Will Scott Peterson get a new trial? Closing arguments begin in San Mateo County courtroom

SAN MATEO — Convicted killer Scott Peterson returned to a San Mateo County courtroom Thursday for closing arguments in his plea for a new trial in the 2002 Christmas Eve murder of his pregnant wife, Laci, and unborn son Connor.

Wearing a mask and a red prison jumpsuit, the handcuffed Peterson sat stoically as the closing arguments began.

In a highly publicized 2004 trial, a jury convicted Peterson of the murders in Modesto and he was sentenced to death during the penalty phase in 2005.

He spent nearly two decades on death row before the California Supreme Court tossed out his sentence in 2020 on grounds that the jury was improperly screened for bias against the death penalty. He has since been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The court also ordered San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo to review the case and determine if Peterson deserves a new trial.

After several days of testimony in March, prosecutors and Peterson’s lawyers were ordered to return to court Thursday for closing arguments.

The new trial appears to hinge on whether former juror Richelle Nice was guilty of misconduct. Peterson’s defense team must first prove to Massullo that Nice lied on her pre-trial jury questionnaire to get on the panel and was biased against Peterson from the start, tainting his jury and denying him a fair trial.  

Nice, who has been granted immunity, spent several days on the stand. During hours of intense cross-examination in March, Nice continued to maintain she did nothing wrong and had no bias in her guilty verdict.

Nice failed to disclose on her juror declaration that she had sought a restraining order in 2000 against her then boyfriend’s former girlfriend, saying then that she feared for her own unborn child.

That, Peterson’s attorneys say, colored her view of their client, accused of killing his wife when she was eight months pregnant.

“I didn’t write it on the questionnaire because it never crossed my mind, ever. It wasn’t done intentionally — it didn’t cross my mind,” Nice has testified.