only that the past prosecutor or maybe the defense made this or that mistake ... etc. Again nothing that damns the original evidence and or shows / proves the "innocence" of the previously convicted person.

IMO, [not that it matters] Peterson was / is guilty. As was said, this might just get interesting.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I don't have any idea if he killed his wife. But I'm not sure if he was convicted on the evidence, or convicted because he cheated on her.
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I followed the news coverage and trial, and was convinced that Scott Peterson was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the Innocence Project has [in other cases] uncovered instances of prosecutorial misconduct, and cases where police DNA evidence investigations had been ineffective/faulty.

That said, Scott Peterson's whole host of behaviors fits a very common MO that understandably the police see as a typical scenario.

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fuzzybuddy said:
I don't have any idea if he killed his wife. But I'm not sure if he was convicted on the evidence, or convicted because he cheated on her.
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You bring a good point ... I can certainly see some jurors turning on a defendant due to his / her behavior / attitude . And IMO if that happens ... that defendant is toast.
 
Nathan said:
I followed the news coverage and trial, and was convinced that Scott Peterson was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the Innocence Project has [in other cases] uncovered instances of prosecutorial misconduct, and cases where police DNA evidence investigations had been ineffective/faulty.

That said, Scott Peterson's whole host of behaviors fits a very common MO that understandably the police see as a typical scenario.

Edited by Nathan
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If that would be the case [prosecutorial misconduct] should that alone set a murderer free ?
 
I have never been convinced one way or the other. It’s pretty much a circumstantial case. There is no real evidence. There are a lot of coincidences, but that makes no one guilty.

If Peterson gets a second trial and is found guilty again, it certainly may harm the IP’s credibility. There’s a huge chance that a lot could be riding on this case.
 
They say they have new evidence. I have to wonder if this is a publicity stunt, or a way for Project Innocence to get more donations? I'm very cynical that way when it comes to California law. California is the place that acquitted O.J, Robert Bake, and Phil Spector the first time around but then he was re-tried and sent to prison, thank God. California is also the place where anyone can steal up to $950 worth of stuff and only be charged with a misdemeanor. It is also the place where auto thefts have increased massively, thus increasing auto insurance rates for all of us. But they say they have new evidence, so go ahead and get your publicity I guess. It will be just one more reason to ignore local news.
 
VintageBetter said:
They say they have new evidence. I have to wonder if this is a publicity stunt, or a way for Project Innocence to get more donations?
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I doubt it would be a way to get more donations, the effect will probably be fewer donations.

A long time ago there was a legal charity that I donated to regularly, and then they took on a rapist case and I immediately stopped donating. I think a lot of other people stopped donating too, because after a few months they sent out a newsletter explaining at length why they thought the rapist was innocent.
 
My thoughts are that this IP is going to have to come up with some pretty hard core evidence of innocence, because if I remember correctly, they (the Petersen's) paid Mark G. 1 million to do just that...and he didn't succeed in keeping SP out of prison.

So, whatever they have...it better be good.
 
VintageBetter said:
They say they have new evidence. I have to wonder if this is a publicity stunt, or a way for Project Innocence to get more donations? I'm very cynical that way when it comes to California law. California is the place that acquitted O.J, Robert Bake, and Phil Spector the first time around but then he was re-tried and sent to prison, thank God. California is also the place where anyone can steal up to $950 worth of stuff and only be charged with a misdemeanor. It is also the place where auto thefts have increased massively, thus increasing auto insurance rates for all of us. But they say they have new evidence, so go ahead and get your publicity I guess. It will be just one more reason to ignore local news.
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Well you seemed to have latched onto some anti-California attitude, stitching together unrelated occurrences to build a negative view. That is your choice, but you should be aware that celebrities have a lot of money to devote to their criminal defense. OJ Simpson's trial last 11 months, and cost $50,000 a day. Robert Blake reportedly spent $10 million on his defense. After Phil Spector's conviction he was seeking a "refund" of the $1 million retainer he paid. Too bad, so sad, can't win 'em all.

VintageBetter said:
California is also the place where anyone can steal up to $950 worth of stuff and only be charged with a misdemeanor.
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California has discovered the budget busting reality that your can't lock up everybody you'd like to. When I worked for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation(CDCR) the annual budget for that one department alone was over 10 Billion dollars. Proposition 47 was passed by the voters in 2014 to take very low level crimes like petty theft, some petty drug offenses, petty larceny, and classify them as misdemeanors rather than felonies.
 
On January 18, 2024, the Los Angeles Innocence Project filed motions seeking DNA testing and post-conviction discovery on behalf of its client, Scott Peterson. Any and all inquiries about Mr. Peterson’s case should be directed to the Los Angeles Innocence Project, a non-profit organization wholly independent of the Innocence Project.
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I brought this over from another sight...I hope it's ok.
Saying this is totally diff than the IP.

I wondered if this is the one where the students are doing all the work?

eta: scientists and students
 
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