Monday, December 13, 2004
News Home - Help
Jury Agrees on Sentence for Scott Peterson
10 minutes ago
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - The jurors deciding whether Scott Peterson (news - web sites) should be executed or spend life in prison for killing his pregnant wife reached a verdict in the trial's sentencing phase Monday, a court official said.
AP Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow: Laci Peterson Case
The decision came on the third day of deliberations and after the jury requested autopsy photos and other evidence that had been presented during the guilt phase of the trial.
After the jury broke for lunch, a court administrator told The Associated Press to "tell everyone we're having a verdict at 1:30."
Earlier Monday, jurors had asked to review 13 pieces of evidence, about half of which remain under seal. They asked to see aerial photographs of San Francisco Bay and the widely publicized picture of Laci Peterson (news - web sites) wearing a red maternity pantsuit with her hands folded across her lap.
It was not immediately clear what the rest of the evidence was, although 12 of the items requested were presented by the prosecution at trial.
The autopsy photos were shown to the jury during trial but remain out of public view. The aerial photographs and the candid picture of Laci Peterson, taken during a Christmas party shortly before she disappeared, are public.
Jurors debated about three hours Monday after taking the weekend off following 8 1/2 hours of deliberations last week. The judge will formally sentence Peterson on Feb. 25.
The same jury of six men and six women found Peterson guilty Nov. 12.
Defense attorneys called 39 witnesses over seven days in the penalty phase of Peterson's double-murder trial. Prosecutors called just four of Laci's family members, all on the first day, Nov. 30
The 32-year-old former fertilizer salesman was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his wife and second-degree murder for killing her fetus. Prosecutors say he strangled or smothered Laci Peterson on or around Christmas Eve 2002 and dumped the body in San Francisco Bay.
The remains of Laci Peterson and the fetus washed ashore about four months later, just a few miles from where Peterson claims to have gone fishing alone the day his wife was reported missing.
If jurors are unable to agree on a sentence, prosecutors must decide whether to retry just the penalty phase or to accept a default sentence of life in prison.
Story Tools
