(KRON) — On Tuesday, a San Mateo County judge declined to review new evidence that was submitted by Scott Peterson’s defense team in an attempt to prove he did not murder his family, attorneys said.
Peterson, 53, was convicted by a jury in 2004 for the murders of his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn child, Conner.
His habeas corpus petition was filed in August 2025 by attorneys with the Los Angeles Innocence Project. LAIP claims it uncovered “compelling new scientific evidence” with its own investigators that can prove he was wrongfully convicted.
This week’s ruling in San Mateo County Superior Court marked a major setback for one of California’s most notorious inmates.
Scott Peterson listens during a hearing at the San Mateo County Superior Court on Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, Pool)
“We disagree with and are disappointed by the court’s ruling on every level. The ruling demonstrates a profound misunderstanding and misapplication of the law applied to habeas corpus petitions,” LAIP deputy director Hannah Brown wrote in a statement.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project said it intends to file the petition in a higher court to appeal the judge’s decision.
“In the court’s ruling, strong exculpatory evidence was disregarded as ‘inadmissible’ which is not the correct legal standard,” Brown wrote.
LAIP investigators conducted over 50 interviews with various witnesses who have information “shedding light on what really happened,” according Peterson’s defense team.
Scott Peterson is seen on a live video feed from Mule Creek State Prison on March 12, 2024. (Pool / Photo by Modesto Bee)
Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant when she vanished from the Petersons’ Modesto home on Christmas Eve. Scott Peterson’s alibi to police was that he went fishing alone in the San Francisco Bay, and when he returned back home, his wife was missing. A massive search effort ended four months later when Laci Peterson’s body was found in the bay.
A “media frenzy” that surrounded Scott Peterson’s trial turned him into a “pariah,” his attorneys claim. LAIP director Paula Mitchell said, “As with other well known high profile cases, the media frenzy in this case heavily contributed to Mr. Peterson’s inability to get a fair trial.”
Laci Peterson
He was sentenced to death, but in 2021, he was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. At the resentencing hearing, Laci Peterson’s family members told her husband that he is an “evil,” “sociopathic,” and remorseless killer.
Scott Peterson wrote a letter from prison in 2023, stating, “I am innocent and had nothing to do with these horrible crimes that were committed against my wife and son.”
He has a separate habeas petition pending in the California Supreme Court alleging that juror misconduct denied him the right to a fair trial.