Yesterday, we reported that the California Supreme Court had overturned Scott Peterson’s murder conviction in the 2002 murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son Connor. Now, Peterson’s sister Annie Bird has broken her silence to give her thoughts on the court’s decision.
On Monday, the California Supreme Court came to the decision to overturn the death penalty in this case after concluding that the trial judge “made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection that, under long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent, undermined Peterson’s right to an impartial jury at the penalty phase.”
Bird told Today that while she supports the court’s decision to overturn the death penalty, she does not want to ever see her brother released from prison.
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“I’m against the death penalty, but I do think he’s exactly where he should be,” Bird said. “I lost my sister-in-law Laci and my unborn nephew Connor, and I believe he should remain in prison for the rest of his life without parole.”
Peterson had been on death row since 2005, and prosecutors will have the opportunity to seek the death penalty again if they choose to. The court made sure to say in it’s ruling that Peterson’s conviction will remain in place.
“Peterson contends his trial was flawed for multiple reasons, beginning with the unusual amount of pretrial publicity that surrounded the case,” the court explained in its ruling. “We reject Peterson’s claim that he received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions for murder.”
Authorities concluded that Peterson killed Laci, who was eight months pregnant with their son, and dumped their bodies from a fishing boat into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve in 2002. It took months for police to find their bodies.
During the time Laci was missing, Peterson moved in with Bird and her family. The brother and sister had not even met one another until 1997, when Bird, who was adopted as a child, first met Peterson and her biological mother, Jackie Peterson. Bird was already in her 30s at the time.
Back in 2005, Bird told “Dateline NBC” that she believed her brother did indeed commit the murders.
“You know, it was too hard for me to comprehend that someone who is as courteous, as kind as he is, would kill his wife and unborn child,” she said. “It is just something that is so incomprehensible.”
This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.
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