Photo: Al Golub-Pool/Getty Images
Scott Petersonhas been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2002 murders of his wife, Laci,and their unborn son, Conner.
Peterson was convicted in 2005 of two counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death row, where he remained for years.
But Peterson, now 49, scored two major legal victories in 2020. The first victory was in August, when his death penalty sentencewas overturned, meaning that he would face a new penalty phase trial. The second victory came in October, when the California Supreme Court ruled that a lower court should take asecond look at his caseto determine whether his guilty verdict should be overturned.
In court on Wednesday, a California judge heard arguments and sentenced Peterson to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In the contentious hour-long court hearing, Laci’s family spoke out against Peterson.
Family photo via The Modesto Bee/AP.
But the most pointed words came from Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha. Addressing Scott Peterson directly, she angrily confronted him about her daughter’s death.
“You betrayed her, your son and everyone else,” Sharon Rocha said. “You ended two beautiful souls.”
“All the while we were there that evening you were already planning her murder,” Rocha said to Peterson. “That evening was the last time I saw my daughter alive.”
“Two things will never change,” she told Peterson. “Laci and Connor will always be dead and you will always be their murderer.”
Defense attorney Pat Harris acknowledged that this hearing was “not the place to retry the case…but I would note that 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.”
After the testimony, Superior Court judge Anne-Christine Massullo sentenced Peterson to life without the possibility of parole for Laci’s murder and 15 years to life in prison for Conner’s murder. The sentences will run concurrently.
According to Judge Massullo, the only mitigating factor in the case was that Peterson had no criminal history at the time of the murders. She stated that he has paid $10,000 in restitution and a $5,000 fine imposed at the time of the first sentencing. She also stated that he has already served 6,818 days in prison.
Peterson will return to court in early 2022 to address the possibility of getting a new trial.
source: people.com
